NFL on FOX

From the time of the 1970 merger with the American Football League, the television contract coverage of the National Football League consisted of three major networks: Monday Night Football aired on ABC, AFC games on NBC, and NFC games on CBS. The only change was the addition of a Sunday Night Football game on ESPN. Then in 1993, the league was stunned by a huge bid for NFC broadcast rights by the fledgling FOX television network for $1.58 billion dollars for four years. The first game broadcast by the NFL on FOX was on September 18, 1994, and ended a 38-year affiliation to the NFL by CBS.

Innovations

The network has been responsible for the development of several advances in sports television coverage. The primary change was the institution of a permanently-fixed on-screen graphic of the current game score and time remaining graphic, known originally as the "FOX BOX". Within the box, generally positioned in the upper-left corner of the screen, was the down and yards to go, time remaining in the quarter, the score afixed to the right of abbreviations for the two teams, and the FOX logo. Over the years, not only has every sports network entity adapted the use of on-screen game graphics for practically all sporting events, but also has utilized technological advancements to provide additional statistical information through 'pull downs'.

Same Game, New Attitude

The NFL on FOX also tried to incorporate a 'new attitude' to football coverage with it's FOX NFL Sunday pre-game show, mixing in sexual appeal (with Jillian Reynolds doing weather forecasts) and humor (with first Jimmy Kimmel and now Frank Caliendo providing comedic segments incorporated with game predictions) to the typical on-set analysis. The NFL on FOX has become a staple for the FOX television line-up, now including a Sunday night prime time show called "The OT" from 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern Time, accounting for runovers of late starting games.

The NFL on FOX Crew

The current studio host is Curt Menefee, with studio analysis by Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. Joe Buck is the current lead play-by-play announcer, teamed with lead analyst Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Pam Oliver. FOX has broadcast 5 Super Bowls to date, including the most recent incarnation, Super Bowl XLII. It is next slated to host a Super Bowl in 2011, which will be Super Bowl XLV.