FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

COLTS HOST STEELERS ON THANKSGIVING NIGHT ON NBC; CHIEFS VISIT BRONCOS IN PIVOTAL AFC WEST SHOWDOWN ON “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL”

Steelers-Colts on Thanksgiving Night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC

Sunday’s Coverage of Chiefs-Broncos Begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC

NBCSports.com & NBC Sports App to Live Stream Steelers-Colts and Chiefs-Broncos

College Football – Grambling State vs. Southern in Bayou Classic Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN

 

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 22, 2016 – NBC Sports presents a pair of pivotal AFC matchups this holiday week, beginning on Thanksgiving night in Indianapolis, when Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-5) visit T.Y. Hilton and the Colts (5-5) at Lucas Oil Stadium this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage on NBC continues with an AFC West clash on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 27, when Von Miller and the Super Bowl-champion Denver Broncos (7-3) host Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs (7-3) at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo.

The Colts and Steelers enter their matchup on Thanksgiving night within one game of the top spot in their respective divisions. The Colts are coming off a 24-17 win against the Titans, as QB Andrew Luck threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns. Veteran RB Frank Gore has provided stability for the Colts’ offense, averaging nearly 85 yards from scrimmage per game for Indianapolis. In his 12th NFL season, Gore ranks ninth in league history with 12,682 rushing yards.

The Steelers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 24-9 win against the Browns in Cleveland last Sunday, led by RB Le’Veon Bell, who rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown and added 55 receiving yards. The Steelers boast a dominant 22-6 all-time record against the Colts.

NBC’s Chiefs-Broncos matchup on Sunday Night Football could have significant playoff implications in the AFC. Both teams are 7-3, just one game behind the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders (8-2). The Chiefs aim to bounce back from a 19-17 loss at home to Tampa Bay in Week 11. The Broncos had a bye in Week 11, and defeated the Saints 25-23 in Week 10. The two clubs are scheduled to meet again on Sunday Night Football on Christmas night in Week 16.

Calling Steelers-Colts and Chiefs-Broncos are Mike Tirico (play-by-play); 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth; and two-time Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.

NBC’s coverage of Sunday Night Football is led by Emmy Award-winning producer Fred Gaudelli and Emmy Award-winning director Drew Esocoff.

Football Night in America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, is hosted by Bob Costas, who will report on-site from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Thanksgiving night, and will be joined on-site by Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy. NBC Sports will present coverage of Dungy receiving his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring during a halftime ceremony of Steelers-Colts.

Liam McHugh will co-host Thursday night’s coverage from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., alongside two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison.

Costas will host FNIA on Sunday night on-site in Denver, and will be joined by Collinsworth and Tafoya. Dan Patrick will anchor FNIA on Sunday from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center, with Dungy, Harrison, and Mike Florio of NBC Sports’ ProFootballTalk. Kathryn Tappen will report from Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on the Panthers-Raiders game.

 


COLLEGE FOOTBALL – SOUTHERN VS. GRAMBLING STATE IN BAYOU CLASSIC SATURDAY AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports Group concludes its 2016 college football coverage this Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Grambling State (8-1) and Southern University (8-2) facing off in the annual Bayou Classic from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La. This marks the 26th year NBC Sports will present the Bayou Classic.

Paul Burmeister will handle play-by-play, and will be joined in the booth by analysts Ross Tucker and Anthony Herron. Lewis Johnson will report from the sidelines.

 

NBCSPORTS.COM & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM NBC’S SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream all of NBC’s Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football games to desktops, tablets, and connected TVs. The NBC Sports app will stream coverage via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s SNF and TNF broadcasts. Powered by Playmaker Media, the NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, and Xbox. (NOTE: NBC Sports does not have NFL live streaming rights to mobile devices.)

 

PROFOOTBALLTALK – WEEKDAYS AT 7 A.M. ET ON NBCSN

Mike Florio brings fans the latest NFL news and interviews with players and coaches every weekday morning with ProFootballTalk on NBCSN at 7 a.m. ET.  The two-hour ProFootballTalk provides all-encompassing coverage of the NFL, including the most current news and analysis, thought-provoking debates, and interviews with a wide variety of NFL newsmakers. The program is a simulcast of Florio’s national radio program that airs daily on NBC Sports Radio.

 

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

 

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ALL-ACCESS: For the seventh straight season NBCSports.com is providing a destination for fans dedicated to behind-the-scenes and social media driven content on the Sunday Night Football All Access page. Fans can follow the social conversation and access content around Sunday Night Football and the SNF Bus, including video highlights from the SNF Bus, player interviews and more. Fans can show their passion for who they think will win each week, use an interactive map to see how other football fans across the country are talking about that SNF matchup, and vote on which team’s hype video they like the best each week. Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/

 

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SOCIAL MEDIA:

 

  • SNF ON FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/SNFonNBC – At over 3 million LIKES strong, the Sunday Night Football Facebook page provides news, custom graphics, animations and videos exclusively behind-the-scenes at SNF every week. A key focus for the SNF Facebook page this season are regular Facebook Live Q&As with Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football talent both on the road and in the studio. The Facebook page also aggregates all SNF-related content found within the NBC Sports digital network, including NBCSports.com, SNF All Access, ProFootballTalk.com, and Rotoworld.com.

 

  • SNF ON TWITTER: twitter.com/SNFonNBC – Using tweets, photos, Vines and videos, @SNFonNBC provides unique content with SNF talent, production crew and NFL players. Additionally, Michele Tafoya will provide real-time tweets from the sideline to provide followers with updates all game long;

 

  • SNF ON INSTAGRAM: Going into its fifth season, Sunday Night Football gives the SNF fan a look at photos through the filters of Instagram, from on the road, on the SNF Bus and in the Football Night in America studio. Fans get a look inside the production trucks, the locker rooms, on the field and around each SNF city. Fans will get an exclusive look through Instagram of what life is like on the sideline, as our social media producer captures the best photos of Sunday night and posts in real time. For the first time, SNF on Instagram will utilize Instagram stories to give fans maximum exposure to the Sunday Night Football footprint.

 

  • NBC SPORTS ON SNAPCHAT: For the first time, NBC Sports’ Snapchat account will be creating content on the platform at each Sunday Night game including Kickoff and from the SNF Bus. The NBC Sports Snapchat account will take fans behind the scenes to the FNIA set, to player interviews and around cities where Sunday Night Football comes to town, utilizing lenses and filters to customize content specifically for the Snapchat audience.

 

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BUS RETURNS FOR 2016 NFL SEASON 

NBC Sports Group’s Sunday Night Football bus returns this season to travel the country, visiting the host cities of select Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football games. This season, fans will get a closer look at behind-the-scenes action of SNF broadcasts on the bus, which will take fans from the field, to the studio and in the production trucks. Features of the bus include an interactive replica of the control room, a replica of the Football Night in America desk, life-size “Photo Bomb” wall, and more.

The bus will arrive in each city two to three days prior to the game, making stops at local landmarks and events before heading to the game site. Once at the stadium, the Sunday Night Football bus will give fans the opportunity to interact with America’s most-watched primetime television show with exclusive activities, memorabilia and a 55-inch monitor housing social media elements.

Click here for more information on the SNF bus.

 

2016 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AND THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

NBC will present 24 regular-season primetime games, including 17 SNF games, the NFL’s opening game of the season NFL Kickoff 2016, the NBC’s annual Thanksgiving night game, and five new Thursday night games. Every 2015 playoff team makes an appearance on Sunday Night Football, and 19 of NBC’s 23 scheduled regular-season games (Week 17 game TBD) involve at least one playoff team from last season.

Click here for more details on NBC’s SNF and TNF schedule highlights.


NBC SPORTS RADIO


NBC Sports Radio will surround the 2016 NFL season with daily coverage across nearly 420 radio affiliates, highlighted by Safety Blitz with Rodney Harrison and Dan Schwartzman; featuring three-time All Pro and two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison; Going Deep with Amani and Dan, featuring former Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer; NFL Commentator Mike Tirico; NFL Insider Michele Tafoya; and ProFootballTalk Live, featuring NFL insider and Football Night In America commentator Mike Florio.

To listen to a live stream of NBC Sports Radio, or find your local affiliate, visit http://www.NBCSportsRadio.com.

NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS

NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NFL markets such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco, will surround the 2016 NFL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the local teams that matter most in more than 50 million U.S. cable and satellite households.

 

SNF IS TV’S NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM FOR 5 YEARS RUNNING

For a historic five consecutive Sept.-May television seasons from 2011-15, NBC’s Sunday Night Football finished as television’s No. 1 primetime show in household rating and viewership, as well as the coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May). Sunday Night Football is one of only four shows since 1950 to rank No. 1 in primetime for five consecutive TV seasons.

 

2016 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
**Thurs. Nov. 24 Week 12 Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts
*Sun. Nov. 27 Week 12 Kansas City Chiefs as Denver Broncos
*Sun. Dec. 4 Week 13 Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks
*Sun. Dec. 11 Week 14 Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
*Sun. Dec. 18 Week 15 Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Sun. Dec. 25 Week 16 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
*Sun. Jan. 1 Week 17 TBD

 

 

*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

 

NBC-produced Thursday Night Football game schedule:

Date Game Network
Thurs. Dec. 1 Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings NBC, NFLN **
Thurs. Dec. 8 Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs NBC, NFLN **
Thurs. Dec. 15 Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks NBC, NFLN **
Sat., Dec. 17 Miami Dolphins at New York Jets NFLN
Thurs. Dec. 22 New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles NBC, NFLN **
Sun., Dec. 25 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers NFLN

** Live streamed on Twitter, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

 

 

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

 

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–