Tiki Barber rushed for 10,449 yards and 55 touchdowns during his 10-year career. Now, NBC hopes the running back can score against another opponent: FOX.
After FOX?s pregame and postgame football shows dominated NBC last season, NBC hopes its newest analyst ? Barber ? will lead them to victory in the ratings game against a FOX team featuring Joe Buck, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.
We?ll get our first glimpse of Barber on Sunday when he debuts during halftime of the Ravens-Giants game as part of the “Football Night in America” studio crew with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis and Peter King.
Talking football is nothing new for Barber, who was a popular interview in the locker room and was an outspoken persona as a guest on several radio and television shows. But Barber really established his credibility as co-host of “The Barber Shop,” a sports talk-show on SIRIUS satellite radio alongside brother Ronde, who is a cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“[Tiki] is that rare athlete who at the top of his game was still straightforward in his opinions on what went on in his field,” NBC Sports & Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol said. “In other words, he is that rare athlete who is not afraid to say what he thinks.”
Barber will also be featured on the “Today Show,” where he will cover sports as well as other subjects for the popular morning show.
But Barber is not the only new face on “Sunday Night Football.” Keith Olbermann, named one of the Top Ten Most Powerful People in TV News for 2007 by Television Week, will be coming joining the team the first week of the regular season on Sept. 9 when Dallas hosts the Giants. Olbermann currently hosts an hour-long nightly newscast, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” which is the highest-rated show on MSNBC. He?s perhaps the smartest man in sports television, as his wit and superb writing skills give him the ability to be this generation?s Howard Cosell.
“NBC Sunday Night Football” wrapped up its inaugural season last year as the sixth-most watched show of the season, averaging 17.5 million viewers. It was the highest rating for an NFL package on network television since ABC averaged 18.5 viewers for “Monday Night Football” in 2000.
However, NBC?s ratings for last year?s Sunday night game were 1.2 viewers better than ABC produced for “Monday Night Football” in 2005 ? the last year the station broadcast the game before it was moved to ESPN.
But expect NBC?s “Sunday Night Football” to post even higher ratings this year. Once its entire broadcast team arrives for the regular season and combines with the legendary announcing team of Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer, it will be the best on television.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winningTV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
