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Patriots-Broncos on CBS Most-Watched Show of the Week
As NFL teams make their final playoff pushes, more fans are tuning in. The four most-watched programs of the fall TV season are all NFL games played since Thanksgiving.
This past week (Dec. 12 – 18), the CBS Sunday national telecast (mostly Patriots-Broncos) was the most-watched show on television drawing 29.7 million viewers.
For Week 16 NFL Capsules, click here
To see the 2011 NFL Playoff Scenarios for Week 16, click here
NBC POSTSEASON EXTRA TO INCLUDE NBC’S WILD CARD SATURDAY DOUBLEHEADER, 2012 PRO BOWL & SUPER BOWL XLVI STREAMED LIVE AT NBCSPORTS.COM & NFL.COM
NBC’S POSTSEASON GAMES ALSO AVAILABLE VIA NFL MOBILE ONLY FROM VERIZON
For the first time, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and NBC’s Wild Card Saturday doubleheader will be available to fans on television, online and on select mobile phones, the NFL announced today. NBC’s postseason games will be broadcast on NBC as well as streamed live on NFL.com and NBCSports.com, and will be available on NFL Mobile only from Verizon. This marks the first time postseason games will be available in the U.S. via live online streaming and via a mobile app.
The live NFL.com and NBCSports.com coverage will come from NBC’s TV coverage of the games. Complementing that stream will be a number of extra features to enrich the viewing experience including additional camera angles, in-game highlights, live statistics and other interactive elements.
In addition, NFL Mobile only from Verizon will stream the broadcast of NBC’s Postseason games, for the first time using a mobile application.
NFL TEAMS PREPARE FOR FINAL STRETCH
Time is running out. With two weeks to go in the NFL regular season, it’s time for teams to make their final playoff push.
“The way the schedule is put together with all the division teams playing one another, it makes for a great finish to the regular season,” says Atlanta head coach MIKE SMITH. “You want to be playing your best football in December. One of the things that we talk about as an organization and as a football team is we want to be relevant in December. To be relevant, you have to be playing good football. The playing field has shrunk in terms of teams still in contention, so it’s very important that you win the games down the stretch.”
While seven postseason berths have been clinched – Baltimore, Green Bay, Houston, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and San Francisco – there are still 22 teams overall in contention for a trip to Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. That is tied for the third-most teams in Super Bowl contention with two weeks to play in a 16-game regular season (26 in 2004, 24 in 2006, 22 in 1994).
Four of the divisions – AFC North, AFC West, NFC East, NFC South – are going down to the wire.
“One thing that stays true in all scenarios is that we have to win our next two games,” says Chargers quarterback PHILIP RIVERS, whose team is one-game behind Denver for first place in the AFC West. “Let’s just worry about what we can control and if that’s not enough, we’re going to go down fighting.”
And with two weeks to go, the only thing left to expect is the unpredictable.
For instance…this past Sunday marked just the third time in NFL history in which a team without a loss (Green Bay) was defeated and a team without a win (Indianapolis) was victorious on the same day at least 11 games into a season (December 13, 1953 and November 18, 1984)…the Detroit Lions erased a 27-14 deficit to defeat Oakland 28-27, the fourth time this season that the Lions won a game in which they trailed by at least 13 points; that’s the most such victories in a season in NFL history…and the Arizona Cardinals overcame a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Cleveland 20-17 in overtime, the sixth time this season the Cardinals trailed in the fourth quarter and came back to win; that’s tied for the second-most such wins in a season since 1970.
Week 16 kicks off on Thursday when the AFC South champion Houston Texans travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts (NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET). The action continues with 13 games on Saturday, a Christmas night showdown between NFC North rivals Chicago and Green Bay on Sunday (NBC, 8:20 PM ET) and a Monday night matchup featuring the top two teams in the NFC South – Atlanta and New Orleans (ESPN, 8:30 PM ET).
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Program for current & former players runs April 2-5 in Los Angeles
John Singleton, Robert Townsend & Keenen Ivory Wayans among instructors
Twenty current and former NFL players will take part in the first-ever NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp at Universal Studios in Universal City, California, it was announced today.
The program, which runs from April 2-5, 2012, is being directed by NFL Player Engagement and Film Life Inc., the New York-based film production company, and will cover a wide range of topics in the movie industry.
The four-day boot camp will offer a comprehensive overview of creative disciplines in the film industry including screen writing, directing, producing and film financing. Session leaders will be selected from among top industry executives and filmmakers and include multiple Academy Award-nominated director/producer/ screenwriter JOHN SINGLETON and writer/actor/directors ROBERT TOWNSEND and KEENEN IVORY WAYANS. Participants will have the opportunity to shoot and edit a short film at Universal Studios, the largest working motion picture studio in the world which offers 30 sound stages and 30 backlot movie sets where many legendary films have been shot.
“The NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp builds upon the successes of our prior programs in educating and providing hands-on experience to players in a wide variety of disciplines,” said NFL Vice President of Player Engagement TROY VINCENT. Vincent leads the NFL’s initiative to develop and provide players with important learning tools and educational experiences that allow them to explore opportunities beyond the football field.
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Cowboys-Bucs viewership up 27 percent on Saturday night special
AFC South champ Houston visits Indianapolis this Thursday
NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football is closing in on its most-watched season ever as the per-game average of 6.4 million viewers is a 19 percent jump over 2010’s first seven games (5.4 million). Last season, NFLN posted a record average of 5.7 million viewers for the full eight-game TNF schedule.
The Thursday Night Football slate concludes this Thursday night at 8:00 PM ET as the AFC South champion Houston Texans aim to improve their playoff seeding against division rival Indianapolis.
The special Saturday night Dallas Cowboys-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on NFL Network was watched by an average of 5.6 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Dallas and Tampa) – up 27 percent from the comparable game last year (Panthers-Steelers, 4.4 million).
Complementary coverage of Cowboys-Buccaneers online and via mobile devices increased 12 percent in video streams viewed and was up 17 percent in unique viewers compared to last year’s game.
Previewing Texans-Colts and the full Week 16 schedule, the Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET. All Thursday Night Football games are available in their entirety on NFL Mobile Only From Verizon with complementary online coverage via NFL.com/LIVE Thursday Night Football presented by GMC.
NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log onto www.nfl.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.
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A look at seven statistical highlights from games played at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 18, the 15th week of the 2011 season.
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