Michaels to call 11th Super Bowl before NBC contract ends

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Steve Timko

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Feb 5, 2022, 6:28:29 PM2/5/22
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PGage

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Feb 5, 2022, 8:26:10 PM2/5/22
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This seems to just tell us what we already know, but reads to me as AM setting the stage for the changing of the guard. It will be surprising if Tirico is not the official Voice of SNF next year, and this allows Al to spin things as he chose to do something else. Which of course may be true. 

I would think that what he would like is something like the Jimmy Johnson role in a pregame show, which is high visibility but a lot less work. Even less work would just be adding him to the panel on SNL ore and half time coverage. 

On Sat, 5 Feb 2022 at 3:28 PM Steve Timko <steve...@gmail.com> wrote:

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JW

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Feb 6, 2022, 6:29:07 AM2/6/22
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> I would think that what he would like is something like the Jimmy Johnson
> role in a pregame show, which is high visibility but a lot less work. Even
> less work would just be adding him to the panel on SNL ore and half time
> coverage.

Sounds like he wants to keep doing what he's doing. It's just a question of where.

PGage

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Feb 6, 2022, 8:42:58 AM2/6/22
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That is what he has been saying, but the “I have options” refrain kind of sounds like somebody who is either looking for negotiating leverage or cover for taking a reduced role somewhere.

SNL really is the premier NFL telecast, why would he choose to go somewhere else if he really wants to keep doing Play by Play, and has the option to keep doing it?

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two...@gmail.com

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Feb 6, 2022, 11:31:22 AM2/6/22
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My reading of this is that NBC doesn’t want him back and they’re letting Michaels control the narrative. If Tirico, or his agent, is making NBC choose, they’d rather keep Tirico for SNF for 10 years and see Michaels walk. If they choose to keep Michaels they will only have him for a year or two and they’ll lose Tirico to a competitor.

Amazon has Thursday Night Football now and they can use Michaels for the short term to establish themselves.

On Feb 6, 2022, at 8:42 AM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:



PGage

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Feb 6, 2022, 8:47:52 PM2/6/22
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That sounds about right. Though I’m still not sure what is in it for him to go to Amazon, that would be going from doing the best game of the week to usually the worst. If it is a fig leaf to cover the fact he was forced out of SNF, it’s a pretty damn small leaf.

I’m not sure what an Amazon TNF will be like - will it be available on demand, or do you have to watch it live? If On demand, Can you FF through commercials? It might take more than Al Michaels to get me to watch any but the best games if conditions aren’t right.

two...@gmail.com

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Feb 6, 2022, 9:47:42 PM2/6/22
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Forced out is a bit strong. Michaels is coming to the end of a contract and there’s never a reason to take signing a new one for granted. Spending decades in any job means you see a lot of peers retire or even pass away and that bears an emotional weight in deciding whether to continue. Plus Amazon can really make him feel needed and give him the excitement of starting something new.

As for the experience of watching streaming live sports, I have been watching a lot of hockey and a little bit of soccer on ESPN+. It’s easy enough to watch a game live. I notice that they also offer an option to stream a replay of any game but they have no incentive to let you FF through the commercials.

On Feb 6, 2022, at 8:47 PM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:



PGage

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Feb 6, 2022, 9:54:34 PM2/6/22
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Forced out is strong, but it is perhaps equally distorted if Al were to say he chose to go to Amazon.

I am watching the Olympics on Peacock, which as a streaming service in general sucks compared to Amazon, but is better than just last summer for the Summer games, and does make it easy both to watch On Demand and ff thru commercials. One of the most irritating features is if you join a live event in progress it automatically joins live; you have to mute then frantically rewind to start from the beginning. It’s easier to watch what they call a “Replay”, which starts from the beginning, but only after the live event is over.

two...@gmail.com

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Feb 6, 2022, 10:05:37 PM2/6/22
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We have no idea how the negotiations went or how long the negotiations went between Michaels’s management and NBC. It could have been months ago that they couldn’t reach an agreement and Michaels is just announcing it now.

I’ll have to try watching a replay of a game on ESPN+ and see if I can FF through the ads.

On Feb 6, 2022, at 9:54 PM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:



JW

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Feb 7, 2022, 7:53:58 AM2/7/22
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> That sounds about right. Though I’m still not sure what is in it for him to
> go to Amazon, that would be going from doing the best game of the week to
> usually the worst. If it is a fig leaf to cover the fact he was forced out
> of SNF, it’s a pretty damn small leaf.

Michaels skipped a few games on NBC this year; he may be at a point where he's not willing to fly to the east coast as often as he used to be.

From Amazon's point of view, having Michaels call their games would be a good way for them to sell subscriptions, even if he's splitting the assignment, and I'd imagine Al's paycheck would reflect that.
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