further nfl primetime shake-up

espn announces its new monday night football announce team. this continues the primetime changes and major money decisions of the recent past, including the nfl network taking some games for itself

espn essentially decides to make a night of it with special editions of sportscenter, pardon the interruption and a pre-game show. however, i don't expect the ratings to be much higher than sunday night ratings. thus the $1.1 billion per year price tag espn pays sounds a bit hefty compared to the $600 million a year nbc will pay.

on the personnel side, espn/disney releases al michaels from his play-by-play duties in football and nba. michaels may end up paired up with john madden back on nbc. further, tony kornheiser apparently will get around the WaPo's double standard conflict of interest rules

¶ - nitish @ 4:25 PM