NFL on ABC
| NFL on ABC | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Monday Night Football |
| Genre | American football game telecasts |
| Directed by | Artie Kempner |
| Presented by | Scott Van Pelt Chris Berman |
| Starring | Ryan Clark Marcus Spears Jason Kelce Adam Schefter Lisa Salters Laura Rutledge Katie George Peter Schrager Russell Yurk Jerry Bergman |
| Narrated by | Joe Buck Troy Aikman Chris Fowler Louis Riddick Dan Orlovsky |
| Opening theme | "Heavy Action" by Johnny Pearson (1976–2006; 2015–present) "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins feat. Chris Stapleton, Cindy Blackman Santana and Snoop Dogg (2023–present) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 48 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Norby Williamson |
| Producer | Steve Ackels |
| Production locations | Various NFL stadiums (game telecasts) ESPN Headquarters, Bristol, Connecticut (studio segments) ABC and ESPN Studio, 7 Hudson Square, Manhattan, New York City (studio segments) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 210 minutes or until game ends (inc. adverts) |
| Production companies | ABC Sports (1970–2006) ESPN (2016–present) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | December 19, 1948 – December 24, 1950 |
| Release | September 21, 1970 – February 5, 2006 |
| Release | January 9, 2016 – present |
| Related | |
| Monday Night Countdown Monday Night Football NFL on ESPN | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The NFL on ABC (also known as ABC NFL) is an American presentation of the National Football League (NFL) games produced by ABC Sports and ESPN, and televised on the ABC television network, its cable channel ESPN and streaming service ESPN DTC.
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network has nationally broadcast National Football League (NFL) games in various stints throughout its history. ABC's first stint, which lasted from 1948 to 1950, involved a "game of the week" format and the NFL Championship Game; it also owned broadcast rights for up to three teams from 1952 to 1954. ABC started airing NFL games again with the debut of Monday Night Football in 1970; it became part of the Super Bowl broadcasting rotation in 1985 and started annually airing two NFL Wild Card playoff games in 1991.
Following ABC's broadcast of Super Bowl XL, ESPN took over as the exclusive rights holder to Monday Night Football in 2006, and the ABC Sports division was merged into ESPN Inc. by parent company Disney. Afterward, ABC did not broadcast any game from the NFL until it simulcasted a Wild Card playoff game from ESPN in 2016. ABC would then return to Monday Night Football in 2020, when they aired three games as simulcasts from ESPN.
Since 2020, ABC simulcasts or exclusively airs some Monday Night Football games, two Saturday games during Week 18, one Wild Card playoff game, and the Pro Bowl in conjunction with ESPN. Beginning in 2023, ABC and ESPN will simulcast one divisional playoff game, and both networks will air the Super Bowl in 2027 and 2031. All games since 2016, whether a simulcast or an exclusive broadcast, have used ESPN branding and graphics.