NFL Network To Broadcast Favre Anthology
League’s In-House Service Pays Tribute To Retired QB Legend
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 3/4/2008 9:10:00 AM
The NFL Network Tuesday unveiled a game plan calling for 30 hours of programming -- including primetime coverage each night through Saturday -- this week to document the historic career of quarterback Brett Favre, who announced his retirement after 17 years on the gridiron.
Favre, who threw for more touchdown passes, yards and interceptions than any quarterback in league history, led the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls in the mid-1990s (winning one) and set a new standard for durability at the QB position by virtue of starting an NFL-record 253 consecutive games.
The NFL’s in-house network is broadcasting Favre- and Packers-themed programming all day Tuesday in addition to a detailed look back at his rollercoaster-like career on NFL Total Access each night at 7 p.m. (ET)
Some of the programs scheduled for broadcast this week include: In Their Own Words: Brett Favre; Favre 4 Ever, a first-person retrospective of his career; and Who Is…Brett Favre? In addition, the network will encore some of his career-defining games, including Green Bay’s 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
However, some of Favre’s biggest fans—particularly “Cheeseheads” who subscribe to Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications or other cable systems in Wisconsin that don’t carry the NFL Network—won’t be able to indulge in the homage. A number of cable operators have elected to sit on the distribution sideline with the service, which seeks a monthly per subscriber fee of 70 cents.
Last month, Dish Network dropped the NFL Network from its “America’s Top 100” Package, moving it to the “America’s Top 200” Package, effectively costing the NFL network about 4 million subscribers. The NFL, in turn, sued to prevent the move, which Dish said was motivated by the NFL's decision to simulcast the 2007 regular-season finale between the then-undefeated New England Patriots and the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
Ironically, Favre was injured early in the second quarter of a Nov. 29 NFL Network broadcast of a highly anticipated tilt between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. The game garnered 10.1 million viewers, establishing a record audience for any NFL Network broadcast.
Revisionist History
12/29/2007NFL Network Bids Favre A Fond Fare Thee Well
02/14/2009In Search Of The NFL Network
11/29/2007NFL Network Kicks Off ‘Super Bowl Classics’
01/21/2008
