The NFL Films Game of the Week, formerly known as the NFL Game of the Week, is a program that airs on NFL Network

NFL Network

NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...

, the official television channel

Television channel

A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. On this show, NFL Films

NFL Films

NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...

 compresses one or two NFL games from the previous week into a one-hour program.

Format

Game of the Week presents the game from a wide variety of angles, including game footage

Footage

In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...

, pregame and postgame commentary, and sideline

Sideline

Sideline may refer to:*Sidelines, lines which mark the outer boundaries of a sports field*Sideline reporter, sports term*"Sideline Ho," song by Monica...

 sound from players and coaches

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

.

Broadcast history

The program premiered in syndication

Television syndication

In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 in 1965

1965 NFL season

The 1965 NFL season was the 46th regular season of the National Football League.Because the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts ended up tied in the Western Conference standings after the regular season ended, a conference playoff game was held in Green Bay. Although the Packers had defeated the...

 in a 30-minute format. With the advent of the NFL Network in 2003

2003 NFL season

-Milestones:The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:-Team:-Individual:-Awards:-External Links:**-References:*NFL Record and Fact Book *...

, it was expanded to 60 minutes and retracted from syndication for airing on the NFL's home network.

Upon its debut on the NFL Network in 2003, it aired on Wednesday and sometimes Thursday nights. In 2006

2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

, the show moved to Friday night. The time slot has remained the same--9 p.m. and midnight Eastern and Pacific

Pacific Time Zone

The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...

 times, for a total of three showings throughout the evening. NFL Network identifies the show as "Classic Games" in its listings.

On September 10, 2007, ION Television bought rights to the show. They announced the first episode would air September 15, highlighting the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 45-35 win over the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. ION aired the game Saturday evenings at 6:00 PM Eastern Time and ended the series on December 29. ION's rights for the show were not renewed for the 2008 NFL season

2008 NFL season

The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...

.

Hosts

Steve Sabol is the host. He has been with NFL Films since its inception in 1962

1962 NFL season

The 1962 NFL season was the 43rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, CBS signed a contract with the league to televise all regular-season games for a $4.65 million annual fee....

, and , is one of only a handful of people to have viewed the first 40 Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

s in person.

External links

• Game of the Week on ION Television
• Game of the Week archives from 2007 season, Week 5 to Super Bowl, at NFL.com