Problem
Watch the YouTube video "The Creation of Monday Night Football on ABC | 1970 | How MNF Almost Never Happened" about how we got Monday Night Football.
Watch the YouTube video "Why There is No Flex Scheduling on Monday Night Football" about flexible scheduling and Monday Night Football.
Consider these questions in our discussion:
1) Would we have Monday Night Football if all the networks had successful programming on Monday night? Would MNF have made it if it had been sold to the Hughes Television Network? Why or why not?
2) Given that Monday Night Football does not have the ability to "flex," do you think Sunday Night Football has an advantage to attract viewers? Has Monday Night Football lost appeal because it may not have a competitive game and/or because it is now on ESPN (a subscription service) versus free network TV?
Agree or Disagree with my answer?
• After watching how Monday Night Football became a thing I get the feeling that it wouldn't have been successful back then, but would have still come to be successful anyways because of how the sport has changed over time and has become a much bigger part of the American society today both politically and culturally. The reason I feel like it wouldn't have been as big back then is because the sports network that the Hughes has was available to all of the programs. With them still being able to keep their highest viewed shows (NBC & CBS) I doubt people would trade their Monday nights to watch the NFL because they have the option and the access to choose if they want to watch it or not. With ABC football wasn't available for everyone else and there also wasn't anything for ABC to lose by signing the contract. I think also a question to consider is what would the NFL be, or where would it be if Rozelle didn't pressure ABC with an ultimatum? Would they still have signed a contract?
• I think that Sunday Night Football technically could have the advantage to attract viewers, but the fact remains that Monday's showing of football has the upper in views. Now, ESPN Monday Night Football gets up to 20 Million plus views. NBC's Sunday Night Football averaged 16.8 million viewers during the 2020 season, and even more so the year before. Monday Night Football has held its grasps and although it had an unpromising beginning, looking at where it has gone now is amazing.