EAGLES VISIT STEELERS IN "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" PRESEASON INTRASTATE BATTLE

EAGLES VISIT STEELERS IN "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" PRESEASON INTRASTATE BATTLE

Olbermann Returns to Sports in "Football Night in America" Debut

NBC's Bettis: "This team, Tomlin� write their own chapter in Steelers history"

NEW YORK � Aug. 22, 2007 � "NBC Sunday Night Football" travels to Pittsburgh as the Steelers host the Philadelphia Eagles for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Sunday at 8 p.m. ET from Heinz Field. Al Michaels (play-by-play), John Madden (analyst) and Andrea Kremer (sideline reporter) will call the action, joined at halftime by Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Keith Olbermann and Jerome Bettis. Olbermann will be returning to sports with his "Football Night in America" debut.

After missing the playoffs last season, the Steelers are looking to regain the form that earned them a Super Bowl title in 2006 led by QB Ben Roethlisberger, then in his second season, and Bettis, who ended his storied career with a championship. The Eagles, despite losing starting QB Donovan McNabb to injury last November, managed to win the NFC East and advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The five-time Pro Bowler has returned to Philadelphia's lineup.

BETTIS on Steelers, Roethlisberger and Tomlin: "I'm looking forward to seeing Ben Roethlisberger, one-year older and one-year wiser. Last year was a year that every Steelers fan would like to forget. This is the new-look Steelers and Mike Tomlin and this team know that they can write their own chapter in Steelers history."

BETTIS on Eagles and Donovan McNabb: "Donovan McNabb is going to play well this year. I expect him to be the Donovan McNabb of old. I think he'll pick right up where he left off. He was having an MVP-type year before he got hurt and I think he'll quickly get back to that same form."

OLBERMANN ON NBC & RETURNS TO SPORTS: A special edition of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will air on Sunday, August 26 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on NBC, leading into the game at 8 p.m. ET. This will be Olbermann's first network sports assignment in six years. The special edition of "Countdown" will be broadcast live from MSNBC's studios.

OLBERMANN said: "The ["Football Night in America"] time slot is perfect for wrapping up the week in the NFL. The Monday game, it's not an appendage necessarily, but it is a separate entity. The football weekend stops on Sunday night. On the eve of the end of the weekend, it's a great time to summarize what's happened in the league. All of us have journalistic inclinations beyond football and beyond sports. I think we have a good opportunity there to say okay, this is what everyone is going to be talking about through Friday of next week and you have the right guys to do it and a very good format that is going to enable us to do it."

The Eagles will make their 2007 "NBC Sunday Night Football debut on Sept. 30 facing their division rival the New York Giants. They also host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, Nov. 4 and travel to New England to meet the Patriots on Sunday night, Nov. 25 (subject to flex).

The Steelers appear on "NBC Sunday Night Football" on Oct. 21, traveling to Denver to battle the Broncos and host division foe the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 2 (subject to flex).

NBC's regular season schedule begins on Thursday night, Sept. 6, with "NFL Opening Kickoff 2007" as the Colts host the New Orleans Saints and the Cowboys host the Giants on Sept. 9, the first Sunday night of the NFL season.

BEST VIEWERSHIP IN SIX YEARS:

"NBC Sunday Night Football" wrapped up its inaugural season as the No. 6 television show of the season, averaging 17.5 million viewers, the best viewership number for the network primetime NFL package in six years (18.5 million on ABC in 2000) and 1.2 million viewers better than ABC Monday Night Football in 2005.

NBC's 2007 NFL SCHEDULE:

("NBC Sunday Night Football" kickoff, 8:15 p.m. ET preceded by "Football Night in America, 7 p.m. ET)

Thursday, Sept 6 � New Orleans at Indianapolis
Sunday, Sept. 9 � New York Giants at Dallas
Sunday, Sept. 16 � San Diego at New England
Sunday, Sept. 23 � Dallas at Chicago
Sunday, Sept. 30 � Philadelphia at New York Giants
Sunday, Oct. 7 � Chicago at Green Bay
Sunday, Oct. 14 � New Orleans at Seattle
Sunday, Oct. 21 � Pittsburgh at Denver
Sunday, Oct. 28 � No game scheduled due to World Series Game 5 (FNIA airs 7-8 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 4 � Dallas at Philadelphia
Sunday, Nov. 11 � Indianapolis at San Diego
Sunday, Nov. 18 � Chicago at Seattle (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Nov. 25 � Philadelphia at New England (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Dec. 2 � Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Dec. 9 � Indianapolis at Baltimore (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Dec. 16 � Washington at NY Giants (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Dec. 23 � Tampa Bay at San Francisco (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)
Sunday, Dec. 30 � Kansas City at New York Jets (Flex Week, Teams Subject to Change)

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING:

The 2007 NFL schedule will utilize flexible scheduling in Weeks 11-17. In those weeks, the schedule will list the games tentatively scheduled for Sunday night on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game will be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights. A flexible scheduling move will be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the move may be announced six days before the game. Flexible scheduling will ensure quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and give surprise teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

As an indication of the success of the inaugural year of flex scheduling, three of the final four games on NBC achieved ratings more than 20 percent higher than the comparable games in 2005.

"FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA" & "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

"NBC Sunday Night Football," the premier primetime game of the week, is preceded by the "Football Night in America" studio show, which kicks off NBC's regular season coverage each Sunday at 7 p.m. The unprecedented six-year NFL deal includes innovative flexible scheduling and continues through the 2011 season with Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012. NBC has assembled the most honored broadcast team ever: Joining Al Michaels, the commentator called "TV's best play-by-play announcer" by the Associated Press, and John Madden, the most honored NFL broadcaster of all time with 15 Emmy Awards, are Bob Costas, the most honored studio host of all time with 19 Emmy Awards, who hosts NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show alongside co-host Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in history with eight Emmy Awards; co-host Keith Olbermann, named one of the Top Ten Most Powerful People in TV News for 2007 by Television Week; and analysts Tiki Barber, a three-time NFL Pro Bowler for the New York Giants, and Jerome Bettis, one of the most popular players in recent NFL history. "NBC Sunday Night Football" coverage also includes sideline and feature reporter Andrea Kremer, whom the Los Angeles Times has called "the best TV interviewer in the business of covering the NFL." Peter King, who covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and is considered one of the country's foremost NFL reporters, serves as a reporter for the "Football Night in America" studio show.