With the goal of turning Thursday Night Football into a must watch event, plan A for FOX included Troy Aikman hosting its pregame show. With Aikman most likely unavailable, FOX has turned to Michael Strahan for the role.
After failed attempts to lure Peyton Manning into the broadcast booth, FOX now hopes their No. 1 team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will do the game, according to a report by Andrew Marchand. Aikman providing color analysis for TNF means the pregame show still has a void.
According to SI.com, FOX is working to put together a version of its Sunday NFL pregame show which will not include Curt Menefee and will instead feature Michael Strahan as host. Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw will join Strahan for TNF, Menefee and Jimmy Johnson will continue as part of the group’s Sunday show.
The Fox NFL Sunday show broadcasts from the network’s L.A. studio, the TNF pregame show will take place in New York. Strahan’s Good Morning America responsibilities from New York Monday through Friday would make it impossible for him to take part in the TNF telecast if Fox chose to keep the pregame show in Los Angeles.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
