New York, NY – December 22, 2010 – Westwood One and the National Football League (NFL) announced today a new multi-year agreement for Westwood One to continue as the exclusive network radio partner of the NFL. Westwood One has been an NFL network radio partner for more than four decades and the exclusive network radio partner since 1987.

“We are proud to extend one of the strongest partnerships in sports broadcasting history – Westwood One and the National Football League,” said Rod Sherwood, President of Westwood One. “America’s most popular sport generates a huge audience that brings great value to Westwood One, our affiliates and our advertisers and reinforces Westwood One as the preeminent nationwide radio sports broadcaster.”

“Westwood One has been an outstanding broadcast partner and we are pleased that NFL fans will continue to enjoy the highest quality when it comes to the presentation of our games on network radio,” said Steve Bornstein, NFL Executive Vice President of Media.
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from the NFL….Thursday night’s Indianapolis Colts-Tennessee Titans game on NFL Network was Thursday’s most watched show on cable drawing an average of 5.4 million cable viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Indianapolis and Nashville).

NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football is averaging 5.7 million cable viewers this season — its best mark through five games and up 38 percent from last year (4.1 million viewers).

Colts-Titans topped all entertainment and sports competition last night including Celtics-76ers (1.7 million viewers) and Magic-Trail Blazers (1.3 million viewers) on TNT.

Thursday Night Football continues with the San Francisco 49ers at San Diego Chargers next Thursday, Dec. 16 at 8:00 PM ET. The Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears pregame show begins at 6:00 PM ET.

The Chicago Bears are currently 7-3, tied atop the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers. The franchise holds a 700-510-42 all-time regular season record.
With their 16-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, Chicago became the first franchise to reach 700 regular-season wins.

The New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-28 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. The teams met for the eighth season in a row (2003-2010), the longest streak among non-division opponents since realignment in 2002. Including the postseason, Sunday marked the sixth consecutive meeting decided by seven points or fewer. The Colts earned a last-minute 35-34 victory in Week 10 of last season.

Patriots quarterback TOM BRADY has now won 25 consecutive games at Gillette Stadium, tying him with BRETT FAVRE for the most consecutive regular-season home wins as a starting quarterback.

Colts quarterback PEYTON MANNING passed for 396 yards and has thrown for at least 300 yards in five of the team’s six road games this season. He now has 33 road games in which he has passed for at least 300 yards, an NFL record.

One more note to keep in mind for tonight’s Monday Night Football game between the Broncos and Chargers…

RIVERS FOR 3,000: Through nine games, San Diego Chargers quarterback PHILIP RIVERS has 2,944 passing yards. He is averaging 327.1 passing yards per game.
With 308 passing yards against the Denver Broncos, Rivers would have the most passing yards through the first 10 games of a season in NFL annals. New Orleans Saints quarterback DREW BREES currently holds the record with 3,251 passing yards through 10 games in 2008.

Thursday’s Chicago Bears-Miami Dolphins game on NFL Network was Thursday’s most watched show on cable drawing an average of 5.4 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Chicago and Miami).

The game topped all entertainment and sports competition including UCLA-Washington college football on ESPN (2.1 million viewers), and Suns-Magic (1.2 million viewers) and Nuggets-Trail Blazers (1.1 million viewers) on TNT.

Bears-Dolphins cable viewership posted an 80 percent increase over last year’s comparable Thursday Night Football game (Dolphins-Panthers, 11/19/09).

Thursday Night Football continues on Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) with the Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets at 8:00 PM ET. The Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears pregame show begins at 6:30 PM ET featuring analysis of the Thanksgiving afternoon games and the latest on Bengals-Jets and all of the weekend’s NFL matchups.

NFL Games 15 Most-Watched Shows on TV this Season – NFL Games Top Ratings in 29 of 30 NFL Markets

Nine NFL game telecasts this season have been watched by 25 million viewers – up 125 percent from this point last year (four) and matching the total for the full 2009 season, according to The Nielsen Company.

NFL games are the only fall programs on television to reach 25 million viewers since Nov. 16, 2008 (60 Minutes interview with President Obama following a late Steelers-Chargers finish on CBS) – with 14 such telecasts.

The FOX national telecast (mostly Cowboys-Giants) was last week’s most-watched show among all programs on television with 26.2 million viewers — the 10th time in 10 weeks that an NFL game telecast has been television’s most-watched program. Patriots-Steelers on NBC Sunday night was the week’s most-watched primetime program with 21.2 million viewers.

NFL Network kicked off its 2010 season of Thursday Night Football with Ravens-Falcons drawing 5.0 million viewers – the most-watched season opener in five seasons of TNF. The game ranked as Thursday’s most-watched sporting event, posting 19 percent more viewers than the day’s second most-watched game (Celtics-Heat on TNT, 4.2 million viewers).

Here are some things to look for in Week 11 of the NFL season……

HOPE IS ALIVE: Since the current playoff format was instituted in 1990, 15 clubs with a .500 or worse record after nine games have made the playoffs.  Last season, the New York Jets had a 4-5 record through nine games before advancing to the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts….

DIVISION RACES: For the first time since realignment in 2002, every division leader has no more than a one-game lead and five divisions have two teams tied for first place.  The 13 2010 division leaders are a combined 78-39 (.667) through Week 10, 17 wins better than their records from a year ago at this time (61-56, .521).

Seven of the eight divisions feature at least one team with a share of first place that did not win the division in 2009, and Week 11 features intriguing division games with playoff implications.  Two NFC East rivals meet with first place on the line when the Philadelphia Eagles (6-3) host the New York Giants (6-3) on Sunday Night Football.  Other key division games include the Minnesota Vikings (3-6) welcoming the Green Bay Packers (6-3) in an NFC North showdown and the AFC West’s Denver Broncos (3-6) visiting the San Diego Chargers (4-5) on Monday Night Football….

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell  spoke with Rich Eisen on NFL Network Thursday Night Football at the Baltimore Ravens / Atlanta Falcons game on November 11, 2010….

On Ray Lewis’ comments regarding the fines given to players for illegal hits:
“I have great respect for Ray Lewis and the way he plays the game. He plays the game tough and within the rules and I speak to him frequently about these issues. I would tell you that we’re not automatically fining anybody. We look at this very closely. We are focused on certain techniques which we think could be dangerous in the game. This is not unusual in our history in the NFL; we have made changes going back to the ‘70s, ‘60s, and back further than that. To make the game safer, whether it’s the head slaps or chop blocks, you take out things that can lead to an injury and have an increased risk of that injury. And we’ll continue to do that. We’re not going to relent on making sure the game is as safe as possible.”

On the possibility of ejecting players during the game for illegal hits:
“No. The Competition Committee and the Membership is focused on that. We think it’s too much to put on the officials. They have the authority to be able to do it, they have for several years. We’re not making any changes to that. But we really think this needs to be studied. We need to look at the individual film that we get both from broadcast and coaching video, and look at it closely to make sure that we understand what the player was doing, exactly what technique he was using, and did he have another option to hit the player and then rip away.”

On why there isn’t publicly more urgency to reach a new CBA deal:
“I think there needs to be more of a sense of urgency. There are discussions going on. I think they have to be more productive though. It’s not just about whether you’re having meetings, it’s about productivity. We need to reach an agreement that will allow the players to continue to have success, to allow the teams to continue to have success, and to make the game better and bring more football to more fans.”

On the deadline to reach an agreement:
“A lot of negotiations wait until the 11:59 [mark], and I think that’s a mistake in this case. I think uncertainty is bad for the game, I think it’s bad for the players, I think it’s bad for the fans. I think we need to reach an agreement sooner rather than later because it starts to hurt and impact the game and the fans. I think that’s why we need to get this done sooner rather than later.”

On if he anticipates a quick conclusion on the Jenn Sterger situation:
“I’m never pushed much by timelines. I think what you have to do is be fair, you have to try to get all the facts, and make a smart decision. I think what we need to do here is make sure we have all those facts from as many different sources as we can. I’ll get an update tomorrow.”