Disney Taps ‘Monday Night Football’ to Boost ABC’s Strike-Hampered Schedule

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC is ready to open the 49th season of “Saturday Night Live,” pushed back just a week or two from when the series might normally launch in the fall. After being shut down in May by the Hollywood writers strike, “SNL” will return on October 14, marking the first of three consecutive weeks of original broadcasts, NBC said in an announcement Wednesday. Ice Spice will serve as musical guest.

The NFL has plenty to be happy about this week.

Taylor Swift made an appearance on Sunday Night Football to cheer on Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce in a game against the New York Jets.

Taylor Swift is expected to be in attendance at the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night football game against the New York Jets.

They’re playing a football game tonight in East Rutherford, N.J. It will be nationally televised, sold-out, and features the defending NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs against the upstart New York Jets.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor On Sunday, Allstate is trading in its famous Mayhem character for chaos of a different sort. The big insurance company is testing a sponsorship of a new kind of sporting event that will feature some of Pixar’s best-known animated characters tackling a real-life NFL game. When the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Atlanta Falcons at 9:30 a.m.

Having conquered the music biz, about to conquer the movie biz and proving one of this era’s most powerful economic and cultural forces, Taylor Swift is lending some of her superstar power to the NFL and NBC.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Deborah Roberts is taking up co-anchor duties at ABC News’ “20/20,” the latest in a line of distinguished anchors that includes Barbra Walters, Hugh Downs, Diane Sawyer, Connie Chung and Elizabeth Vargas who have led the long-running newsmagazine. Roberts is no stranger to the series’ rhythms. She has been contributing to it for 28 years, ever since she joined ABC News in 1995, recruited by Barbara Walters.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor It’s easy to envision Robin Roberts sitting down for an in-depth interview with a hard-to-nab celebrity or landing a “get” with an inspirational newsmaker. How about Robin Roberts helping to solve a mystery ripped from the headlines? Such a notion is a distinct possibility thanks to a new ABC News Studios production unit that Roberts will lead.

Chris Stapleton and rap legend Snoop Dogg have teamed up to cover rock icon Phil Collins‘ ‘In The Air Tonight’ as the NFL’s new Monday Night Football theme song – listen to it below.Today (September 19), ESPN took to social media to share the new Monday Night Football anthem, which also features drummer Cindy Blackman Santana taking on the iconic drum fills of the original track.Watch the three artists breathe new life into ‘In The Air Tonight’ below.Can you feel it?

The power and popularity of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which first famously appeared on TV in Season 1 of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, has outlasted 30 years of screen appearances in everything from Risky Business to a Cadbury chocolate bar ad to a fictional Mike Tyson’s affinity for the tune in the original Hangover. Now, it’s been reinvented as the theme song for one of TV’s most popular shows.

ABC is bringing a ton of football programming to the network!

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bill Maher has decided to stop the clock on the return of “Real Time.” The comedian, who last week vowed to put his topical HBO program back into production, now says he will delay it for a while longer. “My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike,” he said via social media.

ABC is loading up on a slew of extra NFL games in a bid to bolster its fall schedule.

Prime Video scored big in the season debut of Thursday Night Football. The Philadelphia Eagles’ 34-28 victory last night over the Minnesota Vikings drew 16.6 million viewers across all media platforms, setting a Prime Video record as the most-streamed NFL game ever on the service.

The NFL regular season is finally back to breathe some life into linear television.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After working for Walt Disney Co. for decades, Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their “Toy Story” friends have been given new jobs by the large entertainment conglomerate. Characters from the popular animated Pixar films will in October take part in the latest in a series of experiments aimed at getting young kids to watch live sports.

UPDATED WITH details and company comment. Disney and Charter Communications have reached a carriage renewal, ending a 10-day impasse that drew intense scrutiny to the shifting economics of pay-TV in the streaming era.

EXCLUSIVE: The inspiring story of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and his road back to football after nearly dying on the field last January will be turned into a feature film documentary. Did We Win will highlight the player’s miraculous recovery since stunning the NFL when he collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game last January, after sustaining a blow to the chest.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney and Charter have decided to let ESPN sports take the field on traditional cable after all. The two media giants, battling for the past week over a renewal for carriage of Disney’s various cable networks on Charter’s major-market cable systems, have come to new terms, according to the companies.