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TV This Week

For ‘MNF,’ a new season and a new look

Sean McDonough becomes the fifth play-by-play announcer in history

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

September 12, 2016

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The parade of names leaving ESPN over the past year included Mike Tirico, who had been the play-by-play announcer on “Monday Night Football” since it moved to cable in 2006.

So when “MNF” bows its 47^th season tonight at 7 p.m. with the Pittsburgh Steelers facing the Washington Redskins, a new man will be behind the microphone.

Sean McDonough, a longtime ABC and ESPN announcer, takes over play-by-play duties from Tirico. McDonough called the World Series for CBS in the early ‘90s and has been at the Disney networks for the past 16 years.

He’s one of just a handful of men to hold the lead play-by-play job over nearly five decades, along with Tirico, Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford and Al Michaels.

Of course, the announcers don’t generally make a difference in the ratings unless they’re bad. People won’t tune in to hear a great announcer. But they will tune out a poor one, so it’s important to have a very competent team, especially since “MNF” ratings have declined ever so slightly.

Last season the program averaged an 8.3 household rating and 12.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, off 2 percent and 3 percent from 2014.

“MNF” remains the No. 2 show on cable behind “The Walking Dead,” but its ratings do ebb and flow depending on the NFL matchup it’s airing that week. In seasons with dud matchups, ratings do tend to fall a bit.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Time	Network	Program	Description
4 p.m.	Disney	“Polly and the Zhu Zhu Pets” (K)	Series premiere. Pipsqueak, Num Nums, Chunk and Mr. Squiggles jump from successful toy franchise to Disney’s latest animated series. New episodes air at 4 p.m. throughout the week.
7 p.m.	ESPN	“Monday Night Football” (S)	Back-to-back MNL games (Pittsburgh at Washington, followed by newly relocated L.A. Rams taking on San Francisco) mark the season premiere of the longest-running primetime sports franchise.
8 p.m.	NBC	“American Ninja Warrior” (R)	Season finale. A winner is crowned after taking on five new challenges.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (T)	Season premiere. A special episode from Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory introduces the new cast for the season.
10 p.m.	ABC	“The $100,000 Pyramid” (G)	Already renewed for next summer, the Michael Strahan-hosted game show revival wraps up its first season at a special day and time.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Running Wild with Bear Grylls” (R)	Season finale for NBC’s reality show, featuring NFL star Marshawn Lynch chasing a wild hog.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	PBS	“The Contenders: 16 for ‘16” (N)	Shirley Chisholm (D) and John McCain (R) are the first two profiles in PBS’ series looking at people who’ve run for the highest office in previous elections.
8 p.m.	USA	“WWE Smackdown!” (T)	Can the Tuesday edition of WWE’s wrestling franchise capitalize on not airing opposite “Monday Night Football” (unlike its Monday cousin “Raw!”)?
8 p.m.	CBS	“Big Brother” (R)	As the season comes to an end, CBS airs an episode of its stalwart reality franchise at a special day/time.
9 p.m.	OWN	“If Loving You Is Wrong” (D)	During the show’s second-season premiere, Alex (one of the show’s many middle-class folks experiencing turmoil in their seemingly-happy life) comes upon a horrible scene.
10 p.m.	Discovery	“Taking Fire” (R)	Series premiere. Two rookies from the 101st Airborne document their Combat Outpost Michigan experience via helmet cam footage and testimonials.
10 p.m.	USA	“Chrisley Knows Best” (R)	Nothing good comes from (a) Grayson asking Savannah for dating advice and (b) Julie and Lindsie trying to force Todd and Will to make amends.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	“America’s Got Talent” (T)	Season finale of NBC’s summer franchise, which will crown a new winner and (most importantly) deliver a huge lead-in for “Blindspot,” which moves to its new 8 p.m. slot next week.
8 p.m.	Fox	“MasterChef” (R)	One of the remaining three contestants will be named winner during the show’s seventh season finale. And like every other Chef Ramsay show (or James Bond), “MasterChef” will return.
10 p.m.	FX	“American Horror Story” (D)	FX’s anthology horror series premieres the first chapter of its new season. Gotta tune in to know what it’s actually about, as the publicity for the show has remained cryptic as always.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Blindspot” (D)	Season premiere. Jane is recruited to be a triple agent against her original organization, but constant betrayals from all sides threaten to disband the team for good.
10 p.m.	Comedy Central	“South Park” (C)	The seminal animated cartoon starts its 20th season with an episode that, as usual, is still being worked on/tweaked.
10:30 p.m.	Comedy Central	“Legends of Chamberlain Heights” (C)	Series premiere. The Legends aren’t invited to a party, which coincides with a school-wide drug bust. Wacky animated hijinks with social commentary ensue.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Time	Network	Program	Description
6 p.m.	BBC America	“Ripper Street” (D)	Downgraded to a non-primetime hour weeks ago, BBC America’s original drama wraps its fourth (and likely last) season with a 75 min. episode.
8:25 p.m.	CBS	“Thursday Night Football” (R)	The Thursday night NFL franchise which makes its CBS debut with an all-New York matchup between the Jets and the Buffalo Bills.
9 p.m.	Bravo	“Flipping Out” (R)	Season finale. Before their meeting with Alexandra, Jeff and Gage engage in a power struggle.
9 p.m.	The CW	“Beauty and the Beast” (D)	Series finale. In order to eradicate beast makers forever, Vincent and Cat are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.
9 p.m.	Lifetime	“Project Runway” (R)	With an episode titled “An Unconventional Launch Party” anything can happen during the 92-minute, 15th-season premiere of this fashion reality franchise.
10 p.m.	USA	“Queen of the South” (D)	With a new showrunner for season two on tap, the show’s first season wraps-up with Epifanio obtaining new information that puts Camila and Teresa’s plans in jeopardy.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:01 a.m.	Amazon	“Fleabag” (D)	Series premiere of writer/creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s TV adaptation of her award-winning play about an unfettered woman who rejects all who try to help her. All eight episodes of the show’s first season drop today.
7 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“Crashletes” (K)	Rob Gronkowski hosts the second-season premiere of the show looking at internet clips and/or home videos of everyday people, animals and athletes getting into hilarious pratfalls and bloopers.
8 p.m.	SyFy	“Z Nation” (D)	Two-hour season premiere. A new enemy appears, and the gang has to band together in order to protect the town.
9 p.m.	PBS	“Art in the Twenty-First Century” (T)	Musician Nick Cave and cartoonist Chris Ware are among the artists profiled in the eighth-season premiere.
10 p.m.	SyFy	“Dark Matter” (D)	Already renewed alongside fellow Friday night mate “Killjoys,” the show wraps its sophomore season with the Raza crew trying to prevent the destruction of the space station to avoid an all-out corporate war.
11:34 p.m.	NBC	“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (C)	Fallon wraps his third season as host of the No. 1 late night show on network TV by welcoming guest and musical performer Miley Cyrus, not coincidentally also a new judge on “The Voice,” bowing Monday.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Alabama takes on Mississippi in a mid-afternoon battle of college football dynasties.
7:30 p.m.	NBC	“College Football” (S)	Expect Michigan State visiting the fighting Irishman of Notre Dame to nab the night’s highest ratings.
8 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“Henry Danger” (K)	A night of season premieres for Nick originals kicks-off with the third-season opener, in which Kid Danger and Captain Man infiltrate a kid’s birthday party undercover to disable a dangerous piñata.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	“Sister Cities” (M)	Four estranged sister named after cities (Stana Katic’s Carolina, Jess Weixler’s Austin, etc.) reunite to mourn the passing of their mother, who may or may have not committed suicide. Alfred Molina co-stars.
9 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“School of Rock” (K)	Season premiere. The children band together to get Dewey back after their regular teacher returns, which threatens their dreams of becoming rock stars.
10 p.m.	OWN	“Oprah: Where Are They Now?” (N)	Dawn Wells (“Gilligan’s Island”), model Angie Everhart, David Faustino (“Married… with Children”) and R&B group En Vogue are profiled.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 p.m.	NBC	“Rio Paralympics” (S)	With NFL football doubleheaders airing simultaneously on Fox and CBS, NBC dedicates a three-hour block on Sunday afternoon to highlights from the about-to-conclude Rio Paralympics.
8 p.m.	ABC	“The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards” (A)	Jimmy Kimmel hosts the TV industry’s annual tribute to itself and the best the medium has to offer. Live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
8:20 p.m.	NBC	“Sunday Night Football” (S)	The Green Bay Packers help the Minnesota Vikings show off their brand new stadium for a nationwide TV audience.
8:30 p.m.	CBS	“The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey”” (N)	CBS premieres its new crime docudrama franchise with part one of its examination of the child murder case that transfixed the nation in the 1990s.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Ray Donovan” (D)	Season finale. Agent Barnes gets his hand on incriminating evidence; Ray tries to turn the Russian mob and the FBI against one another; a big fight tempts Mickey to try to make some easy money.
11 p.m.	E!	“After Party: The 2016 Emmy Awards”” (N)	Tune over to E! when ABC signs of, and see where the winners and losers head over to celebrate.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.