NFL PREGAME SHOWS TO BATTLE PRESIDENT OBAMA

Sunday Night Football kicks off the season on NBC tonight on an odd note. First of all, it”s not airing on Sunday night; it’s airing on Thursday night. Also, the pregame show will not be airing on NBC, but it will be airing on five cable networks instead, USA Network, Syfy, Versus, G4 and NFL Network. That’s because President Obama is scheduled to address the nation on jobs and the economy when the pregame show would ordinarily air on the network. If the president’s remarks run short, NBC will pick up the pregame show and simulcast it with the cable outlets, the network said. NBC has been promoting the telecast throughout the week, not only on its own broadcast network (Matt Lauer and Al Roker of the Today show have been in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the site of tonight’s game) but on NBC Universal-owned cable networks as well. (Roker and Stephanie Abrams have been airing their program on the Weather Channel from the site, and CNBC’s Darren Rovell, who reports on sports business, is also airing his reports from the site.)