NBC To Get In On That Thursday Night Football Lovin’

For the last couple of seasons, CBS has been — with the exception of Thanksgiving night — the NFL’s sole dance partner on Thursday nights. But starting next season, CBS will have to get used to the idea of the league spending time romancing another “friend” — NBC.

The NFL announced today that both CBS and NBC will get Thursday night games for at least the 2016 and 2017 seasons. In order to make room on the loveseat for a second partner, it’s increasing the number of primetime network games to 10, meaning NBC and CBS will each get five.

And just to minimize the odds of the two competitors bumping into each other as they swap broadcasting duties, CBS will get the first five games of the season, with NBC picking up the remaining half. Yes, you’ll still need to figure out where the NFL Network is on your cable listings for those other Thursday games that aren’t simulcast on the broadcast networks.

More