Behind the Mic: Prime Video Welcomes New Trio to Thursday Night Football; Jason McCourty Joins NFL Network's Good Morning Football By SVG Staff Friday, July 22, 2022 - 12:45 am
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Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Prime Video Welcomes Kaylee Hartung as Thursday Night Football Sideline Reporter; Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib Join as Pregame, Halftime, and Postgame Contributors and Former Super Bowl Champion Jason McCourty Added to NFL Network's Good Morning Football'
Prime Video Welcomes Kaylee Hartung as Thursday Night Football Sideline Reporter; Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib Join as Pregame, Halftime, and Postgame Contributors
Prime Video's Thursday Night Football team continues to take shape, as the streamer today announced three new on-air talent additions to its expanding roster of award-winning broadcasters and decorated NFL players with fresh-off-the-field perspectives. Accomplished reporter Kaylee Hartung, who has worked across both news and sports throughout her career, will patrol the sidelines during Thursday Night Football's game coverage, joining renowned play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and fellow Emmy-winner Kirk Herbstreit.
Additionally, Super Bowl Champions Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib will join Thursday Night Football as contributors to Prime Video's comprehensive wraparound coverage, providing depth and texture to pregame, halftime, and postgame segments. The former teammates will reunite on TNF, working with host Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman, and Ryan Fitzpatrick throughout the season.
We are thrilled to announce these new additions to our Thursday Night Football team. Kaylee Hartung will bring her world-class reporting skills to our game coverage every Thursday and Super Bowl winning Pro Bowlers Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib are proven champions who will bring their unique insights to our NFL coverage every week, said Marie Donoghue, Prime Video's VP, Global Sports Video.
This is an unbelievable opportunity to return to the sidelines and create something new in the sports landscape, said Hartung. Prime Video is bringing together legends in broadcasting and the NFL and it will be a tremendous privilege to work alongside them.
I'm excited to start this next chapter of my NFL life with the Prime Video team, and I look forward to being part of football in a whole new way this fall, said Whitworth.
I'm excited to reunite with Andrew and be a part of this new frontier for the NFL and Prime Video, said Talib. I'm looking forward to sharing my perspectives and connecting with fans on Thursday Night Football.
Throughout her career, Hartung has worked in a variety of reporting roles, including most recently for ABC News. On Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, and Nightline, she covered top headlines and interviewed stars in sports and entertainment. Prior to ABC, Hartung was a correspondent for CNN, reporting on breaking news coast-to-coast. She was also an award-winning sports reporter for ESPN for five years, appearing regularly on SportsCenter and contributing to the network's coverage of the biggest college sporting events in the country, including the College Football Playoffs and the College World Series.
Whitworth began his outstanding career as a tackle at Louisiana State University, where he twice earned first-team All-SEC honors. He broke into the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he protected the pocket for Prime Video's Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2007 and 2008. In 2017, Whitworth joined the Los Angeles Rams, where he closed out the final chapter of his 16 seasons in the NFL with a Super Bowl championship in February 2022. Throughout his professional career, Whitworth earned four Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro selections.
Talib rose to national prominence at the University of Kansas, where he earned consensus All-American honors in 2007 before being selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Talib's impressive NFL career includes five Pro Bowl selections, two All-Pro selections, and a Super Bowl 50 championship with the Denver Broncos.
Hartung, Whitworth, and Talib join an expanding roster of Prime Video Thursday Night Football on-air talent that includes legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, five-time Emmy-winning analyst Kirk Herbstreit, Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman, NFL quarterback extraordinaire Ryan Fitzpatrick, and NFL expert and top sports television host Charissa Thompson. Fred Gaudelli, producer of seven Super Bowls and a recent inductee into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, will serve as the executive producer of Thursday Night Football's game coverage. Multi-Emmy-award-winners Mike Muriano and Spoon Daftary are the executive and senior coordinating producers of Thursday Night Football's pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage. Additional members of the TNF on-air team will be announced over the coming weeks.
Kicking off September 15, Prime Video will become the first streaming service to air a season-long exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL. The 11-year deal includes 15 regular-season games and one preseason game per year, with Prime Video also delivering new pregame, halftime, and postgame shows as well as fan-favorite interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats powered by AWS. Viewers can stream from the web at amazon.com or by using the Prime Video app, which is available on smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, game consoles, and connected TVs. Each Thursday Nig
