(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
There is something inherently amusing about a football game being knocked out of prime time for a tree lighting ceremony. Amusing unless you’re the network the made that decision, apparently.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter joined Murph and Mac for his weekly chat on Thursday morning, and said that NBC is angry with him for what they perceived as a mocking tone when he reported that Wednesday’s Ravens-Steelers game, a game that was originally supposed to take place in prime time on Thanksgiving, would be shown at 3:40 ET, since the network didn’t want to bump the 88th Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Schefter admits there may have been a chuckle during his report, for obvious reasons, but doesn’t understand why he should apologize for reporting the facts.
“It’s come to my attention that the fine folks at NBC weren’t particularly pleased,” Schefter said of the incident that took place on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. “They felt like I was mocking.
“Let’s say there was a little chuckle there. Again, I don’t think what I did was over the top. I thought it was just like ‘Okay, well this is just in, NFL’s going to 3:40 because it’s (small chuckle) the 88th Rockafeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony.’ Well there were people at NBC who were not happy.
“My understanding is they want an apology. My response is, what am I apologizing for? I reported factual…again, did I say anything that wasn’t factual? That’s my question.”
KNBR host Brian Murphy then pointed out that he tuned in for the tree lighting ceremony for the first time, in large part because of Schefter’s report.
“I tried to highlight, in fact I tweeted out Monday night, before I was even aware they were irritated with me, that here’s the NBC lineup on Wednesday night,” Schefter continued. “I thought I was trying to shine a light on what I had to offer.
“Again like I said, show me what I should be apologizing…just tell me! When I heard it, it was ‘tell me what I should be apologizing for?’ Like I presented nothing but factual information.”
Listen to the full interview below.