Monday Night Countdown

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Monday Night Countdown, which debuted in 1993 on ESPN, is a television program featuring analysis and news on that night's NFL match to be broadcast on ESPN. The show was originally titled NFL Prime Monday from 1993-97 before it was renamed Monday Night Countdown in 1998. The official name of the show is Monday Night Countdown served by Applebee's. The show's previous sponsor was UPS.

When it first debuted, it was one of the first cross-pollinations between ESPN and ABC Sports, which each largely operated under separate management at the time.

Monday Night Football on ABC era
The show was initially hosted by Mike Tirico along with analysts Joe Theismann, Craig James, Phil Simms and Ron Jaworski. Mike Ditka also discusses certain topics and Chris Mortensen brings news and rumors from around the league. John Clayton is also a regular guest on the show. Former presenters include Mike Tirico, Bill Parcells, Michael Irvin, and Sterling Sharpe. During the 2005 season, it enjoyed its best ratings ever and was the highest-rated studio sports show on cable television. On occasion, the crew appeared on-site at the game, but for the most part the show is aired from the studios in Bristol, Connecticut.

2006
In 2006, the show began appearing at the Monday Night Football site live as the game moved to ESPN from ABC. Stuart Scott moved to host of NFL Primetime which precedes Monday Night Countdown and Chris Berman moved from NFL Primetime to Monday Night Countdown and was joined by returning analysts Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin along with new analyst from Sunday NFL Countdown Steve Young. Ron Jaworski also contributed to the show along with Chris Mortensen, Ed Werder and Sal Paolantonio. Also, in 2006 Monday Night Countdown introduced a new logo and new graphics as part of The Syndicate's new NFL package for ESPN. In the same fashion as all ESPN NFL studio shows, Monday Night Countdown adopted ABC's alternate football musical theme, though presented as a shuffle.

2007
Beginning with the 2007, the show cutback its onsite presence by having its main anchor team at ESPN studio's in Bristol, but still kept a set at the actual game site.

2008
The Bristol team was Berman, Jackson, Mortensen, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson, and Cris Carter. The on-site team is Scott, Young, and Emmitt Smith.

2009-present
The current Bristol team is Berman, Jackson, Mortensen, Ditka, Johnson, and Carter. The on-site team is Scott, Young, and Matt Millen (later Trent Dilfer) in the third spot.

On September 17, 2012, Monday Night Countdown moved up to the 6:30 ET timeslot and expanded to 2 hours. As a result, SportsCenter Monday Kickoff had its runtime cut in half, from 60 minutes to 30 minutes only. Additionally, Monday Night Countdown debuted a new program logo that closely resembles that of Monday Night Football and a new graphics scheme package matching that of Monday Night Football. Also, Monday Night Countdown began using MNF's "Heavy Action" theme music as this program's own theme music.

Personalities
This is a list of personalities that currently or formerly appeared on Monday Night Countdown.

Studio

 * Chris Berman: (Host, 2006–present)
 * Cris Carter: (Analyst, 2008–Present)
 * Mike Ditka: (Contributor, 2004–2005; 2007) (Analyst, 2008–Present)
 * Tom Jackson: (Analyst, 2006–present)
 * Keyshawn Johnson: (Analyst, 2007–present)
 * Suzy Kolber: (Contributor, 2006–present)

On-site

 * Stuart Scott: (Host, 2002–2005, 2007–present)
 * Trent Dilfer: (Analyst, 2011–present)
 * Steve Young (Analyst, 2006–present)
 * Sal Paolantonio: (Contributor, 2006–present)
 * Ed Werder: (Contributor, 2006–present)
 * Lisa Salters: (Sideline reporter, 2012-present)

NFL Insiders

 * Chris Mortensen: (1993–present)
 * Adam Schefter: (2009–present)

Former

 * Michael Irvin: (Analyst, 2003–2006)
 * Craig James: (Analyst, 1993–?)
 * Ron Jaworski: (Analyst, ?–2005)
 * Matt Millen: (Analyst 2009–2010)
 * Bill Parcells: (Analyst, 2007)
 * Sterling Sharpe: (Analyst, 1995–2002)
 * Phil Simms: (Analyst, 1994)
 * Emmitt Smith: (Analyst, 2007–2008)
 * Joe Theismann: (Analyst, 1993–1997)
 * Mike Tirico: (Host, 1993–2001)
 * Michelle Tafoya: (Contributor, 2006–2011)

Current

 * Teams at 20: Every 20 minutes reporters Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber will update news from the teams in their preparations for the game.
 * Playmaking Made Easy: The presenters of the program are seen outside giving a full demonstration of how to perform certain moves.
 * The Mort Report: Chris Mortensen breaks down trade rumours, coaching changes and injuries.
 * Sunday Drive: Ron Jaworski provides a look inside the game, breaking down a key scoring drive from start to finish.
 * In the Pocket: Quarterback Steve Young casts his eye on the best and worst quarterbacking performances of the week.
 * C'Mon Man!: During the show, they will each describe a play or series of plays that made them scratch their heads and say "C'Mon Man!". Derivative of Ed Lover's popular webseries C'mon Son!

Former

 * Playmakers: Michael Irvin, reviews the players who made the biggest difference in Sunday's NFL action.
 * Jacked Up: At the end of the show Tom Jackson counts down the top five biggest hits of the week. In 2006, the format went to 6, and 6 to 4 were done on the show, and 3 to 1 were done at halftime. It was discontinued and replaced by the "C'Mon Man!" segment at the request of the NFL. This was probably due to the growing concern about concussions and other player safety issues which the segment indirectly celebrated.

Resources

 * Press Release: ESPN'S 2006 NFL LINEUP SURROUNDS MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL WITH 188 YEARS OF GRIDIRON EXPERIENCE