Fox’s NFL Team Has Impressive Streak

Southern California has the top-ranked college football team, but there also is a top-ranked NFL team here. It’s the Fox team of James Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.

This group has had the NFL pregame show arena corralled ever since Bradshaw rode in on a horse to launch Fox’s version on Sept. 12, 1994.

According to Fox, its Sunday show remains undefeated in going head-to-head with CBS since 1998 with a record of 129-0-2. And in the ratings this season, “Fox NFL Sunday” is beating CBS’ “The NFL Today,” 3.4 to 2.5.

CBS spokeswoman LeslieAnn Wade said CBS has been closing the gap in recent years. She also pointed out that the network that has the NFC, which for years was CBS, always has the higher pregame show ratings, because generally the larger markets have NFC teams.

However, Fox’s show beats CBS’ in non-NFL markets by 40%. In Los Angeles, Fox has the higher average rating, 2.5 to 1.2.

While CBS has tinkered with its show, “Fox NFL Sunday,” which initially originated from the Channel 11 lot in Hollywood and is now done on the Fox lot in West Los Angeles, has basically remained the same.

The keys to its success are a philosophy of mixing entertainment with football, the longevity of the cast and the cast itself.

Bradshaw is the star. Besides being a Hall of Fame quarterback, he is one of the funniest men on the planet. Long, an unproven commodity in the beginning, has turned out to be more than just a pretty face with a flattop.

Johnson, the only cast member who hasn’t been on the show continually from Day One, has fit in well. And unlike other coaches who have gone into broadcasting, he isn’t afraid to express strong opinions.

Of Matt Millen, the Lion general manager who was a Fox colleague, Johnson last Sunday said, “He still doesn’t know the role of a GM. He’s a part-time coach, a part-time scout and, with his family still living in Pennsylvania, he’s a part-time GM. A GM is a decision-maker, and look at his decisions. He’s hired two coaches and fired both of them.”

Then there’s Brown, the host. He serves as referee and peacemaker and somehow makes it all go smoothly.

“The MVP of the show,” Bradshaw said, “will always be J.B. because not only is he the best at what he does, he is the only one of the four of us who knows how to read a teleprompter.”

The producer since the start has been Scott Ackerson, who came over from ESPN with an edict from Fox bosses David Hill and Ed Goren to bring entertainment value to the show.

“We don’t treat football like a be all, end all,” Ackerson said. “We’ve always taken the approach -- let’s have a good time. We view the show as part ‘SportsCenter,’ part ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and part ’60 Minutes.’ ”

Said Bradshaw: “The No. 1 reason why I think the show has been so successful is that, surprise, we have a lot of fun together. We are all the best of friends on and off the air, and that shows each Sunday.”

The tone was established by the opening skit in 1994 in which Bradshaw parked his horse on the set. The skits, which were expensive to do, disappeared during the third season, but the entertainment element has remained.

And now it’s something you see everywhere in sports programming.