'Inside the NFL' makes big change for 2026 season
Awful Announcing · Matt Yoder · 2026-09-08T18:34:05+00:00 · nguồn gốc
The landmark program Inside the NFL has been on quite the journey over the last several years.
The show was must-see TV and a bedrock of HBO’s NFL schedule, starring an esteemed panel of Len Dawson, Cris Collinsworth, and Nick Bunocanti for several seasons. If you are a football fan of a certain age, Inside the NFL was the gold standard. When highlights were rare, Inside the NFL offered an incredible look inside each game, thanks to NFL Films’ ahead-of-its-time work, narration by Harry Kalas, and analysis from the panelists.
However, like many things in the modern media age, Inside the NFL has had to adapt, and that has also led it on a nomadic journey.
After its stellar run on HBO, Inside held steady at Showtime for more than a decade, from 2008 to 2021. But then the program landed at Paramount+ and The CW for just two seasons each. In 2025, Inside the NFL began broadcasting on the X social media platform. And although it’s staying on X for the 2026 season, it’s being reimagined once again.
Front Office Sports was the first to reveal that the program would drop the panelists entirely for the new campaign. NFL Films head of content Keith Cossrow admitted that the panel didn’t work last season, with the analysts dialing in remotely instead of being in the same studio, so they chose to forego the entire structure this time around.
“It didn’t connect with audiences in a way that demanded it return. We didn’t think it reflected the visual quality and brand of Inside the NFL, and not having them together in one place, as we had had going all the way back to Len Dawson and Cris Collinsworth, when those guys were together, and even two years ago we shot Inside the NFL at the NFL Films studio for The CW with Clark hosting with Bill Belichick, Chris Long, and Chad,” Cossrow noted.
This year, Inside the NFL will feature prominently on the new NFL Gametime vertical on X with new episodes debuting each Wednesday. It’s a testament to the power and prominence of the NFL that the historic show is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. NFL Films’ work is second to none in the industry. But with the proliferation of highlights and analysis readily available 24/7, it’s understandable that it no longer carries the same weight or prestige as it did at its peak.