NFL Agenda-setting: The NFL Programming Schedule: A Study of Agenda-setting

In 2006 the NFL instituted substantial changes in the television programming schedule, including Monday Night Football moving to ESPN, NBC televising games on Sunday night with a flexible schedule component, and games being televised on the NFL Network. The agenda-setting theoretical model claims that media exposure and the emphasis of certain attributes of the topic can increase the public salience of the topic and those emphasized attributes. In sports the proper programming schedule can do more than transfer topic salience, but, in fact, help influence the behavior of audience viewing that translates into revenue for the networks and the sports league.