New NFL Deal Brings Thursday Night Football to CBS; Will The Big Bang Theory Move Back to Mondays?

The NFL and CBS have reached an agreement that will allow CBS to simulcast eight Thursday Night Football games in September and October 2014. The games will still be shown on The NFL Network as they have since Thursday Night Football began in 2006. So what does that mean for the next season of The Big Bang Theory and the rest of CBS’ Thursday prime-time lineup?

The Big Bang Theory is the most watched comedy on TV so any alteration to its time slot will have huge implications for the shows it anchors (Elementary, The Millers, The Crazy Ones) as well as competing slates on ABC and NBC.

Vulture speculates that CBS may temporarily move the show back to its former Monday night slot for those eight weeks in order to bolster a lineup that will have to do without How I Met Your Mother, which ends next month. It’s also possible the network could hold back the premieres of its Thursday shows until November, when its eight game NFL contract is concluded, or try for some combination of the two. The audience reaction to the potential HIMYM spinoff How I Met Your Dad may also factor in.

The NFL deal is big news but it remains to be seen how much of an impact it will have ratings-wise. Though Thursday Night Football draws a good crowd for cable, its average 8 million viewers is somewhat lower than CBS’ regular Thursday night draw. Then again, a wider broadcast audience might change all that. The deal only lasts for one year with an option to renew for one additional season, so both parties are wary of the possibility that this could break either way.

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