The AA Sunday Studio Spectacular: NFL GameDay Live

After reviewing Sunday NFL pregame shows for the last eight weeks, we move to our first in-progress game highlights program, NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Live. This program began this season with two hosts, Kevin Frazier and Dan Hellie. It has a panel of analysts including Brian Billick formerly with the NFL on Fox.

Airing for 6½ hours from 1 p.m. ET until 7:30 p.m., this provides viewers with game highlights, but not in real-time. There are no live cut-ins to games like NFL RedZone or DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel.

So without further delay, let’s look at NFL GameDay Live.

NFL GAMEDAY LIVE — NFL NETWORK

Hosts: Kevin “Down Goes” Frazier and Dan Hellie
Analysts: Brian Billick, Heath Evans, Daniel Jeremiah, LaDanian Tomlinson

Best Segment

There are no best segments. This is like news radio where if you listen for two hours, you’ll hear the same stories and the same segments over and over again. More on this later, but you see where I’m going.

Worst Segment

There are a lot of segments in this program and without any live cut-ins, the show is hampered. Highlights are often repeated, jokes come at the same time in the highlights and without the ability to cut-in live into games, there’s a lot of dry discussion among the hosts and analysts.

One segment can’t be pinpointed at the worst as they constantly run into one another in a monotonous way.

Standout Performer

There are no standouts in this program, which is really saying something given there’s no Bill Simmons-esque lack of airtime for anyone.

Say What? (weirdest quote)

Because no one really stood out, no one really says anything outrageous. The show is dull and therefore no analyst said anything weird.

What’s Unique About This Show?

It’s 6½ hours long.  You could drive from Boston to New York and back in the time it takes to watch this show.

Why You Should Watch

Without any live cut-ins, there’s not really a reason to watch. Presumably, if you’re a football fan, you’d want to be watching live football games instead of a studio show that merely talks about them.

Why You Should Stay Away

It’s 6½ hours long. Did we mention that?

Overall Grade

There’s not much positive to say about NFL GameDay Live. It’s not meant to be seen in one ling sitting. As mentioned above, it’s like listening to news radio which is based on a programming clock where stories are often repeated throughout a half-hour or a complete hour. In NFL GameDay Live’s case, game highlights are often repeated. If a score or turnover happens, it’s added to the highlights.

NFL GameDay Live is like NFL RedZone or Red Zone Channel Lite. For those who don’t have access to either of the live cut-in channels, this cannot be considered an ample replacement. Instead, it has to be considered an update channel which does provide real-time scores and live discussions, but can’t come close to the Red Zones. To be completely honest, GameDay Live came off quite dull and lifeless. It’s more due to the format than the cast itself.

We could not completely watch the entire program. Your humble reviewer made it through five hours, but that was enough for this review.

Because of its restrictions, we cannot recommend GameDay Live. The Red Zones are far superior for their live highlights and if you want updates and statistics, there are other places to get them as well. Our grade for the program is a D minus and that is the lowest to date.

Next week, our month of reviewing NFL Network programs ends with a look at NFL GameDay Final.

Sunday Studio Show Rankings

Fox NFL Sunday (Fox): B+
NFL GameDay Morning (NFL Network): B
That Other Pregame Show (CBS Sports Network): B
Fox NFL Kickoff (Fox Sports 1): B-
Football Night in America (NBC): C+
NFL GameDay First (NFL Network): C+
The NFL Today (CBS): C
Sunday NFL Countdown (ESPN): C-
NFL GameDay Live (NFL Network): D-