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If you're tuning in to NBC for Sunday Night Football tonight to watch the Indianapolis Colts take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, you may find yourself confused at first. That's because, at 8:00 p.m. ET, President Barack Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office, and NBC has announced that they will carry it live.
NBC will broadcast President's address to nation at 8 pm ET & rejoin Football Night coverage or kickoff immediately following speech #SNF
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 6, 2015
Kickoff for the Colts vs. Steelers game will not be pushed back and will be at the normal time of 8:25, and it's unclear how long Obama's address will go. If it cuts into the football game, though, NBC will cover the President's address and then switch to the game as soon as Obama is finished. President Obama is expected to address the nation over the growing threat and fear over terrorism along with the recent attack in California.
While it's an inconvenience, it's understandable why NBC would opt to show Obama's comments instead of their football pregame show and, perhaps, the first few minutes of the football game. It does leave Colts and Steelers fans in a tough spot, however. Fans can listen to the game if they have access to it on the radio, or perhaps NBC will still stream the game online. The network streams all Sunday Night Football games live online if you log in with your service provider, so it's very possible that they will do that again even if the game isn't shown on T.V. at the moment. Ultimately, however, if Obama's speech does cut into the game (and that in itself isn't certain, either), bear with it and be patient, and the Colts will be back on television soon enough.
UPDATE: On NBC's Football Night in America pregame show, host Dan Patrick said that President Obama is expected to address the nation for 15 minutes and that the network will be back in time for kickoff.