Amazon Picks Charissa Thompson to Host ‘Thursday Night Football’ Ancillary Programming

Charissa Thompson, a regular presence at Fox Sports, is broadening her horizons.

The sportscaster, known for hosting “Fox NFL Kickoff” on Sundays during the NFL season, will also be working Thursday nights. Amazon’s Prime Video has selected Thompson to host its pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of “Thursday Night Football,” of which the first season under its aegis will launch this fall. When it does, Prime Video will become the first streaming service to air a season-long exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL. Veteran Al Michaels is moving to “Thursday Night Football” from NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” where he will be joined by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

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“We are excited to welcome Charissa to the TNF team,” said Jared Stacy, Prime Video’s director of global live sports production, in a statement “Her infectious enthusiasm, quick wit, and strong NFL credentials make her perfectly suited for this role. We look forward to seeing her elevate conversations and connecting with viewers every Thursday night.”

Thompson got her starts in the sports world in the human-resources department of Fox Sports, and parlayed her time there into jobs working in production, and then on air. She launched her on-air career at Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain. She has also worked for Versus, Yahoo Sports and NBC’s “Extra.”

“I’m beyond thrilled to be joining Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football crew on the road each week this season,” said Thompson., in a statement. “This is an exciting opportunity for me to expand my NFL responsibilities and I can’t wait to work with Ryan, Richard—whom I affectionately call ‘Sherm’ (12th Man respect)— and my old friend Tony Gonzalez.”

Fred Gaudelli, producer of seven Super Bowls and a recent inductee into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, will serve as the executive producer of Thursday Night Football’s game coverage.  Mike Muriano and Spoon Daftary are the executive and senior coordinating producers of Thursday Night Football’s pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage. Additional members of the TNF on-air team will be announced over the coming weeks.

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