Editing XFL (2001) (section)

===Broadcast schedule===
At the beginning of the season, NBC showed a feature game at 8&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]] on Saturday nights, also taping a second game. The second game, in some weeks, would air in the visiting team's home market (as was the case in week 6 for the Enforcers-Maniax game, and in week 7, for the Maniax-Hitmen game) and be put on the air nationally if the feature game was a blowout (as was the case in week one) or encountered technical difficulties (as was the case in week two). Two games were shown each Sunday: one at 4&nbsp;p.m. Eastern on [[Paramount Network#The National Network, the New TNN, and professional wrestling (2000–2003)|TNN]] and another at 7&nbsp;p.m. Eastern on [[UPN]]. The XFL also had a fairly extensive local radio presence, often using nationally recognized disc jockeys. The morning radio duo of [[Rick and Bubba]], for instance, was the radio broadcast team for the [[Birmingham Thunderbolts]]. [[Super Dave Osborne]] was a sideline reporter for Los Angeles Xtreme broadcasts on [[KNX-FM|KLSX]]; [[WMVP]] carried Chicago Enforcers games.

Unusually for a professional league, the XFL did not feature a studio wraparound. The network offered ''XFL Gameday'', a pregame show featuring radio shock jocks [[Opie and Anthony]] for the first four weeks of the season, but the show was not carried nationwide and most affiliates joined in just before the game. Halftime consisted mostly of live look-ins into the player locker rooms, as coaches discussed their strategy and halftime adjustments with their players, as well as cheerleader performances. The XFL also, at McMahon's request, followed a somewhat different format than traditional professional football telecasts: The announcers more closely followed the model of professional wrestling where the [[color commentator]] had a [[Heel (professional wrestling)|villain-like role]], while the [[sideline reporter]]s (who were predominantly male, a rare example of the XFL being more conservative than the NFL at the time, which was incorporating attractive female sideline reporters) were former players and experienced sportscasters who were relied upon for more expert analysis than usual.

In the third week of the season, the games were sped up through changes in the playing rules, and broadcasts were subjected to increased time constraints. The reason was the reaction of [[Lorne Michaels]], creator and executive producer of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', to the length of the [[Los Angeles Xtreme]] versus [[Chicago Enforcers]] game that went into double overtime. The double overtime periods combined with a power outage earlier in the game due to someone not fueling a generator before the game delayed the contest, causing the start of ''Saturday Night Live'' to be pushed back from 11:30&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time to 12:15&nbsp;a.m. Sunday morning.{{sfn|Fritz|Murray|2006|page=172}} This angered Michaels, who expected high [[Nielsen ratings|ratings]] with [[Jennifer Lopez]] as the show's host.{{sfn|Fritz|Murray|2006|page=172}} For the rest of the season, the XFL cut off coverage at 11:00 Eastern Time, regardless of whether or not the game was over (there were exceptions, for the Chicago and Memphis markets for the Enforcers-Maniax game in week 6, and in New York and Memphis markets for the Maniax-Hitmen game in week 7). NBC Sports has retained this policy for other sports it runs in Saturday night time slots since the XFL's closure; in 2018, [[2018 NHL Stadium Series|a National Hockey League telecast]] was cut off under similar circumstances.<ref name="USA Today">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2018/03/03/lights-temporarily-go-out-navy-stadium-delaying-play-between-capitals-maple-leafs/392928002/ |title=Lights temporarily go out at Navy stadium, delaying play between Capitals, Maple Leafs |newspaper=USA Today |date=March 3, 2018 |access-date=March 4, 2018}}</ref>

In the face of declining ratings, NBC and the XFL aggressively promoted that the week&nbsp;6 game between the Orlando Rage and Las Vegas Outlaws would feature a behind-the-scenes visit into the locker room of the Rage's cheerleaders at halftime. The heavily promoted event was actually a pre-recorded [[sketch comedy|sketch]] with McMahon and a cameraman, who knocks himself unconscious on the locker room door trying to run in. This was followed by a suggestive [[dream sequence]] with the cheerleaders, including a surprise cameo by [[Rodney Dangerfield]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.gq.com/story/xfl-culture-wars |title=Vince McMahon Is Bringing Back the XFL and Diving into the Culture Wars |publisher=Condé Nast |magazine=GQ |language=en |access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref> The ''New York Daily News'' reported that the scene would likely be the "[last] salacious WWF-style stunt for the rest of the season", citing internal sources indicating that NBC wished to pivot the telecasts back towards a football-oriented product, including hiring NFL alumni as analysts, and reinstating Vasgersian as the lead commentator.<ref name="nydn-cheerleaders">{{cite news |title=XFL stops going to extremes |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/xfl-stops-extremes-article-1.916919 |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |publisher=[[Mortimer Zuckerman|Daily News L.P.]] |access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref><ref name="espn-slidebarely">{{cite web |title=XFL ends ratings slide – just barely |url=http://www.espn.com/otherfb/xfl/news/2001/0311/1147486.html |website=ESPN.com |publisher=ESPN Inc. |access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Fritz|Murray|2006|page=173}}