In 1998, the United Kingdom terrestrial TV station Channel 5 began covering Monday Night Football for which Carlson was the regular analyst from the start until the channel's coverage ended in 2010. During this time he worked with hosts Martin Bayfield, Josh Chetwynd, Mark Webster, Simon Golding, Colin Murray and Nat Coombs. He contributed to now-defunct weekly American football newspaper "First Down" and covered NFL Europe for NFL.com, Pro Football Weekly, the International Herald Tribune, and for a couple of seasons, The Guardian.