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ESPN Plans Megacast For Tonight’s CFB Title Game

Jason Barrett

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When ESPN uses its resources and scale to enhance the viewing experience for a major sporting event—as the company has done for the past two years with coverage of college football’s national title game—the results are often tremendous. Smartly, the network will once again feature Megacast coverage for the matchup between Alabama and Clemson in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Along with the traditional broadcast airing on ESPN—Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game, Heather Cox is assigned to Clemson, Tom Rinaldi will report on Alabama, and rules expert Dave Cutaia and medical expert Dr. Jerry Punch also will be available—the company will offer 14 alternate productions across ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, and ESPN3. There is also ESPN Radio’s broadcast, and all Megacast feeds will be available on WatchESPN.

Over the past two years the best Megacast option has been the Film Room segment, which has shown ESPN at its innovative, understated best. The concept: Get a group of current college football coaches together at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters to watch the game in real time via the regular broadcast, an All-22 camera and coach clicker technology. This year’s Film Room will once again air on ESPN2, with analysts Brian Griese and Chris Spielman as the hosts. Florida coach Jim McElwain will be one of the coaches.

The other Megacast elements:

•Homers Telecast (ESPNU): This new Megacast feature consists of a broadcast with analysts who will side with each of the teams. Joe Tessitore will call play-by-play with former Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd and former Alabama center Barrett Jones serving as the “homer” game analysts. Kenny Mayne will be on the sidelines. Dave Pasch will also be a part of the telecast.

•ESPN Voices (ESPNEWS): A group of ESPN personalities and celebrities will watch the game from a living room-type atmosphere. Teddy Atlas, Michelle Beadle, Jay Bilas, Marcellus Wiley and Taylor Twellman are expected to be part of the show.

•Sounds of the Game (ESPN Classic): This option will not have broadcasters. Instead, you can watch the telecast amplified by more than 100 microphones positioned throughout the stadium in addition to the public address announcer. The halftime performances will be shown in their entirety on this channel.

•Finebaum Film Room (SEC Network): SEC Network host Paul Finebaum along with SEC Network analysts Greg McElroy and Booger McFarland will watch the game from near the stadium and provide instant, live reaction. The show will also take live calls throughout the game. McElroy was excellent in this spot last year. Arkansas coach Bret Bielema will be part of this telecast.

•Spanish-Language Call (ESPN Deportes): Lalo Varela, Pablo Viruega, Bernardo Osun, and Carlos Nava call the game in Spanish.

•Command Center (ESPN Goal Line): A full-time, split-screen application showing the live game action, replays of every play, isolated camera feeds of both head coaches, enhanced statistics, and the ESPN Radio broadcast call.

•Home Town Radio (ESPN3): The ESPN telecast will be available with both the Alabama and Clemson home radio broadcasts serving as the audio. Alabama’s radio team is Eli Gold, Phil Savage, and Chris Stewart. The Clemson radio team is Don Munson, Rodney Williams and Patrick Sapp.

• Pylon Cam (ESPN3): A continuous stream from cameras at the eight pylons surrounding the field, both at the goal lines and the backlines of the end zones. The position of the ball will determine which 12 of the 24 available camera feeds will be displayed. There will also be a featured replay box offering the best pylon camera angle available of any key plays.

• Student Section (ESPN3): There will be cameras in the student sections (featuring 500 students from each school) as well as on the cheerleaders, bands and mascots of each team.

•Mock Replay Booth (ESPN3): This feature will mimic a traditional replay booth inside a college football stadium. Current ACC Replay Official Ralph Pickett and current SEC Replay Communicator Ben Oldham will take viewers through the full process of reviewing every play from their recreated replay booth set up in Bristol. They will be joined by former ACC Coordinator of Officials and current ESPN Rules Expert Doug Rhoads.

•Data Center (ESPN3): This option will consist of on-screen graphic content including analytics, curated social media reaction and more.

•Spider Cam (ESPN3): A continuous feed from the camera that roams the stadium from above the field.

•ESPN Radio will have Mike Tirico calling play-by-play, Todd Blackledge as the game analyst, Holly Rowe on the Alabama sideline and Joe Schad on the Clemson sideline. Rules expert Bill LeMonnier will also be available.

Read more at Sports Illustrated where this article was originally published

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Shannon Sharpe on His Future: Stay Tuned

“While Sharpe’s future as a sports debate host remain unclear, the Super Bowl champion tweeted that his following should keep an eye out for what’s coming next.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe posted on social media over the weekend for the first time since news broke of his impending exit from FOX Sports and his role opposite Skip Bayless on the FS1 show Undisputed.

Sharpe reached an agreement with the network last week to buyout the remaining time on his contract.

While Sharpe’s future as a sports debate host remain unclear, the Super Bowl champion tweeted that his following should keep an eye out for what’s coming next. The tweet showed Shannon in front of a camera in a gardening setting.

Many in sports media have offered their support of Sharpe, as he exits what had become a strained relationship with Bayless. The two had a series of heated on-air exchanges in recent months before a national audience.

Multiple hosts involved with ESPN have voiced publicly that they’re rooting for Sharpe to join The Worldwide Leader. Pat McAfee last week said he was “hoping like hell” Sharpe would show up to ESPN when he and his show debut on the network in the coming months. First Take host Stephen A. Smith also said he would make room for Sharpe on his show if he wanted to appear.

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Writers Strike Driving Advertisers to NBA, NHL Finals

“TV and cable networks have surpassed beer brands as the top buyers of ad time from the conference finals to now.”

Jordan Bondurant

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As the writers strike carries on, the NBA and NHL and their broadcast partners have been pleasantly surprised by the steady flow of advertising as their championship series take center stage.

The NBA Finals began last Thursday, and the Stanley Cup Final in the NHL started on Saturday. With the writers strike impacting many in the entertainment industry, advertisers are flocking to these major sporting events.

“The Finals have historically been a high-demand area for the studio business based on time of year, but we have seen recent growth from the streaming services as well,” ESPN senior vice president of revenue and yield management, Jim Minnich, told Deadline He indicated that TV and cable networks have surpassed beer brands as the top buyers of ad time from the conference finals to now.

The hope is that both the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final will go the distance game wise, so both ESPN/ABC and Warner Bros. Discovery can maximize the spike in entertainment advertising. Both series are best-of-seven. The NBA Finals will go at least five games now, after the Miami Heat won Game 2 in Denver on Sunday night. The Vegas Golden Knights lead the Florida Panthers 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 2 is Monday night in Las Vegas.

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Adam Silver: NBA Tried to Mediate Dispute Between Comcast & Altitude Sports

“As we are trying to design what a new approach should be to see NBA games, the part that is on us is taking into account how a local fan is able to watch as well.”

Jordan Bondurant

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It has been a heated topic of discussion on Denver sports talk radio for several years. Now NBA commissioner Adam Silver has weighed in on the ongoing dispute between Comcast and Altitude TV.

The regional sports network is the home to the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacross League, and issues between the cable provider to the vast majority of Coloradans and the network have dragged on for several years now.

Kroenke Sports and Entertainment owns Altitude TV as well as the three teams above, in addition to owning the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL and Arsenal in the Premier League. Altitude has taken Comcast to court over perceived violations of antitrust laws. Despite the two sides reaching a settlement in March, Altitude remained unavailable on Comcast.

It’s believed that over 90% of Denver residents don’t have access to Altitude as a result of the dispute, although that stat has been questioned.

Silver, ahead of the first two games of the NBA Finals in Denver this weekend, said the league did what they could to try and help the two sides reach an agreement.

“The league office has tried to mediate several times between the parties,” Silver said last week ahead of Game 1. “It’s a commercial dispute. There hasn’t been a simple resolution to it.”

“I know there’s no doubt it’s bad for fans, of course, and the team recognizes that,” he added. “It’s my hope, though, and one of the things that’s changed considerably since this dispute has started is the advent of many more streaming platforms, better digital streaming technology.”

Silver expressed frustration over the lack of access in the Denver market to the team outside of national broadcasts. He said the regional sports network model is broken.

“It makes no sense,” he said. “It’s on us to fix it.”

The league currently has two years left on its current media rights deal, and given the crumbling at the top of the RSN ladder with Bally Sports and AT&T Sportsnet, Silver sees an opportunity for the NBA in this next deal to shift how fans see games locally.

“As we are trying to design what a new approach should be to see NBA games, the part that is on us is taking into account how a local fan is able to watch as well,” he said. “As opposed to historically we’ve had local games and national games, to me, I think from a fan standpoint, they’re certainly not making those distinctions.”

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