ABC to broadcast 12 prime-time Saturday games

[Bucklion]

ABC primetime TV...Yippee...more 6 hour night games with 2467 commercials of guys on a "THREEEEE HOOOUUURRRR TOOOUUUURRRRRRRRR...."

But, considering thew atmospheres at night games in the actual stadium, I don't see one game on that list that won't be worth watching...if you can stay awake until the end.

 

[strohs]

how about "serenity now"?

Haha, hence why I stopped typing

 

[ScriptOhio]

Big Ten Network

See 2nd half of article.

Notebook: Pioneering spirit of MWC could start trend

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</TD><TD noWrap>May 23, 2006
By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
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Craig Thompson wants you to be able to watch Air Force football from your phone. Check the San Diego State score while eating your corn flakes. Watch highlights of TCU while on the, uh, commode.
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</TD><TD width=15></TD></TR><TR><TD width=180>The MWC commish wants Air Force football available on TV, DSL, satellite, phone and Internet. (Getty Images) </TD><TD width=15></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>It's all not only possible, it's likely. The only question (a huge one) is whether the Mountain West Conference and its broadcast partner can make enough money at it. The MountainWest Sports Network debuts in September as the first regional sports network dedicated to one conference.
"I think we can be a guinea pig," the Mountain West commissioner said. "This could be a model that others follow."
A year ago the league became the first of its kind to leave ESPN, mostly because conference presidents were tired of playing football on weeknights. It partnered with CSTV (like SportsLine.com, owned by parent company Viacom) in 2004 to form a regional network. The Mountain West signed a seven-year, $82 million deal with CSTV that began in 2005.
The concept has worked in other sports for 20 years. The Yankees, Braves, Cubs, Red Sox and Indians all have their own networks in baseball. But in college sports, leaving the Mother Ship is seen in the industry as suicide.
Maybe, except that now the Big Ten is headed in that direction, too. SportsLine.com has learned that the nation's biggest conference (in terms of demographic reach) is close to announcing a long-term agreement with ESPN that would include a side deal with DirecTV to broadcast the Big Ten Network.
The league has been silent, but the formation of its own network has been the talk of the industry. The Big Ten is the next major conference whose television deal expires (June 2007). What it does with its content to maximize profits might be a template for other major conferences.
Dropping production costs and the success of other "networks" has led the league to this point.
While ESPN will still get top games, the Big Ten Network most likely will broadcast second-tier football and basketball games as well as minor sports.
"It does make sense. ... The Big Ten will sell very well in Chicago, in Detroit, in Cleveland, in Pittsburgh, in Milwaukee, the footprint of the Big Ten," said a high-placed industry source. "They will have a viewing audience. ... You're going to see more of this moving forward."
Why is the Big Ten forcing its consumers to the more-expensive satellite TV? Basically, because it can. The league has one of the most loyal -- and well-heeled -- fan bases.
But while the Big Ten is betting on fans, Thompson is betting on fans' habits. With the help of CSTV, he wants the Mountain West to spread across all platforms -- cable, DSL, Internet, satellite, wireless and phone.
The 50-year-old commissioner bases this on intense research -- watching his 16-year-old-son Ted.
http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9456802

 

[CleveBucks]

I doubt I'd switch to DirecTV just to get second-tier Big Ten games. Also not sure why the Big Ten would give up national exposure on ESPN and ESPN2. How many people nationwide actually subscribe to DirecTV? 5%-10%?

 

[NightmaresDad]

Here is ABC and ESPN's announcer lineups for the '06 season:

ON THE AIR THIS FALL
ABC SPORTS, ESPN AND ESPN2 GAME COMMENTATORS

Game Telecast Play-by-play Analyst Reporter


ABC Saturday Night College Football Brent Musburger Bob Davie and Kirk Herbstreit* Lisa Salters
ABC Saturday games Brad Nessler Bob Griese and
Paul Maguire Stacey Dales
ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime Mike Patrick Todd Blackledge Holly Rowe
ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime Chris Fowler Kirk Herbstreit Erin Andrews
ESPN2 College Football Saturday Primetime Ron Franklin Ed Cunningham Dr. Jerry Punch
ESPN Saturday noon Sean McDonough Chris Spielman Rob Stone
ESPN2 Saturday noon Pam Ward Mike Gottfried Jimmy Dykes
ABC Saturday games Mark Jones David Norrie Sam Ryan
ABC Saturday games Dan Fouts Tim Brant Jack Arute
ABC Saturday games Gary Thorne Andre Ware Todd Harris
ESPN and ESPN2 Fridays Dave Pasch Rod Gilmore and
Trevor Matich Alex Flanagan
ESPN and ESPN2 midweek games John Saunders Craig James Todd Harris
ESPN and ESPN2 midweek games Rece Davis Mark May and
Lou Holtz Rob Stone
* On certain weeks, Herbstreit will be unable to work ABC's Saturday night telecast due to the location of College GameDay
ABC SPORTS AND ESPN STUDIO SHOWS
ABC Sports Host Analysts
Pre-games, halftimes and post-games John Saunders Craig James and
Doug Flutie
ESPN - Saturdays Host Analysts
College GameDay* Chris Fowler Lee Corso,
Kirk Herbstreit
Saturday day-long pre-game, halftime and post-game as well as midnight show Rece Davis Mark May and
Lou Holtz
* Desmond Howard will return as a College GameDay contributor
In a big shuffling of its college football on-air talent that Disney's ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 will announce today, Dan Fouts becomes a play-by-play announcer after 19 years as an analyst.
ESPN's Paul Maguire, who will join Bob Griese and Brad Nessler on ABC's top Saturday afternoon college TV team, can't see why Fouts lobbied for the change: "Who wants to work that hard? I hope he knows what he's doing."
Says Fouts: "It's been in the back of my mind for years. It's a new challenge."
Disney's outlets, the leading producers of college football TV tonnage, needs changes partly because of high-profile exits, including Keith Jackson saying he's retiring and really meaning it this time, sideline reporter Lynn Swann running for governor of Pennsylvania, analyst Gary Danielson moving to CBS and Aaron Taylor — who taught second grade before he was an ABC studio analyst — saying he'll forgo TV paychecks to devote himself to charitable work. (Yes, you read that correctly. No, it's not the start of a trend.)
And new on-air assignments are also prompted by scheduling changes such as ABC adding weekly Saturday prime-time games and ESPN losing Sunday night NFL games — which frees up Sunday NFL voices Maguire, Joe Theismann and play-by-play announcer Mike Patrick for new roles. Theismann moves to ESPN's Monday NFL games, and Patrick will call ESPN's Saturday college prime-time games with Todd Blackledge, who's coming from CBS.
For Maguire, who led the nation in scoring receptions (with 11) in 1959, working with Nessler and Griese will mean covering colleges for the first time since 1986. He then worked NBC NFL games, including two Super Bowls, with Phil Simms and eight seasons of NFL Sunday games on ESPN with Theismann. And if Maguire is nervous after going back to college, at least he's confident in new teammate Griese: "This will be the first time I've worked with a quarterback who knows anything about football." (Think he's joking?)
Fouts, who'll have Tim Brant as his analyst, joins a pretty small club — led by Pat Summerall, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf — who played football and then called play-by-play. But Fouts, who worked Monday Night Football with Dennis Miller and also called last season's college football title game in the Rose Bowl with Jackson, knows the drill from way back. His father, Bob, called San Francisco 49ers play-by-play on radio and TV for 20 years — allowing Dan to drop by the broadcast booth and be a team ball boy. But Dan, an ex-quarterback in the Hall of Fame, says he didn't think about going into TV when he played — "except when it was third-and-long."
Other changes in ABC/ESPN/ESPN2's college football on-air lineup include weekend studio analysts, such as Lou Holtz and Mark May, being scheduled to call weeknight games. And while Pam Ward remains the only woman calling games, ESPN executive vice president Norby Williamson suggests there's a potential pipeline in place to change that. Says Williamson, when asked if the plethora of female sideline reporters might eventually get into game-calling roles: "We've talked about that. ... I would like to get there." And then, for baby boomers anyway, rookie ABC studio analyst Doug Flutie— replacing Taylor — might turn ESPN's Boston College-Miami (Fla.) game on Thanksgiving night into Nostalgia Night. In 1984, Flutie was on the last BC team that, via a well-known pass, beat Miami in the Orange Bowl stadium. Williamson says Flutie might call games and doesn't rule out him working that one: "I'd leave that option open. We'd be crazy not to consider a role for him on that game."

Sucks that Danielson is leaving for CBS
Loved Maguire's needle to Theisman!

 

[808 Buck]

What I like:

1. Nessler and Griese are solid. Maguire is funny now and then.
2. It'll be interesting to hear Herbie and Fowler call a game together.
3. McDonough and Spiels should be a good pair.
4. Patrick and Blackledge will be very good together.

What I don't like:

1. Desmond Howard returns as a "contributor". Of exactly what, I might ask.
2. Don't care for three guys in the booth. Maguire could have been teamed elsewhere. (see #3)
3. Like right here with Ron Franklin (who I like). I'm not a big fan of Cunningham.
4. Feel bad for Jack Arute. Fouts and Brant? Hit the mute button.
5. Not real excited about hearing May and Holtz call a game.
6. Did I mention that Desmond Howard should never be let close to an open microphone?

 

[Dryden]

So Musburger and Davie are the exclusive pair for ABC Saturday Night telecasts? If ABC sticks to their guns on this, that would mean the end of Musburger calling "The Game." We'll only see either of them twice this year now, at Texas and at Iowa.

 

[ScriptOhio]

I doubt I'd switch to DirecTV just to get second-tier Big Ten games. Also not sure why the Big Ten would give up national exposure on ESPN and ESPN2. How many people nationwide actually subscribe to DirecTV? 5%-10%?

Re: "While ESPN will still get top games, the Big Ten Network most likely will broadcast second-tier football and basketball games as well as minor sports."

I didn't take it as "giving up" ESPN and ESPN2 football games, I think the DirecTV is "in addition" to the ESPN and ESPN2 football games. The DirecTV will also carry some Big 10 basketball games and other "minor sports".