Different Options for Watching the Game On TV

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ESPN plans to unveil a programming platform of such scope and scale for the BCS National Championship Game that the network describes it as a “megacast.”

In total, the network will offer six different ways to follow Florida State and Auburn on Jan. 6, beginning with the tent-pole program: the game itself, Seminoles against Tigers, called by the team of Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit on ESPN.

Augmenting the normal broadcast are a number of game-centric viewing options across ESPN’s family of networks, whether televised – as on ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Classic – or online, via the network’s ESPN3 service. Each channel will begin its broadcast at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, coinciding with kickoff of the championship game.

“The majority of the people will still watch the game on ESPN,” Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive vice president, programming, told USA TODAY Sports. “But our hope is people will sample other things. Whether they’re flipping from ESPN, flipping over to these other offerings. Whether it’s additive, whether it’s people watching on a second screen while they’re watching the game and tweeting in, in hopes that some of their tweets will show up on ESPN. That’s the overall concept.”

ESPN2, for example, will air “BCS Title Talk,” a broadcast featuring ESPN college football analysts and a number of guest hosts, including coaches – several of whom are familiar with both FSU and Auburn – and celebrities. “BCS Film Room,” on ESPNEWS, will feature in-depth, play-by-play analysis of the game from a panel of ESPN experts and guests, all working with different camera angles than those used in the traditional broadcast.

“You get this dialogue going back and forth within these other lenses, if you will,” Williamson said. “You just have different people from different perspectives agreeing, disagreeing, learning.”

On ESPN Classic, viewers have the option of eliminating the clutter: “Sounds of the BCS” will remove the play-by-play call heard on ESPN, teaming the on-screen game coverage with ambient sounds heard in the stadium – microphones on the field and the stands, for example, and the venue’s public-address announcer.

The “BCS Command Center,” shown on ESPN Goal Line, will split the screen with live action and replays of the previous play. Along with the split-screen view, ESPN Goal Line will utilize the ESPN Radio call and integrate live game statistics.

The online service ESPN3 will offer team-specific coverage: “Auburn Radio Call” and “Florida State Radio Call” will provide each school’s radio broadcast teamed with isolation cameras on key coaches and players. Each option will also include live fan reactions from watch parties within the Auburn and Florida State markets.

“We always champion the multi-platform approach of ESPN,” Williamson said. “We thought this was the perfect opportunity to frankly have some fun, experiment and try to come up with different offerings to see what we can deliver on the biggest stage that we’re going to have.”

Even with the number of secondary shows across the network, no option takes precedence over ESPN’s game broadcast – the centerpiece of the entire evening’s programming.

“The one thing you need to make sure is, you’ve got to make sure you block and tackle – no pun intended – on the game,” Williamson said. “The game on ESPN is by far, by far the most important execution. We have to make sure that nothing gets in the way of doing the greatest possible show on ESPN. We’re all very confident that we have that priority first and foremost, and that we’ll protect that.”

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