| College Football Primetime | |
|---|---|
| Format | College football |
| Starring | Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer, and Jenn Brown |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 3 hours (approximate) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPN |
| Original run | – Present |
ESPN College Football Primetime is a live game presentation of Division 1-A college football on ESPN. In the past, the presenting sponsor was Cooper Tires, but since the 2006 season, the current presenting sponsor is Applebee's. The game telecast airs every Thursday night at 7:45pm ET during the college football regular season. The game is preceded by a short 5–10 minute segment with TBA , Lou Holtz and Mark May, all of whom also appear on the halftime report. This game telecast is also presented in high definition on ESPNHD.
It has broadcast games from numerous conferences including the SEC, ACC and the Big East. This game is often seen as the ESPN Game of the Week along with the Saturday night telecast.
The most visible voices of ESPN College Football Primetime over the years have been Mike Tirico, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, but none remain in the booth, with Tirico and Herbstreit being promoted and Corso cutting back on his schedule. The current commentators are Rece Davis on play-by-play, Craig James and Jesse Palmer as analysts and Jenn Brown as field reporter.
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On the November 2, 2006, Thursday night telecast of #3 West Virginia Mountaineers' 44–34 loss to #5 Louisville Cardinals delivered an average of 4,916,000 households (based on a 5.3 rating), the biggest household audience ever for a Thursday night game on the network and the second-biggest college football audience ever for an ESPN game (any day or time slot). The previous Thursday high was an average of 4,097,000 homes for the Virginia Cavaliers 33-28 win over #2 ranked Florida State Seminoles, played exactly 11 years earlier November 2, 1995.
The most-watched game in ESPN history also occurred in 2006 as an average of 6,318,000 homes tuned in to the September 4, 2006 game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes.
| Game | Play- by- Play | Analyst(s) | Field Reporter(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Mike Tirico | Mike Gottfried or Todd Blackledge | Jerry Punch | |
| 1998 | ||||
| 1999 | Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit | |||
| 2000 | ||||
| 2001 | ||||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2003 | ||||
| 2004 | Jill Arrington | |||
| 2005 | Kirk Herbstreit | Erin Andrews | ||
| 2006 | Chris Fowler | |||
| 2007 | Doug Flutie and Craig James | |||
| 2008 | Craig James and Jesse Palmer | |||
| 2009 | ||||
| 2010 | Rece Davis | Jenn Brown | ||
| 2011 |