ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime

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College Football Primetime
Format College football
Starring Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, and Samantha Ponder
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 John Saunders (journalist), 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, Jesse Palmer as analyst, David Pollack as analyst and Samantha Ponder as field reporter.

Ratings

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 into the September 4, 2006 Labor Day game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes.

Personalities

Current

Former

Game features

  • Starting Lineups: The starting lineups are presented during the first possession of each team's offense and defence.
  • Impact Players: Following the starting lineups, Davis, Palmer, and Pollack run down the top two or three impact players on each team's side of the ball.
  • Halftime Report: John Saunders, Lou Holtz and Mark May present the halftime report, which features analysis of the first half, highlights of earlier games and a look at other happenings in the sports world.
  • SportsCenter In-game: This segment appears during various time in the game, when John Saunders gives up to the minute highlights when something big happens in another game.

By year

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
2012 Jesse Palmer and David Pollack Samantha Ponder

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiAyJwdprE&feature=PlayList&p=E142275CED1D78C4&index=29
  2. ↑ http://www.cubuffs.com/pdf6/47944.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600

External links

Executives
U.S. networks
International
Co-owned Canadian sports networks
Current ventures
Defunct ventures
U.S. sports broadcasting rights
Other properties
Notable personalities
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