Tonight’s ESPN MegaCast presentation of the College Football Playoff National Championship game between Georgia and Alabama will provide 20 different productions. Last year’s national championship game had 14 feeds, the first year ESPN used the MegaCast for college football was 2014 where they offered eight simulcasts.
ESPN and ABC will present the traditional broadcast with play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler and analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Tom Rinaldi will be reporting on Alabama, Maria Taylor is covering Georgia and rules expert Dave Cutaia will be available in the booth as needed. The ESPN feed will be available in 179 countries.
ESPN Voices, a simulcast of non-college football analysts watching the game together launched in 2015. This year it returns with five separate feeds, each one will be simultaneously shown on ESPNU in an NFL RedZone fashion.
According to ESPN Media Zone the five ESPN Voices shows are:
- The Dan Le Batard Show: Dan Le Batard and Stugotz will be joined by their normal cast of their radio program, broadcasting live from their radio studio, inside the Clevelander hotel
- SportsCenter: ESPN personalities and guests from SportsCenter including Scott Van Pelt, who will be pulling double-duty as he will be simultaneously preparing for his own SportsCenter, which will air following the game
- NFL Live: Wendi Nix will host and be joined by former LSU safety Ryan Clark, Boston College quarterback Tim Hasselbeck and Pitt safety Louis Riddick from their traditional studio in Bristol, Conn.
- ESPN at LA Live: Rachel Nichols, along with Amin Elhassan, LZ Granderson, and Anita Marks will be at ESPN’s Los Angeles based studios
- The Cool Room-NYC: A number of ESPN personalities, to be announced at a later date, will watch the game from the ABC Times Square studios in New York
Viewers interested in one specific Voices feed will be able to select it on ESPN3 or via the ESPN app.
ESPN2 will show The Homers Telecast, with former Alabama safety Landon Collins and past Georgia Quarterback Aaron Murray providing analysis of the championship game. The Coaches Film Room show will include Kevin Sumlin, Pat Fitzgerald and Mike Bobo among others on ESPN News.
Sounds of the Game on ESPN Classic, removes the commentators and gives viewers the feel of sitting inside the stadium. The Command Center is a split-screen simulcast on ESPN Classic, providing the audience with the main ESPN camera angle, the SkyCam view and camera feeds dedicated to both head coaches.
Paul Finebaum will be live on ESPN’s SEC Network with analysts Gene Chizik and Greg McElroy. The group with provide analysis and take phone calls from the audience while watching the game live.
In all, when including ESPN Deportes, ESPN radio and each different feed, the network is offering 20 unique options for consumers of this years College Football Playoff National Championship game.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
