Over The Air Networks
- ABC broadcasts the bulk of college football games on network television. ABC generally
broadcasts games at 3:30pm EST and a primetime 8pm EST timeslot. ABC has contracts
with the following conferences (in parenthesis is the final season of these contracts):
- ACC (2010)
- Big East (2013)
- Big Ten (2016)
- Big 12 (2015)
- PAC-10 (2011)
ABC also has the rights to two bowl games, the Capital One Bowl and the Rose Bowl.
In 2009 when the Rose Bowl also holds the BCS National Championship, ABC will also
televise that game. ABC offers about half the games they broadcast in HD.
- CBS is the exclusive network TV provider of SEC football and will air the top
SEC game each week at 3:30pm Eastern starting after the tennis U.S. Open. CBS is
also allowed one primetime game per season. The SEC has re-signed with CBS for another
15 years, starting in 2009 and ending with the 2023 season.
CBS also has contracts for two games involving Navy. They have a contract to broadcast
Navy's home game vs. Notre Dame (every other season) and the annual Army-Navy contest.
CBS also has two bowl games, the Sun Bowl and Gator Bowl. CBS offers all of their
college football broadcasts in HD.
- NBC is the rightsholder for all Notre Dame home games until the end of the 2015
season. These games will usually air at 2:30pm or 3:30pm Eastern. NBC also has the
rights to the annual Bayou Classic FCS matchup between Grambling and Southern. NBC
offers all their broadcasts in HD. Starting in 2009 as Notre Dame begins to
schedule neutral site "home" games, NBC will be the television outlet
for those games and many of those will air in prime time.
- FOX does not hold any rights to any regular season college football, but is the
rightholder for the BCS, specifically the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and
the newly created national championship game. The contract will expire after the
bowl games ending the 2009 regular season. FOX also has the rights to the Cotton
Bowl and those rights also expire after the 2009 season. FOX offers all their BCS
games in HD.
National Cable Networks
- ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU broadcast the bulk of college football on pay TV, along
with select games on ESPN Classic. The suite of networks hold rights to the following
conferences:
- ACC (2010)
- Big East (2013)
- Big Ten (2016)
- Conference USA (2010)
- MAC (2016)
- PAC-10 (2011)
- SEC (2023)
- Sun Belt (2011)
- WAC (2009, new contract starts in 2010 ending after 2016 season)
Notes on the conferences:
- ACC - The ACC is guaranteed six appearances per season on Thursday nights. ESPNU can choose games only after selections are completed by ABC, ESPN/ESPN2 and Raycom Sports.
- Big 12 - ESPN has sublicensed seven games from FSN for airing on a national basis.
- Big East - Various guarantees in terms of appearances on ABC and specific nights on ESPN.
- Big Ten - No games may appear on ESPNU. Games that appear on ABC may be shown in outer markets on ESPN/ESPN2.
- Conference USA - ESPN has rights to a set number of games and the conference championship game. The rest of the games revert to CBS College Sports. No C-USA game may appear on ESPNU.
- PAC-10 - The games that ESPN will televise from the PAC-10 are part of the ABC contract. FSN still owns the pay TV rights to the conference.
- SEC - Games began appearing on ESPNU in 2008 and ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU's SEC selections will primarily be primetime telecasts
- WAC - Games began appearing on ESPNU starting with the 2008 season and will continue into the new television deal, along with increased minimums in the number of football games on ESPN/ESPN2. All ESPNU games must be on Saturdays.
ESPN currently has the rights to all bowl games not televised on network TV, except
for the Insight Bowl. ESPNU also shows several FCS games during the year and has
contracts with the Gateway, OVC, MEAC and SWAC conferences.
Because of the sheer volume of conferences ESPN carries, games will also air on
weeknights. Thursday is the prime weeknight slot, with games also airing on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. All games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU are televised
in HD.
- FSN holds the pay TV rights to the Big 12 and PAC-10 conferences.
For the Big 12, the conference owns the first pay TV choice and the "regional" Big
12 game, which airs on just about all FSN-affiliated regional networks. FSN also
approves all PPV airing for Big 12 games not chosen for TV. Any PPV games must air
when ABC is not televising a Big 12 game. This means that FSN holds the rights to
20-25 games per season. The Big 12 contract expires after the 2011 season.
For the PAC-10, FSN shows usually at least one PAC-10 game per week and holds the
rights to 18 games. This contract expires after the 2011 season.
FSN will televise all games in HD for 2009.
FSN has sold seven Big 12 games to ESPN/ESPN2 and five games to Versus. Versus has
also sublicensed five PAC-10 games.
- CBS College Sports has the rights to all MWC games and all C-USA games not selected
by ESPN. The contract with C-USA ends after the 2010 season and the MWC contract
expires after the 2016 season. They also have a contract for all home games for
Navy, except the Notre Dame game. This contract ends after the 2018 season. All
Navy games will be on Saturdays.
For the 2009 season, CBS College Sports has inherited the rights to Army home games
from ESPN. Starting this season, they will air all of the Saturday home games, with
two games airing on tape delay to existing C-USA conflicts. Starting in 2010, CBS
College will own the rights in full to Army home games.
- Versus will broadcast select Big 12, MWC, PAC-10 and Ivy League games. With respect
to the MWC, this is in regards to a deal between Comcast and CBS College Sports.
See the entry for "the mtn." under the regional television section. For the Big
12 and PAC-10 games, Versus has sublicensed five games from each conference from
FSN. The only conference that Versus has a contract with is the Ivy League.
It appears that Versus will broadcast the majority, if not all, games in HD.
- The NFL Network has no conference contracts, but has signed up to televise the
Insight Bowl and the Texas Bowl. Both games are broadcast in HD.
Regional Networks & Syndication
- ESPN Regional Television is the regional syndicator of the Big East, MAC, SEC,
Sun Belt and WAC conferences. Contracts with ESPN Regional TV are part of the national
TV contracts with ESPN for these conferences. Starting in 2009, the SEC will have
their regional telecasts syndicated by ESPN Regional TV and they will be branded
as the SEC Network.
- A partnership between the Big Ten and Fox Cable Networks, called the Big Ten Network,
will air games Big Ten games not shown on ESPN/ESPN2 or ABC.
- "mtn." is the acronym for the Mountain West Conference's regional broadcaster,
MountainWest Sports Network. This network was formed by CBS College Sports to distribute
games not televised on the network. Comcast and CBS College Sports own the network
jointly (50-50 split) and Comcast controls operations of the network.
- CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast) has a partnership with Conference USA as
they will broadcast select C-USA games in a deal with CBS Collgege Sports. They
will also air SEC games in conjunction with ESPN Regional Television and air games
from the Sun Belt Conference in conjunction with Cox Sports.
- Raycom Sports is the regional syndicator of the ACC. The ACC contract expires
after the 2010 season. All Raycom football games will be available in HD.
Internet Streaming
- ESPN360 is a broadband service provided to ISPs directly. ISPs are supposed to
pay for the service instead of charging customers directly. The service shows ACC,
Big East, SEC, Sun Belt and MAC games not being shown on TV. Games from ABC and
ESPN Networks may also be shown here.
- CBS College Sports's All-Access package provides from streaming of select FCS
games, C-USA games and non-televised MWC games.