College Football Media Notes: NBC Streaming All ND Games Online

NBCSports.com Will Debut "Notre Dame Extra"

NBC Sports this season for the first time will stream all of its Notre Dame games live on NBCSports.com. “Notre Dame Extra” will feature a simulcast of the broadcast feed plus one additional online-only bonus camera throughout the game. The online program also will feature live coverage of the ND and visiting teams’ bands at halftime, in-game highlights and a live, online-only postgame that will include head coach Brian Kelly’s press conference. Also new to NBC telecasts this season will be the ActionCam, an overhead cable-camera system that was tested in the team’s spring scrimmage. Mike Mayock this Saturday will make his debut calling ND games, alongside Tom Hammond. In addition, NBC Sports and the Eurosport group signed an international TV rights agreement that provides Eurosport 2 with exclusive broadcast rights to ’10 Notre Dame home games across Europe and Asia (NBC Sports).

THREE'S COMPANY: USA TODAY’s Michael Hiestand reported ESPN/ABC will air 31 college football games between tonight and Monday, and 10 "will be TV-like productions only on ESPN3.com." ESPN3's production of 40 games this season "will usually be for games that couldn’t make the cut to be televised.” The online games will “get their own on-site announcers, 5-7 cameras and production crews creating TV-like graphics.” ESPN3 also will have its “first online college football and basketball studio shows with Internet-only announcers" (USA TODAY, 9/1). ESPN will air 154 regular-season college football games this fall, and ESPN VP/Programming Dave Brown said, "We've put together a more aggressive schedule than ever before"  (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/28).

TIME TO SUPER-SERVE THE FANS: Versus has hired Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Frazier to serve as studio host of the network's "College Football Central," where he will be joined by former Nebraska QB Eric Crouch as an analyst for select telecasts. In addition to Frazier, Bill Patrick and Craig Hummer will host several of the studio shows during the season. Also, Joe Beninati and Ted Robinson will alternate as lead play-by-play announcers for all of Versus’ MWC telecasts (Versus).

NOTES: Saturday’s Colorado-Colorado State game will be “available to Comcast subscribers with digital set top boxes, including those who normally cannot access" The mtn. In addition, The mtn. season preview weekend shows “will be made available” tomorrow through Monday (DENVER POST, 9/1)....Bright House Sports Network and the Univ. of South Florida have extended their partnership "to include more live coverage of non-conference football" games. BHSN will show three USF games this fall, including Saturday's against Stony Brook (TAMPABAY.com, 9/1).