CBS was "given a waiver for the rights to broadcast a sixth Alabama game," allowing the net to select the Nov. 28 Iron Bowl matchup with Auburn, according to Matthew Stevens of the MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER. The waiver will allow CBS -- which "reworked their long-term contract" with the conference in '13 -- to "broadcast an SEC school one more time than the league's contract initially calls for." CBS has the "first selection to each week's matchup but is only permitted to broadcast one school five times in a regular season" -- excluding the SEC Championship. SEC Dir of Communications Chuck Dunlap said, "The parameters of the agreement are flexible, as each season brings its own unique circumstances. This was a mutual agreement among all parties." Last year's Iron Bowl "generated television and digital audience records for ESPN," with the net's 13.53 million viewers for the telecast marking its most-viewed regular-season college football game on record (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER, 11/17).
|
IRON BOWL AUDIENCE TREND
|
|
YEAR
|
NET
|
START (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'14
|
ESPN
|
7:45pm
|
7.4
|
13,529
|
|
'13
|
CBS
|
3:30pm
|
8.2
|
13,779
|
|
'12
|
CBS
|
3:30pm
|
2.4
|
3,900
|
|
'11
|
CBS
|
3:30pm
|
4.5
|
7,508
|
|
'10
|
CBS
|
2:30pm
|
7.3
|
12,520
|
|
'09
|
CBS
|
2:30pm
|
4.9
|
8,124
|
|
'08
|
CBS
|
3:50pm
|
4.0
|
6,418
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
NEXT TIME: In Salt Lake City, Scott Pierce notes for the first time since BYU football "went independent, ESPN will not air a Cougar home game it could have carried." Saturday's Fresno State-BYU matchup will be available "online on ESPN3," but the linear telecast "will be on BYUtv." Pierce writes the matchup is "sort of a dog." ESPN has "fulfilled the terms of its contract -- a minimum of three home games" on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC and one on ESPNU. In the previous four years, ESPN "exceeded the terms of that contract" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/18).
