ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime

Infobox Television | show_name=College Football Primetime


format = college football
runtime = 3 hours (approximate)
starring = Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer, Craig James, and Erin Andrews
country = USA
network = ESPN
first_aired =
last_aired = 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 Rece Davis, 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.

Since debuting in 1997, 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 Chris Fowler on play-by-play, Craig James and Jesse Palmer as analysts and Erin Andrews 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 Florida State Seminoles-Virginia Cavaliers matchup, 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 in to the September 4, 2006 game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes.

Personalities

Current

*Erin Andrews: (field reporter, 2005–present)
*Chris Fowler: (play-by-play, 2006–present)
*Craig James: (analyst, 2007–present)
*Jesse Palmer: (analyst, 2008)

Former

*Jill Arrington: (field reporter, 2004)
*Lee Corso: (analyst, 1997–2004)
*Doug Flutie: (analyst, 2007)
*Kirk Herbstreit: (analyst, 1997–2006)
*Mike Tirico: (play-by-play, 1997–2005)
*Jerry Punch: (field reporter, ?–2003)
*Mike Gottfried: ?–?
*Mike Patrick: ?–?

By Year

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, Fowler, James and Flutie run down the top two or three impact players on each team's side of the ball.
*Halftime Report: The "College Football Final" crew of Rece Davis, 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 Rece Davis gives up to the minute highlights when something big happens in another game.

ee also

*"College GameDay"
*"College Football Scoreboard"
*"College Football Final"
*"ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime"
*"ESPN2 College Football Saturday Primetime"
*"Saturday Night Football"

References

* [http://media.espn.com/ESPNToday/2006/Nov_06/cfb_rating.htm Press Release: WEST VIRGINIA-LOUISVILLE: ESPN'S MOST-VIEWED THURSDAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME EVER]

External links

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnTopics?topic=Football ESPN.tv: Football]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnTopics?topic=Football&watch=CollegeFootball ESPN and ABC college football schedule]
* [http://espn.go.com/tvlistings/collegefbupdate.html]