College Football on The CW
Also known asACC on The CW
GenreCollege football telecasts
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
Production
Production locationsVarious college football stadiums (game telecasts)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time210 minutes or until game ends (inc. adverts)
Production companiesThe CW Sports
Raycom Sports
Original release
NetworkThe CW
ReleaseSeptember 9, 2023 (2023-09-09) –
present
Related
The CW Sports
ACC on Regional Sports Networks

College Football on The CW is a presentation of college football broadcasts of NCAA college football games that are produced by Raycom Sports and broadcast by The CW.

History

After Nexstar Media Group acquired a majority stake in The CW, the company began efforts to broaden the network's programming. The network planned to broaden its demographics to encompass older viewers within the key demographic and linear television viewership, citing preferences towards streaming platforms by younger viewers. This would include an increased focus on imported programs from other countries, and sports programming. The network began to establish a The CW Sports division in 2023, initially with the acquisition of U.S. rights to the LIV Golf League.[1]

Raycom Sports has had a long-standing relationship with the Atlantic Coast Conference, having syndicated ACC basketball games, and later football, since 1982. Raycom maintained the rights to this package after ESPN acquired the conference's media rights in 2010. The broadcast television package ended after the 2018–19 season, when its inventory was acquired by ESPN for its new ACC Network cable channel.[2][3][4]

As an aspect of this agreement, Raycom also held rights to syndicate a separate package of ACC telecasts to regional sports networks. In June 2023, Bally Sports—the package's primary rightsholder—announced that it would drop the ACC RSN package, amid the bankruptcy of parent company Diamond Sports Group.[5] The following month, Raycom announced that it had sold the package to The CW, consisting of 13 football games, 28 men's basketball games, and 9 women's basketball games per-season.[6][7] The CW aired its first ACC broadcast on September 9, 2023, featuring Cincinnati at Pittsburgh.[8]

Production

With the limited turnaround time between the announcement and the start of the 2023 ACC football season, Raycom and The CW subcontracted resources from other broadcasters for its initial season of college football broadcasts, including ESPN (the conference's main rightsholder) temporarily allowing use of the ESPN College Football on-air graphics (pending the development of a dedicated The CW Sports graphics package in time for basketball season), and its first game at Pitt sharing resources with Fox Sports (which was already at Acrisure Stadium for an NFL broadcast the following afternoon).[9]

On-air talent

References

  1. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (2023-05-18). "Superhero Shows "Had Their Time" as New CW Leaders Outline Plans to Make Network "Bigger and Profitable"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  2. ^ Smith, Michael; Ourand, John (October 5, 2010). "History with ACC secures future for Raycom". Washington Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  3. ^ Luke DeCock (March 11, 2019). "The pilot sails no more: After four decades, ACC's longtime TV partner signs off". Raleigh News & Observer. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  4. ^ Smith, Michael (October 4, 2010). "History with ACC secures Future for Raycom" (PDF). Sports and Business Journal. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Frankel, Daniel (2023-06-15). "Bally Sports Kicks Another Asset to the Curb: ACC Football and Basketball Games". NextTV. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  6. ^ Lucia, Joe (2023-07-15). "The CW has added the 50 Raycom-produced ACC basketball and football games". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (July 13, 2023). "The CW Lands Rights To Atlantic Coast Conference College Football & Basketball Games Through 2026-27". Deadline. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "WPNT-TV to officially become Pittsburgh's new CW affiliate, carry ACC football". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  9. ^ Hernández, Kristian (2023-10-03). "College Football on The CW: Raycom Sports Extends Legacy With New ACC Broadcast Package". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  10. ^ a b Baxley, Rodd (2023-10-03). "What channel is NC State football vs Marshall? Time, TV schedule for Wolfpack". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  11. ^ Ludwig, Karl (2023-09-04). "Broadcast Crew Announced for the Pitt CW Network Debut". Pittsburgh Sports Now. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
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