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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND A BIG TEST FOR PROGRESS OF FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL
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Nov 30, 2012, 9:12:32 PM11/30/12
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http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/november/championship-weekend-a-big-test-for-progress-of-fox-college-football.html
Written by Matt Yoder on Thursday, 29 November 2012 20:45.
This weekend, Fox will once again air both the Pac 12 and Big Ten
championship games on back to back nights Friday and Saturday. Friday
night, Fox will visit Palo Alto for #8 Stanford hosting #16 UCLA.
Saturday night, the entire crew travels more than halfway across the
country to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game as #12 Nebraska
faces unranked Wisconsin.
Once again, Gus Johnson and Charles Davis will pull double duty and
call both games on back to back nights. Davis just pulled the same
feat last weekend as he called a college game on Saturday and subbed
for Brian Billick for the NFL on Fox Sunday.
While last year's conference championship doubleheader was the
unveiling for the new and improved Fox College Football series, the
2012 version will be a true test of how far they've come in a year
with many high profile additions... and how far they have to go.
First, the games themselves lack any real sizzle. Neither the Pac 12
nor the Big Ten title game has any impact whatsoever on the BCS title
race. In fact, each conference will be missing arguably their best
team from the championship matchup with #5 Oregon and unbeaten Ohio
State watching from home. Moreover, UCLA and Stanford just played
last week in Los Angeles and the Cardinal easily handled the Bruins.
And while Nebraksa has had a very good season on the Legends side,
Leaders representitive Wisconsin actually finished third in the
division (behind OSU and Penn State) at 4-4 in league play and enters
the game losers of 3 out of 4. You'd have just as much luck selling
Panthers-Eagles on Monday Night Football this year.
The ratings for both games won't be great unless a multiple overtime
instant classic breaks out. With matchups that aren't so strong,
it'll be an interesting test for how well the Fox College Football
brand has made a name for itself in drawing in viewers.
The other huge test will be the progress of Fox's college studio show
with Erin Andrews, Eddie George, and Joey Harrington. Fox's coverage
starts at 7:30 both nights with a half hour pregame show. Early on
this season, the show was widely criticized for a gluttony of
errors. Even though the Fox pregame received much publicity with
EA's big move from ESPN, the show was hurt early on by those glaring
mistakes and several overruns of Fox MLB games that significantly
preempted pregame coverage.
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/september/fox-s-college-football-studio-show-is-a-work-in-progress.html
It seems that the Fox college football pregame has failed to gain any
momentum since those early season jitters. The amount of chatter and
conversation about Fox and Andrews has been almost non-existent during
the heart of the college football season. While ESPN's College
GameDay is as strong as ever, how many of your friends who are college
football fans talk about the Fox pregame or are even aware that it
exists? ESPN's new star Samantha Steele is even getting more facetime
and blog buzz than Andrews at this point. It has to be said that EA's
arrival at Fox has failed to create the excitement the network
certainly had in mind when giving her a key hosting role.
The booth will be strong with Gus Johnson and Charles Davis forming
one of my favorite announcer pairings. I'm well aware Johnson's
announcing style isn't for everybody, but just about the only thing I
remember from last year's Fox doubleheader was Gus finally being
unleashed during the exciting Big Ten title game after a year of so-so
games.
Friday and Saturday night present a huge opportunity for Fox College
Football, and Andrews' studio crew in particular, to make a positive
impression. The only competition Friday night is the MAC title game
while Saturday night's games feature Texas-KSU and the ACC title
game. The SEC championship should be finished by the time Fox hits
air Saturday night.
It's a watershed weekend for the entire brand. After its BCS debacle
a few years ago, Fox had some work to do to be a trusted entity for
college football fans once again. Although the network has definitely
improved with its second entry into the sport, several questions
remain. How many viewers will they be able to pull in with an average
slate of games? How far has the studio show advanced? Are high-
profile additions like Gus Johnson and Erin Andrews truly making a
difference? With ESPN securing all the major bowls into infinity,
Fox's real estate in the college football market is being
marginalized. They need a strong weekend to win more viewers over and
prove they can still be a major player in the sport moving forward.
Written by Matt Yoder on Thursday, 29 November 2012 20:45.
This weekend, Fox will once again air both the Pac 12 and Big Ten
championship games on back to back nights Friday and Saturday. Friday
night, Fox will visit Palo Alto for #8 Stanford hosting #16 UCLA.
Saturday night, the entire crew travels more than halfway across the
country to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game as #12 Nebraska
faces unranked Wisconsin.
Once again, Gus Johnson and Charles Davis will pull double duty and
call both games on back to back nights. Davis just pulled the same
feat last weekend as he called a college game on Saturday and subbed
for Brian Billick for the NFL on Fox Sunday.
While last year's conference championship doubleheader was the
unveiling for the new and improved Fox College Football series, the
2012 version will be a true test of how far they've come in a year
with many high profile additions... and how far they have to go.
First, the games themselves lack any real sizzle. Neither the Pac 12
nor the Big Ten title game has any impact whatsoever on the BCS title
race. In fact, each conference will be missing arguably their best
team from the championship matchup with #5 Oregon and unbeaten Ohio
State watching from home. Moreover, UCLA and Stanford just played
last week in Los Angeles and the Cardinal easily handled the Bruins.
And while Nebraksa has had a very good season on the Legends side,
Leaders representitive Wisconsin actually finished third in the
division (behind OSU and Penn State) at 4-4 in league play and enters
the game losers of 3 out of 4. You'd have just as much luck selling
Panthers-Eagles on Monday Night Football this year.
The ratings for both games won't be great unless a multiple overtime
instant classic breaks out. With matchups that aren't so strong,
it'll be an interesting test for how well the Fox College Football
brand has made a name for itself in drawing in viewers.
The other huge test will be the progress of Fox's college studio show
with Erin Andrews, Eddie George, and Joey Harrington. Fox's coverage
starts at 7:30 both nights with a half hour pregame show. Early on
this season, the show was widely criticized for a gluttony of
errors. Even though the Fox pregame received much publicity with
EA's big move from ESPN, the show was hurt early on by those glaring
mistakes and several overruns of Fox MLB games that significantly
preempted pregame coverage.
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/september/fox-s-college-football-studio-show-is-a-work-in-progress.html
It seems that the Fox college football pregame has failed to gain any
momentum since those early season jitters. The amount of chatter and
conversation about Fox and Andrews has been almost non-existent during
the heart of the college football season. While ESPN's College
GameDay is as strong as ever, how many of your friends who are college
football fans talk about the Fox pregame or are even aware that it
exists? ESPN's new star Samantha Steele is even getting more facetime
and blog buzz than Andrews at this point. It has to be said that EA's
arrival at Fox has failed to create the excitement the network
certainly had in mind when giving her a key hosting role.
The booth will be strong with Gus Johnson and Charles Davis forming
one of my favorite announcer pairings. I'm well aware Johnson's
announcing style isn't for everybody, but just about the only thing I
remember from last year's Fox doubleheader was Gus finally being
unleashed during the exciting Big Ten title game after a year of so-so
games.
Friday and Saturday night present a huge opportunity for Fox College
Football, and Andrews' studio crew in particular, to make a positive
impression. The only competition Friday night is the MAC title game
while Saturday night's games feature Texas-KSU and the ACC title
game. The SEC championship should be finished by the time Fox hits
air Saturday night.
It's a watershed weekend for the entire brand. After its BCS debacle
a few years ago, Fox had some work to do to be a trusted entity for
college football fans once again. Although the network has definitely
improved with its second entry into the sport, several questions
remain. How many viewers will they be able to pull in with an average
slate of games? How far has the studio show advanced? Are high-
profile additions like Gus Johnson and Erin Andrews truly making a
difference? With ESPN securing all the major bowls into infinity,
Fox's real estate in the college football market is being
marginalized. They need a strong weekend to win more viewers over and
prove they can still be a major player in the sport moving forward.
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