ESPN Aims to Innovate Its College Football Playoff Semifinals Productions With RefCam, Goal Line and Line-to-Gain Pylon Cams Extensive MegaCast offering to bring up to 12 viewing options of each of the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, December 28, 2018 - 12:25 pm
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It's that most wonderful time of the year - not only for college football fans but for ESPN's extensive list of production and operations talent as the sports media giant again pushes the broadcasting envelope with its unrivaled coverage of the College Football Playoff.
Pylon Cams (seen here at the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Atlanta) will be deployed by ESPN in the four corners of each end zone of both College Football Playoff Semifinals on Saturday.
On Saturday, ESPN delivers college football's ultimate doubleheader with the CFP Semifinals at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas featuring No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (4 p.m. ET) and the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami pitting No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Oklahoma (8 p.m.).
Among the production highlights include some unique cameras angles bringing viewers closer access to the action than ever before and a whopping 12 different ways to watch the games via the network's unrivaled MegaCast effort.
Specialty Cameras Spice Up Traditional Linear Coverage
At each of the semifinal locations, ESPN is loading up on fun imaging tools and technology with more than 50 cameras deployed (including three super slow mos) at each game with a few poised to give viewers a look at the action in a way unlike anything before seen on the CFP.
Making its debut on this event is RefCam. A robotic camera will be affixed to the bill of the hat of two of each game's officials offering a look into their line of sight.
Also available on the POV/robo front is Pylon Cam. Viewers have grown to love Pylon Cams positioned at the goal line over the past few college and pro football seasons after the technology was first tested at the CFP Championship back in 2015. Now this year, in addition to Pylon Cams in all four corners or each end zone, ESPN will also add a pylon-like camera at the line-to-gain or first down marker embedded with the chain gang. It's a wireless camera system that's built into a pair of movable pylons that provide a replay angle that shows straight down the first down line from both sidelines.
Fully-Loaded MegaCast Makes Triumphant Semifinal Return
The MegaCast, which has become an annual highlight on ESPN's calendar, continues to grow in size and scope. While its now long linked with the CFP Championship Game, the MegaCast made its first appearance ever on the two semifinal games a year ago and, for Saturday's Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl action, its back and bigger than ever.
There's as many as 12 viewing options for the two games with a strong focus on offering up hyper-customized experiences for fans who want to experience the game in a way that's different from the main linear telecast on ESPN. The multi-window screens spotlighting in-depth stats and realtime analytics, there's live, conversation-driven analysis from coaches and personalities to isolated alternate camera angles and a multiude of audio options including calls from hometown radio teams and Spanish-language options.
Here's a quick breakdown from ESPN and where all of them are available for viewing:
Command Center: A split-screen with four simultaneous camera views, which could include the main ESPN camera angle, the SkyCam view and isolated camera feeds of both head coaches at any given time. Enhanced statistics and real-time drive charts supplement the game action. (ESPN2 and ESPN App)
Coaches Film Room: Head coaches watch the game in a film room, offering strategic advice in real time. Participating coaches TBA. (ESPNEWS and ESPN App)
Thinking Out Loud: Trio of Marcus Spears, Greg McElroy and Alyssa Lang make their MegaCast debut together, bringing hijinks, highlights and hilarity. (SEC Network for Orange Bowl Only)
DataCenter: A perfect catch-all viewing option, as ESPN's main telecast will be surrounded by up-to-date real time stats, analytics, social media reaction and player information. (ESPN Goal Line and ESPN App)
SkyCam: The popular view from above the action and behind the offense on most plays. This unique angle has been one of ESPN's alternate viewing options for many years. (ESPN3 and ESPN App)
All-22: Watch the game the same way players and coaches study film, with a vantage point high above the field of play. The angle allows for the 22 players on the field to be seen at all times providing the ability to distinguish how plays develop. (ESPN3 and ESPN App)
ESPN Radio: Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay (Rose Bowl Game) and Bill Rosinski, David Norrie and Ian Fitzsimmons (Sugar Bowl) call the games. The broadcast is available throughout the country on more than 400 ESPN Radio stations, the ESPN App, ESPNRadio.com, SiriusXM, Apple Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn. (ESPN App)
ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio: Spanish-language call with Lalo Varela and Pablo Viruega (Cotton Bowl), and Kenneth Garay and Sebastian Martinez-Christensen (Orange Bowl) on television. Radio announcers TBA. (ESPN App)
Hometown Audio Feed: A partnership with JMI Sports, Learfield, and Notre Dame Global Partnerships pairs the ESPN telecast with the hometown radio call of the four teams. (ESPN3 and ESPN App)
Top Executive Talent Steers the Ship
ESPN's production of the Capital One Orange Bowl will be run by the network's top college football producer-director team of Bill Bonnell and Derek Mobley. The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic will be produced by Phil Dean and directed by Scott Johnson.
Production and operation
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ESPN Aims to Innovate Its College Football Playoff Semifinals Productions With RefCam, Goal Line and Line-to-Gain Pylon Cams Extensive MegaCast offering to bring up to 12 viewing options of each of the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
