CFP National Championship Preview: ESPN Improves MegaCast With 4K Viewing Options, Refcast

CFP National Championship Preview: ESPN Improves MegaCast With 4K Viewing Options, Refcast SVG will be onsite in New Orleans for more coverage By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Wednesday, January 8, 2020 - 3:13 pm

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For the big game in the Big Easy, ESPN's MegaCast will once again roll out a laundry list of offerings for the sixth straight College Football Playoff National Championship. When No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Clemson square off on Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, fans from the Bayou and the Palmetto State will have up to 15 ways to watch the action across its television networks and the ESPN app.

ESPN's MegaCast will give fans different flavors of the same National Championship game.

As the traditional broadcast airs, MegaCast will have new options including Refcast and two presentations from last year, FieldPass and Skycast, in 4K courtesy of Samsung QLED on DirecTV, Comcast, and Altice. To round out the slate, other additions include staples like Command Center (ESPNEWS), DataCenter (Goal Line), Sounds of the Game (ESPN Classic), the Spanish-language telecast (ESPN Deportes), Hometown Radio (Clemson on ACC Network and LSU on SEC Network), Coaches Film Room (ESPNU), and digital contributions from Techcast and All-22 on the app.

SVG's Brandon Costa and Kristian Hernandez will be onsite delivering Live From CFP National Championship coverage throughout the weekend. Stay tuned to sportsvideo.org for more from New Orleans.

An Overflow of Technology Under the Dome

In recent years, the College Football National Championship game has become a paradise for tech-savvy viewers and this year will be no different. Out of the 100 cameras, the network will have equipment onsite for different vantage points, including wide or iso shots with the AllCam, endzone coverage with eight total PylonCams (back line pylons now have the ability to pan, tilt, and zoom), an aerial view with a double dose of SkyCams, as well as POV shots from RefCam atop the cap of multiple referees.

100 cameras will be onsite in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, including PylonCam.

On the field, Line-to-Gain technology will make its presence felt with opportunities for looks from up high via the first down marker cam and down low via the pylon cam.

ESPN's camera arsenal will include dedicated cameras on LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney at all times, as well as unique camera placements providing views of the teams as enter the playing field. The Goodyear Blimp will provide aerial shots of New Orleans and the Superdome.

In addition to the expansive fleet of cameras, the production team will integrate virtual reality graphics that can reach across the entire field and be seen from multiple cameras at once. From a sound perspective, more than 100 microphones will be added to the mix to capture the ambient sounds of the raucous environment.

New and Familiar Looks: Finale To Showcase Techcast, Refcast

Fans who want to get the unique viewpoint of an official have the opportunity with the debut of Refcast. Leveraging the RefCam and other cameras throughout the stadium, former referees will provide detailed opinions on what they're seeing on the field and explain the process of decisions being made during the game. Based in Bristol, CT, John Parry (former NFL referee), Matt Austin (former SEC referee), and Judson Howard (Pac-12 replay official) will take the reins during this new presentation.

Through angles like the RefCam, ESPN's Refcast will go inside the mind of an official.

After making its debut in last year's championship game, Techcast will be an amalgamation of all of the main camera angles on one screen. Fans can experience up to 12 simultaneously feeds of gameplay including Skycam, High Skycam, RefCam, AllCam, Pylon Cam, and Line-to-Gain.

On the Call: ESPN's Best Flock to New Orleans

Reuniting as the voices of the College Football National Championship, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be in the main broadcast booth for the ending of their 24th college football season as a duo. Sideline reporters will be assigned a team for dedicated insights, with Tom Rinaldi covering LSU and Maria Taylor covering Clemson. Current ESPN rules analyst Bill Lemonnier will also be in the booth with Herbstreit and Fowler.

On ESPN Radio, Sean McDonough calls his fourth CFP National Championship alongside analyst Todd Blackledge and reporters Holly Rowe (LSU) and Ian Fitzsimmons (Clemson). The radio broadcast is available throughout the country on more than 400 ESPN Radio stations, the ESPN App, ESPNRadio.com, SiriusXM, Apple Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn. For Spanish-speaking listeners, the game will be presented on ESPN Deportes with Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega, and Raul Allegre.

To set the table and clean up leftovers, studio host Marc Kestecher and analyst Trevor Matich will provide onsite pregame, halftime, and postgame content.

A panel of college football coaches will break down the game inside Coaches Film Room on ESPNU.

Another Year in the Spotlight: Field Pass, Coaches Film Room, Command Center, and More

For any fan tuning into the ultimate game of the college football season, ESPN's MegaCast has something for everyone. Despite a few deployments making their first-time appearance, there is more than a handful of notable returners for the massive undertaking.

Field Pass (ESPN2), anchored by Adam Amin and Steve Levy on the sidelines of the Superdome, will be a free-flowing commentary of the game. As the alternative pregame show, special guests joining the pair will be college football analysts Pat McAfee and Dan Orlovsky.

In a room full of current college football coaches, Coaches Film Room (ESPNU) will break down the X's and O's of each play throughout the game.

DataCenter

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