College Football Kickoff 2016: CBS Gives SEC-Dominant Package a Graphics Jolt

CBS Sports’ philosophy when it comes to college football has long been quality over quantity. Never one to boast a large slate of games, CBS does hold the title for the highest-rated college-football package in the industry.

When college football returns this weekend, CBS Sports’ productions will look noticeably different with the introduction of a brand-new graphics package; one heavily influenced by the package that CBS debuted during Super 50 in February.

“Our college[-football] package is definitely benefiting from things we have done elsewhere,” says Ken Aagaard, EVP, innovation and new technology, CBS Sports.

As part of its graphics revamp, CBS Sports has added the new ChyronHego Lyric Pro software-based graphics-creation software, which will support the on-air presentation of college football games on both CBS and CBS Sports Network.

CBS Sports’ college-football coverage will feature a graphics package first used for Super Bowl 50 in February.

“We want to be ready for the next generation of graphics devices,” says Harold Bryant, executive producer/SVP, production, CBS Sports. “We have explored [Lyric X], we have tested it, and we feel it is very flexible and cost-effective. So we’re trying it on our college package. If we like it, we will have the option to expand it into other sports.”

Coverage of college football games on CBS this season is expected to feature added high-frame-rate cameras and the return of Skycam, with the network perhaps ready to begin using augmented-reality graphics on Skycam images, something it has done only on A-level NFL games.

According to Bryant, CBS Sports may also experiment with some VR this season, but no firm plans have been made.

“We want to tell stories with VR,” he explains. “We have done it for the past year working with skydivers, golfers, bull riders. We want to continue down that path. We will be looking for stories throughout the football season, and that could happen in college.”

F&F Productions’ GTX-16 returns as the top production truck working the main game — typically, the SEC Game of the Week — throughout the season.

On CBS Sports’ college-football coverage, Craig Silver serves as coordinating producer, with Steve Milton as lead director.

The SEC on CBS kicks off this Saturday with UCLA at Texas A&M. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. CBS Sports’ coverage of the entire 2016 SEC on CBS schedule will be available to stream live in more than 130 U.S. markets via the CBS All Access subscription service, with additional coverage on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app.