College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drones for ‘Big Ten Saturday Night’ and ‘Notre Dame on NBC’

Skycam, aerial drone helps the 20 other cameras on broadcasts

Wake up the echoes: the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are returning to NBC and Peacock. NBC Sports will once again be at the helm for all seven home games of Notre Dame on NBC, including this weekend’s contest between the No. 8 Fighting Irish and the No. 16 Texas A&M University Aggies on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. In addition, the network will produce more Big Ten Football on Big Ten Saturday Night, which continues with Ohio University vs. No. 1 Ohio State at 7 p.m. ET.

Massive Games on Tap: Highlights Include Penn State’s White Out, ND-USC Renewed Rivalry

College football on NBC and Peacock will be chock full of tantalizing games this season. On the Big Ten Saturday Night, the network is building off of their success from last year with notable fixtures, including No. 4 University of Oregon vs. No. 2 Penn State University on Saturday, Sept. 27. This particular matchup, which could very well be a preview of two teams in the College Football Playoff, will highlight why PSU has an intimidating home field advantage in Happy Valley.

“The team is excited to be back for our third season with Big Ten Football, and we’re really looking forward to the excitement of Week 5 when we have Penn State’s annual White Out game,” says Kregg VanMeter, director, Big Ten Football Operations, NBC Sports. “We can’t wait to capture the excitement and atmosphere of one of college football’s most storied traditions.”

Over in South Bend, the Fighting Irish are eyeing for another trip to the College Football Playoff after losing in the 2024 CFP National Championship. The program will face the likes of Texas A&M, Purdue, Boise State, and the United States Naval Academy on NBC and exclusive coverage of their game against NC State on Peacock, but one that Notre Dame supporters always look forward to is their game vs. the University of Southern California (USC). In a rivalry that began back in 1946, the two programs have played each other nearly every year for 76 consecutive seasons — the teams did not face each other during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. This year’s edition will take place on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be the 17th time both teams will square off on NBC.

On both properties, each game will be led by NBC Sports’ marquee college football studio shows. For example, prior to Ohio-Ohio State, Big Ten College Countdown begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. For Texas A&M-Notre Dame, College Countdown begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Both shows will feature host Ahmed Fareed, analysts Matt Cassel and Joshua Perry, and college football insider Nicole Auerbach in the studio. Host Jordan Cornette will be onsite in South Bend, and during game breaks, John Fanta will provide updates.

Big Productions for Big Ten and Notre Dame: Tech, Talent Are Ready for Saturdays

With incredibly packed weekends of both the Big Ten Conference and Notre Dame, NBC Sports is rolling with a streamlined camera complement that can be seen on both properties. On any given Saturday, broadcasts are leveraging 10 hard cameras, five POVs, two handheld cameras, two wireless RF SteadiCams, a Skycam, and a drone. Two of the networks highlights this season are two workflows that will notice immediately: HDR image quality is providing crystal clear pictures of the action and aerial coverage of the action as well as scenics of each campus will be captured with the Skycam and drone. The drone, specifically, will be seen on 13 of the 14 primetime games on Big Ten Saturday Night and four Notre Dame afternoon games.

Not only will technology make a significant difference, but on-air talent will bring expert analysis and top-tier commentary in the studio. Play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle, analyst Todd Blackledge, sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, and rules analyst Terry McAulay are driving broadcasts of Big Ten Saturday Night. This weekend, Towson University-University of Maryland at 12 p.m. ET will be called by play-by-play announcer Michael Grady, analyst Michael Robinson, and sideline reporter Caroline Pineda and Ohio-Ohio State will be called by play-by-play announcer Paul Burmeister, analyst Chris Simms, sideline reporter Zora Stephenson, and rules analyst Reggie Smith. Notre Dame broadcasts will be called by play-by-play announcer Dan Hicks, analyst Jason Garrett, and Stephenson.

In the Big Ten Saturday Night compound, NEP’s Supershooter 7 and ST7 will be the lead mobile production units this season. Coordinating producer Matt Marvin is lead game producer and Coordinating Director Charlie Dammeyer is lead game director.

A Partnership Since the 90s: NBC Reflects on 35 Seasons of Fighting Irish Football

Back in Sept. 1991, NBC Sports and the University of Notre Dame entered a deal that would bring this historic college football program to the national stage. Thirty-five seasons and 229 straight regular-season home games later, this partnership has become a hallmark in how collegiate athletics and national networks work together to create high-quality experiences for fans across the country.

Many individuals from around the sports broadcasting industry have graced the airwaves of Notre Dame on NBC over its three and a half decade-long history. This includes the original crew play-by-play announcer and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Dick Enberg, analyst Bill Walsh, and reporter John Dockery; play-by-announcers like Tom Hammond and current Sunday Night Football voice Mike Tirico; and analysts like Doug Flutie, Todd Christensen, Randy Cross, Pat Haden, Mike Mayock, and Tirico’s SNF colleague, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Cris Collinsworth.

Throughout their time together, both parties have made history together: the most watched game was the “Game of the Century” between No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 1 Florida State on Nov. 13, 1993, which delivered an audience of 22.02 million viewers, an exclusive Peacock game has entered the mix since 2021, and many more accolades that have attributed to Fighting Irish fans seeing their favorite team win nearly 75% of their games on NBC.

After this weekend, NBC will produce three games on Saturday, Sept. 20: University of Maryland vs. University of Wisconsin at 12 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, Purdue University vs. University of Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, and Big Ten Saturday Night featuring University of Illinois vs. University of Indiana at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.