ESPNU, the ESPN channel devoted mostly to collegiate sports, will launch its fourth season in late August with the premiere of its high-def spinoff, ESPNU HD. The HD venue will cover a minimum of 70 college football games, including a few teams that typically are nationally ranked.
The live HD play-by-play coverage will be featured on Thursdays (not a typical college game day) and Saturdays—beginning on Thursday, Aug. 28, with the Vanderbilt-Miami (Ohio) contest airing in primetime (7:30 p.m. EDT).
Two weeks prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, ESPNU HD plans to begin its studio football coverage with a series of preview shows featuring the six BCS conferences: Big East (Aug. 11); Big 12 (Aug. 12); SEC (Aug. 13); Pac-10 (Aug. 14); Big Ten (Aug. 15); and the ACC (Aug. 16). Also a one-hour show on Aug. 17 will feature the other Division I schools and conferences.
Over the course of the next year, ESPNU HD currently plans to air more than 200 HD sporting events covering college football, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling and hockey.
ESPNU HD will be ESPN’s fourth HD sports channel. ESPN is owned mostly by Disney/ABC.
