•The USC-Ohio State game on Sept. 12, 2009 is ESPN’s most-viewed regular season game with 10,586,000 viewers.
•Birmingham finished the 2012 season as the highest-rated metered market for ESPN’s regular-season for the 12th consecutive season. The market averaged an 8.9 rating — 89 percent higher than second place Greenville’s 4.7 rating.
8b. NBC Sports will produce a live pre-game show at Notre Dame Stadium prior to every Notre Dame football broadcast on NBC. It’s an overdue move given how much ground the network has ceded to ESPN and others in the college studio space. The show will be hosted Liam McHugh with analysts Doug Flutie and Hines Ward. NBC will broadcast seven Notre Dame games this season, including primetime games on Oct. 5 (Arizona State) and October 19 (USC).