XM to Air BCS College Games

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

XM Satellite Radio subscribers will continue to have access to the college football Bowl Championship Series beginning in January as part of a multiyear deal between XM and Fox Sports.

XM will provide live coverage of the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the FedEx Orange Bowl, according to representatives from both companies. XM covered the games last year under a one-year pact.

The deal adds to XM’s lineup of college-sports programming, which includes live games from such conferences as the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference.

"College sports is a very important element of our programming strategy, and these games are a must for college-football fans," XM executive vice president of programming Eric Logan said in a prepared statement. "These games help to reinforce XM Radio's position as the ultimate destination for people who love college sports. Fox Sports is a longtime partner of XM, and we're very excited to be working together to bring live coverage of these games to fans across the country."

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.