In this college football podcast episode, we chat with The Athletic's Scott Dochterman about the little-known, high-stakes draft process by which Fox, CBS and NBC pick the Big Ten games that each will air this season. Learn about the insane preparation, strategy, negotiations, and decisions that shape our TV experience every fall. Plus, some insight into the Big Ten's playoff positioning strategy, why the conference is pushing for four automatic CFP bids, and more.
Check out Scott's reporting on the TV draft (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6389813/2025/05/29/big-ten-football-tv-schedule-draft-fox-nbc-cbs/) and the Big Ten's push for automatic bids (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6398844/2025/06/03/big-ten-cfp-automatic-bids/)
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
04:20 - Scott Dochterman from The Athletic explains the TV game draft
11:30 - Network strategies: Fox vs CBS vs NBC
18:00 - Surprising discoveries while reporting the story
23:51 - The "Big Noon Saturday" product
27:12 - Lessons learned from previous scheduling mistakes
31:42 - Buyer's remorse over bad matchups
36:15 - TV draft crushes
38:25 - The sophisticated preparation process
42:13 - Is there corporate espionage?
44:45 - Big Ten's push for automatic CFP bids
52:05 - Closing thoughts
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