Analternate broadcast, also known as analtcast,[1] is a secondarybroadcast feed of a sporting event. Altcasts are designed to showcase an event from a different perspective, including specialtycamera angles, extended analysis,simulcasts with alternative commentary (including personality-based broadcasts containing entertainment elements, or geared towards specific demographics), and other unconventional formats. These broadcasts are sometimes carried on secondarylinear channels owned by the event's rightsholder, but are more often carried on digital platforms.
After its launch in 1993,ESPN experimented with using its new sister channelESPN2 to carry alternative broadcasts of events from the main network, such as carrying aCART race entirely from the perspective of in-car cameras in 1994.[2] In March 2006, to mark the one-year anniversary of its college sports channelESPNU, ESPN introduced a format known as "ESPN Full Circle" during aNorth Carolina–Dukecollege basketball game; ESPN would carry the main telecast, while ESPN2 would carry an "above the rim" camera angle, ESPNU would carry a feed focusing onDuke's student section, the network's broadband serviceESPN360 carried a statistics-focused feed, whileESPN.com andMobile ESPN offered supplemental digital content and interactive features (such as polls and chat rooms).[3] ESPN reported a total viewership of 3.78 million viewers (with 3.5 million on the main ESPN feed), making it the network's most-watched college basketball game since 1990.[4] TheMasters Tournament in golf would begin experimenting with supplementalwebcaststhat year, introducing an "Amen Corner Live" broadcast focusing uponAugusta National's 11th, 12th, and 13th holes.[5]
ESPN would extend the Full Circle concept to other events, including a2006 NBA playoffs opening game between theChicago Bulls andMiami Heat in April (which featured most of the aforementioned offerings from the North Carolina–Duke game),[6] and aFlorida–Florida State football game in September—in which asplit-screen feed of eight camera angles (including isolated shots of the teams' coaches and startingquarterbacks) was shown on ESPN2, and askycam feed aired on ESPNU. TheLos Angeles Times reported that the ESPN2 broadcast faced a mixed reaction from viewers, with one considering the split-screen format to be the "stupidest" thing they had seen in a sports broadcast sinceFox's"glowing" hockey puck.[4]
With itsjoint rights to the NCAA men's basketball tournament withCBS Sports,Turner Sports began leveraging its networks for altcasts for its biennial broadcasts of the Final Four beginning in 2014; in conjunction with the main broadcast onTBS,TNT andTruTV would carry "Teamcast" feeds (later branded as "Team Stream powered byBleacher Report"), which would feature coverage from the perspectives of the participating teams.[7][8][9][10]
In 2014, ESPN revamped the Full Circle concept for theBCS National Championship Game as the "Megacast", with its networks carrying broadcasts such as "BCS Title Talk" (featuring celebrity guests discussing the game), a "Film Room" broadcast on ESPNU with extended examinations of plays by a panel of analysts, a commentary-free feed onESPN Classic, a "Command Center" with on-screen stats onESPN Goal Line, and other viewing options on ESPN3 (including simulcasts of the teams' radio networks with additional camera shots focused on their respective players). These offerings would continue into theCollege Football Playoff era, with other concepts such as special editions ofThePaul Finebaum Show onSEC Network (particularly when a team fromsaid conference is participating), and broadcasts with alumni of the opposing teams as analysts.[11][12][13][14]
TNT extended its "Players Only" franchise of NBA broadcasts with alternateAll-Star Game broadcasts onTBS, featuring a panel of players as commentators.[15] In 2017,MLB Network carried a statistics-oriented broadcast of a game hosted byBrian Kenny, with contributions fromMark DeRosa andMLB.com analyst Mike Petriello.[16] In 2018 and 2019,Amazon Prime Video partnered withFunny or Die to present a comedic broadcast of theRose Parade inPasadena, California, which featured comediansWill Ferrell andMolly Shannon portraying the fictitious local newscasters Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan (joined by fellowSaturday Night Live cast memberTim Meadows as a reporter).[17][18][19][20]
In 2021, ESPN2 began to carryMonday Night Football with Peyton and Eli during selectedMonday Night Football games, which featured brothersPeyton andEli Manning discussing the game with celebrities and sports personalities. The entertainment-oriented broadcasts proved to be critically successful, winning aSports Emmy Award forOutstanding Live Sports Series in 2022, and leading to ESPN entering into a long-term agreement with the Mannings'Omaha Productions to produce altcasts in a similar format for other ESPN sports properties.[21][22]
The popularity of the "Manningcast" influenced similar entertainment-oriented offerings from competing networks; in February 2024,TNT began scheduling more altcasts onTruTV as part of a gradual expansion of its sports output, including anNHL broadcast hosted byPaul Bissonnette and the panel of hisSpittin' Chiclets podcast (which Bissonnette billed as an NHL "version" of the "Manningcast" in an interview), andNBA All-Star Game headlined byInside the NBA panelistCharles Barkley and theGolden State Warriors'Draymond Green.[23][24]Amazon Prime Video introduced several altcasts for itsThursday Night Football broadcasts upon their move to the platform in 2022, with selected games featuring broadcasts hosted by sports comedy troupeDude Perfect, andLeBron James'The Shop.[25][26][27]
There have been several notable instances of alternate broadcasts tailored towards youth audiences. ESPN has offered a "KidsCast" broadcast for theLittle League World Series andMLB Little League Classic, featuring students of the Bruce Beck School of Broadcasting.[28][29] The use of player tracking foranalytics have also enabled entertainment-oriented broadcasts targeting youth: since 2021,CBS Sports and sister networkNickelodeon have partnered onaltcasts of selected games aimed towards family co-viewing; all of the games have been called byNoah Eagle (son of sportscasterIan Eagle) andNate Burleson. The games have includedaugmented reality effects such as a geyser of the network's trademark green slime on atouchdown, replays withanimation effects added to them, cameo appearances by other Nickelodeon characters as "reporters" (played live in-character by their respective voice actors), attendees, or to provide additional explanations of rules, and other youth-centric features.[30][31][32][33] These efforts culminated atSuper Bowl LVIII in 2024, where CBS provided the Super Bowl's first-ever altcast.[34][35]
Beyond Sports involved itself in altcasts that re-create a live game using real-time3D animation, a technique that allows players to be . A 2023 ESPN NHL altcast was themed around theDisney Channel animated seriesBig City Greens, with players represented byavatars of characters from the series;Vincent Trocheck of theNew York Rangers andEvgeny Kuznetsov of theWashington Capitals were represented by the series' lead characters Cricket and Tilly Green, with their respective voice actors providing livefacial motion capture[36] In 2024, TruTV aired a similar production using variousWarner Bros. Discovery-owned characters, in promotion for its video gameMultiVersus.[37] Beyond would later collaborate with the NHL on a regularHockeyverse series forNHL Network that features highlights from a featured game animated in such a style, and announced a collaboration with theBoston Bruins'NESN to air the first such broadcast at a regional level.[38][39] Beyond also worked with ESPN on aToy Story-themed broadcast in a similar style for anNFL London Game in 2023.[40]