50 Cent, Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party and Kelly Rowland to Provide Theme Song for Saturday Night Football on ABC

Critically Acclaimed Musical Artists Write Special Lyrics for Telecast Opening Song of College Football’s Most-Viewed Weekly Series

The second season of Saturday Night Football Presented by Southwest Airlines on ABC,

broadcast television’s first-ever weekly college football primetime series returning September 1 after a successful inaugural season, will feature a specially recorded telecast open by critically acclaimed musical artists 50 Cent, Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party and Kelly Rowland shot on the Pontiac Garage stage in New York City’s Times Square.  The season debut at 8 p.m. ET, available in high definition on ABC HD, will feature Tennessee at California in showdown between two premier programs.

Each artist wrote college football-specific lyrics set to Satellite Party’s cover version of the song

Only Love, Let’s Celebrate (originally released as I Just Want to Celebrate by Rare Earth) available on its debut album Ultra Payloaded.  The Saturday Night Football open will feature an exclusive music video intertwined with relevant college football highlights pertaining to that week’s game.

Similar to the Saturday Night Football marketing campaign with the slogan, "College Football

Lives Here," the opening theme will showcase the rivalries, tradition and memorable moments that define college football plus the great individual matchups the series offers. 

The relationship between Satellite Party, 50 Cent and Kelly Rowland for Saturday Night

Football was created by David Saltz, executive producer of music for ABC, Inc.  

The following link contains behind-the-scenes footage of the artists shooting the open on the

Pontiac Garage: http://www.espnmediazone.com/spots_temp/SNFOpen_320x240.mov

Perry Farrell, 50 Cent and Kelly Rowland

Perry Farrell is one of music’s most influential figures and cultural leaders.  After assembling

the popular rock band Jane’s Addiction, Farrell conceived Lollapalooza, the seminal music festival that encapsulated youth culture and launched the traveling concert experience touring industry in the United States.  Farrell’s first musical endeavor in four years, Satellite Party, released its first album entitled Ultra Payloaded on May 29.  Satellite Party blends sounds as varied as rock, electro, urban beats and symphony. 

50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) has taken the street culture by storm -- from music to movies,

videogames to books, a clothing line to footwear.  He has earned 11 Grammy nominations, from Best New Artist to Best Rap Album, for each of his first two major label efforts.  His third, Curtis, is scheduled to be released on September 11 and features guest appearances by Eminem, Akon, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls.  His official debut album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, was the biggest seller of

2003 and is currently 11 times platinum worldwide.  His second album, The Massacre, was the

second biggest-selling album of 2005 and is now eight times platinum worldwide.

Kelly Rowland, a Grammy Award-winning R&B singer and songwriter, is a founding member of

the critically acclaimed group Destiny’s Child.  In addition to her achievements with Destiny’s Child – including four Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles and two Billboard 200 #1 albums – Rowland has garnered praise and success for her solo efforts.  Her second solo album, Ms. Kelly (released on July 3), has produced the top 5 single Like This while her first solo project, Simply Deep, sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide.  Rowland also collaborated with singer Nelly on Dilemma, which won the 2003 Grammy Award in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.  

Saturday Night Football

Saturday Night Football will be called by Brent Musburger with analyst Kirk Herbstreit and

reporter Lisa Salters.  Herbstreit will continue to work on ESPN’s Saturday morning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot program.

The 12-week Saturday Night Football series will feature high profile inter-conference matchups

and top conference showdowns involving teams from the Pac-10, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and BIG EAST as well as Notre Dame.  Every telecast, beginning September 1 and concluding December 1 with the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship, will kick off at 8 p.m. and be offered in high definition on ABC HD.  The schedule does not include games on September 8 and October 13 when ESPN on ABC will televise NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races from Richmond and Charlotte, respectively.

Network assignments for windows from September 29 to November 24 (except Notre Dame at

UCLA on October 6), including four Big Ten and three Pac-10 matchups that have been designated for a primetime telecast on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, will be selected on a six- or 12-day basis.  Selecting games on a six- and 12-day basis provided Saturday Night Football with the flexibility to televise the best available games as the season progresses.

              The debut season of Saturday Night Football was successful in overall viewership and across key demographics, winning the night on numerous occasions.

• Saturday Night Football averaged 5,567,000 households, a 5.0 rating and 7,886,000 total viewers, out-delivering the programming in the same window the previous year by 24% (vs. 4,490,000), 22% (vs. 4.1) and 27% (vs. 6,212,000), respectively.

• The series posted significant growth in key demographics, including:
• Adults 18-49: a 2.7 rating, men 25-54: a 4.1 rating, men 18-49: a 3.7 rating, men 18-34: a 3.2 rating for increases of 29% (vs. 2.1), 52% (vs. 2.7), 61% (vs. 2.3) and 68% (vs. 1.9), respectively, over the previous year in the same time frame.

• On six occasions, Saturday Night Football was the highest-rated and most-viewed program on television that evening, including in total viewers and the key adult 18-49 demographic.

• The Notre Dame at USC telecast (November 25) averaged 10,048,000 households, a 9.0 rating and 14,647,000 total viewers, making it the second most-viewed regular-season college football game on any network since November 30, 1996 (Florida at Florida State on ABC averaged 10,593,000 households) behind Michigan at Ohio State on ABC November 18, 2006 (14,479,000 households, a 13.0 rating and 21,037,000 total viewers).

2007 SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE ON ABC

• Game selections on September 1, 15 and 22 and October 6 have been determined.
• Selected Big Ten and Pac-10 games from September 29 through November 24 are designated for primetime on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 with network assignments to be determined on a six- or 12-day basis (except Notre Dame at UCLA on October 6). 
• ACC, Big 12 and BIG EAST Saturday Night Football game selections will be determined on a six- or 12-day basis. 

Date              Time (ET)           Game                                                                                                    

Sept. 1           8 p.m.                  Tennessee at California

Sept. 15        8 p.m.                  USC at Nebraska

Sept. 22        8 p.m.                  Washington State at USC and Iowa at Wisconsin ^

Sept. 29        8 p.m.                  TBD: Ohio State at Minnesota* and/or USC at Washington*

Oct. 6             8 p.m.                  Notre Dame at UCLA (confirmed); potential additional games:

                                                    Ohio State at Purdue** and/or ACC or Big 12 or BIG EAST

Oct. 20           8 p.m.                  TBD: Michigan at Illinois*** or ACC or Big 12

Oct. 27           8 p.m.                  TBD: Ohio State at Penn State*** or Big 12 or BIG EAST

Nov. 3            8 p.m.                  TBD: Oregon State at USC*** or ACC or Big 12 or BIG EAST

Nov. 10          8 p.m.                  TBD: USC at California*** or ACC or Big 12 or BIG EAST

Nov. 17          8 p.m.                  TBD: ACC, Big 12 or BIG EAST

Nov. 24          8 p.m.                  TBD: ACC, Big 12 or BIG EAST

Dec. 1            8 p.m.                  Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship Game

^ Split national telecast

* One or both games will be on ABC; if one game on ABC, the other will be televised in primetime on ESPN or ESPN2

** Notre Dame at UCLA is confirmed for Saturday Night Football; Ohio State at Purdue will be televised in primetime on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.

*** Selected game will be in primetime on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2

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