POSTED: Wednesday November 19th 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOWL ELIGIBLE NOTRE DAME HOSTS SYRACUSE SATURDAY, 2:30 PM ET ON NBC

Ratings on NBC Up 15%

Gridiron Rivalry Goes Green on Carbonrally.com




       NEW YORK – Nov. 19, 2008 – NBC Sports, in its 18th season
as the broadcast home of Notre Dame home football games, presents live
HD coverage of the Fighting Irish (6-4) hosting the Syracuse Orangemen
(2-8) Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ND\‘s last home game of the season.
Coverage begins on NBCSports.com at 2 p.m. ET with the \“Vonage Notre
Dame Countdown to Kickoff\” (see details below). The Irish are coming
off a 27-21 road victory over Navy which made them bowl eligible.
Syracuse fell to Connecticut 39-14 and then fired head coach Greg
Robinson.



Tom Hammond (play-by-play) and Pat Haden (analyst) team up for their
ninth season together as the voices of Notre Dame on NBC joined by
sideline reporter Alex Flanagan, who is also a reporter for the NFL
Network.



ND VS. SYRACUSE: Notre Dame and Syracuse will meet for the sixth time
in history with the Irish leading the all-time series, 3-2, including
capturing the last meeting at home, 34-10, in 2005. Notre Dame also
took the other matchup inside Notre Dame Stadium, 17-15, in 1961.



RATINGS SHOW INCREASE: Through the first five home games of the season,
Notre Dame on NBC has earned a 2.3 rating and a 5 share, a 15 percent
increase over 2007. Ratings are also up significantly in the key demos
(Men 18-49, + 27%; Men 25-54, +33%).



GRIDIRON RIVALRY GOES GREEN ON CARBONRALLY.COM:
Notre Dame and Syracuse are taking their rivalry to Carbonrally.com to
help bring awareness to climate change and the need to reduce energy
consumption as part of NBC Universal\‘s \“Green is Universal\” consumer
campaign during Green Week, Nov. 16-23.



Two teams comprised of students, faculty, alumni and fans from each
university are competing the entire month of November in a variety of
eco-challenges posed by Carbonrally.com. And one team, Notre Dame or
Syracuse, will take home $10,000 courtesy of NBC Universal at the end
of the month to support campus eco initiatives.



In addition, NBC Sports will host an online video contest, in which
students from Notre Dame and Syracuse will produce short commercials
promoting sustainable practices.  The best submissions will be
displayed on the NBC Sports website, www.nbcsports.com.



NOTRE DAME ON NBCSPORTS.COM
AND NBC2GO: To complement NBC\‘s broadcast coverage, NBCSports.com is
offering an innovative 40 minute pre- and post-game live webcast
surrounding the Notre Dame TV coverage hosted by Paula Faris with
commentary from John Walters. The \“Vonage Notre Dame Countdown to
Kickoff\” and the \“Vonage Notre Dame Post Game Report,\” live webcasts
originate from Notre Dame Stadium and extend the NBC television
broadcasts by providing an unprecedented depth of Notre Dame coverage
utilizing the Internet. The post-game report features live coverage of
Coach Charlie Weis\’ press conference. Fans can also visit NBCSports.com
at halftime to see live coverage of the performances of the Fighting
Irish marching band as well as the visiting school\‘s band.



Fans also can watch Notre Dame home games on their mobile phones through NBC Sports Mobile and NBC2Go.



NOTRE DAME ON NBC: In June, the University of Notre Dame and NBC Sports
announced a new five-year agreement under which NBC will televise Irish
home football games through 2015, which will mark the 25th year of the
partnership. The extension provides NBC rights to eight Notre Dame home
games from 2011-15, seven games at Notre Dame Stadium and an additional
eighth off-site home game airing in primetime each year. The landmark
relationship began in 1991.



REMAINING NOTRE DAME ON NBC SCHEDULE (ALL GAMES BROADCAST IN HD):

Date                            Opponent                Time (all times ET)

Saturday, November 22   Syracuse                2:30 p.m.




       Members of the media can get more information about NBC
Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web
site at www.nbcumv.com.



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Keywords · Notre Dame · Syracuse Orangemen · football · NBC

Name: Brian Walker
Organization: NBC
Email:
Phone: +1.212-664-5533
URL: http://www.nbcuni.com

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