The Division I Competition Oversight Committee has approved a change in format to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships that will result in live television coverage beginning in 2016.

At the 2016 championship in Fort Worth, Texas, the semifinals, all-around and individual event specialist competition will be conducted in two sessions on Friday, April 15. The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to Super Six competition Saturday, April 16. The individual event and all-around champions will be determined on Friday during semifinal competition. In previous years, the semifinals were held on Friday, followed by the Super Six on Saturday and the individual event finals on Sunday.

Tentative times for the 2016 NCAA Championships are 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET for the semifinals on Friday and 9 p.m. ET for the Super Six on Saturday. ESPNU will televise the competition live on Friday and Saturday.

“To have our championship on live TV has been a long-time goal for our coaches’ association,” said Georgia head coach Danna Durante. “We have talked about a number of ways to make that a reality, and we’ve had a lot of different discussions. ESPN was excited about the ratings that live gymnastics has been getting across the country, and we began having discussions with them. It’s a little bittersweet to have the individual event finals removed from the format, but to have our championship on live television will be tremendous for the growth of college gymnastics. Anytime we can increase our visibility and awareness; it’s going to help our sport.”

As in previous years, the six regional competitions will each consist of six teams, and the top two teams and the top two all-around competitors who are not on an advancing team from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. Also, the event winners at regional competition advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

The criteria for NCAA All-Americas will remain the same, as the top-four scores (plus ties) in each event and the all-around in each semifinal session are considered first team All-Americans. Places 5-8 (plus ties) will be second team All-America.

Georgia will serve as one of six NCAA Regional hosts on April 2 at 4 p.m.