MountainWest Sports Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MountainWest Sports Network | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| the mtn. | |
| Launched | September 1, 2006 |
| Owned by | CBS Corporation |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Sister channel(s) | CBS Sports CBS College Sports Network Versus |
| Website | http://www.themtn.tv |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 616 (begins 8/27/08)[1] |
| Dish Network | Not available |
| Cable | |
| Available on many cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
MountainWest Sports Network, informally known as the mtn. (but pronounced "the mountain") is an American regional sports network.
Launched on September 1, 2006 as a joint-venture of the Mountain West Conference (MWC), CBS College Sports Network (then CSTV) and Comcast (which owns Versus). The mtn. is a 24-hour television network devoted entirely to covering MWC sports. In its first year the network broadcast about 20 football games. It is also scheduled to broadcast most of the men's basketball tournament and all of the women's basketball tournament. Gary Bender and Glenn Parker are the lead broadcast team for football. Courtney George, former CNN sports anchor and Marius Payton are the main network anchors hosting most of the pre-game, half-time and post game shows.
The mtn. also produces MWC events that air on Versus and CBS College Sports Network.
Contents |
[edit] History
Launched on September 1, 2006 by the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and CBS College Sports Network, "the mtn." is the first network dedicated solely to a college athletic conference. In 2006, the MWC elected to discontinue affiliation with ESPN due to a conflict over game schedules and financial compensation.
[edit] Programming
"The mtn." provides coverage of MWC athletics across multiple sports including football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's Olympic sports. In its first school year of coverage (2006-07), "The mtn." broadcast 30 football games, 75 men’s basketball games, and 25 women’s basketball games. The channel also presents newscasts, magazine shows, and special programming focusing on the players, teams, and sports of the conference.
[edit] Distribution
"The mtn." is currently available in eight of the nine MWC markets, and the following 18 providers offer The Mtn:
- Satellite
- Cable
- All West Communications (Utah, Wyoming)
- Bresnan (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming)
- Cable ONE (Idaho, New Mexico)
- CentraCom Cable TV (Utah)
- Comcast (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah)
- Cox (California, Nevada)
- Independent Cable Systems of Idaho (Idaho)
- Manti Tele Communications Company (Utah)
- MSTARmetro (Utah)
- Project Mutual Telephone (Idaho)
- Provo Cable (Utah)
- Rural Telephone Company (Idaho)
- Saratoga Cable (Utah)
- Silver Star Communications (Wyoming)
- Spanish Fork Community Network (Utah)
- Sweetwater Cable Television (Wyoming)
- TCT (Wyoming)
- Online
- Comcast.net (highlights only)
"The mtn." is not currently available on Dish Network satellite television (unlike the Big Ten Network). It is also unavailable in the Dallas/Fort Worth media market, as neither Time Warner Cable (Dallas) nor Charter Communications (Fort Worth) has agreed to carry it. The Metroplex is where the Texas Christian University campus is located and TCU is in the MWC.
On February 22, 2008, DirecTV and the mtn. reached a carriage agreement in which the channel will be added - on a tier to be determined - in time for the 2008-09 academic year.[2]
As of November 3, 2007 Precis Communications which services roughly 25 rural areas throughout Utah, Nevada and Arizona has refused to carry "the mtn." unless they are allowed to put it on a tier package. Comcast states that it is a requirement that it comes with expanded basic service. Precis Communications has stated that "in order to pay for the cost of having the mtn. we would either have to have it on a tier or raise all our customers rates by 2 to 3 dollars, which would dissatisfy our customers who do not want the mtn."
[edit] Distribution controversy
On June 1, 2007, the presidents of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, unsatisfied with the current distribution, issued a joint press release that they "retained a sports broadcasting attorney to explore all possible options in improving the distribution of athletic broadcasts to their fans". [3]
On June 5, 2007 the MWC Board "reaffirmed its unanimous support of the league's television model and its commitment to working collectively as a unified group", and its Directors unanimously voted to join BYU and Utah to retain the attorney they had hired.[4]
In an interview with KUTV, President Michael K. Young of Utah stated that "Every [MWC member] knows...President Samuelson and I have been clear about this for the last year and a half that it is absolutely essential that we get on satellite to make our games available to our fans. Anything short of that is unacceptable." He then added that "We are passionately committed to our having our football games being on TV this year."[5]
[edit] MWC Institutions
- Air Force Falcons
- BYU Cougars
- Colorado State Rams
- New Mexico Lobos
- San Diego State Aztecs (athletics wiki article: SDSU Aztecs)
- TCU Horned Frogs and Lady Frogs (athletics wiki article: TCU Horned Frogs)
- UNLV Rebels and Lady Rebels
- Utah Utes (athletics wiki article: Utah Utes)
- Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls
[edit] Events covered
- At least two college football games per week
- MWC men's basketball tournament (first two rounds; semifinal games are on CSTV, final game is on Versus)
- MWC women's basketball tournament (all rounds except final game, which is on Versus)
- MWC baseball and softball tournaments (at least most games)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.themtn.tv/mtn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=267&Itemid=85
- ^ DirecTV Press Release
- ^ BYU and Utah hire attorney regarding the .mtn debacle (HTML) (English). byu.edu. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
- ^ MWC Board address TV distribution (HTML) (English). themwc.cstv.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
- ^ Utes & Cougars VS The Mountain (HTML) (English). kutv.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
