JimmyBuff
Well-Known Member
AUSTIN - The Longhorn Network, ESPN's groundbreaking and controversial partnership with the University of Texas, launches today with great hoopla to a nationwide audience of …
Well, actually, not much.
The network kicks off with probably no more than a few thousand households nationwide - and no access, pending last-minute deals, in such core markets as Houston, San Antonio and, potentially, Austin.
Still, ESPN and university officials are relentlessly bullish on their 20-year, $300 million partnership.
"This is a good thing," said Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds. "I love that we're able to do it. I love that the (Big 12) conference has allowed us to do it. Everybody can do something special and do it in their own way. That's America."
ESPN declined to estimate in how many households the Longhorn Network will be available when it signs on at 6 p.m. today from the university's South Mall with a cast that includes the anchors from ESPN's popular College GameDay program.
It did announce Thursday its first major LHN distribution deal with Verizon's FiOS service, which has about 3.9 million subscribers but is limited within Texas to about 250,000 customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. The FiOS agreement begins Sept. 1, two days before the network telecasts Texas' football opener against Rice.
Media reports this week said an agreement was imminent with Grande Communications, which has about 140,000 customers in smaller systems along the Interstate 35 corridor, including Austin. But that deal had not been announced as of Thursday.
ESPN, which reportedly is seeking a monthly carriage fee of 40 cents per subscriber in Texas, has been unable to strike deals with such major carriers as Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T U-verse, DirecTV and Dish Network. So the Longhorn Network will launch with more potential than actual eyeballs for its first live event, a Texas-Pepperdine women's volleyball match.
Texas' decision to go with a programming partner instead of pairing up with cable distributors, as the Pac-12 has done, meant that distribution, not programming, would be a challenge as ESPN negotiated with hundreds of cable carriers. And not surprisingly, gearing up carriage has been a slow process.
Comcast, the largest carrier in Houston, had no comment on its plans for the Longhorn Network, but Plonsky said company officials are scheduled to visit Austin in the coming weeks.
As for Time Warner, the largest carrier in San Antonio, Dallas, Waco and Austin, spokesman Melissa C. Sorola said, "We have had discussions with ESPN about the Longhorn Network, and at this time we do not have an agreement in place." A Dish Network spokesman also confirmed talks with ESPN but said no deal is in place.
As for DirecTV, spokesman Robert Mercer said that while discussions have taken place, "we have no plans right now to carry it. We understand Longhorn has other programming that may be of value to a small segment of our customers, but two UT football games do not constitute a network."
http://www.chron.com/sports/longhorns/article/A-limited-launch-for-Longhorn-Network-2141921.php
Direct TV shoots and scores.. :lol::lol: