Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Ron Kantowski on the MWC’s move to an obscure channel

Apparently, this is the Mountain West's strategy: Call enough news conferences, send out enough press releases, put out enough e-mails and maybe somebody will believe that this new media deal with College Sports TV and its sister station - something called the mtn. - makes perfect sense.

A couple of years ago, the Mountain West apparently had had enough of ESPN telling it what time it could play its basketball games or was hurting for cash - or both. So the best darn little sports conference that nobody outside of the Mountain Time Zone has heard of signed a seven-year, $82 million pact with CSTV, a fledgling network that also was seeking an identity.

Well, it's certainly easy to understand the cash grab - $82 million will buy a lot of sheep in Fort Collins.

I guess it's the service after the sale that I'm not totally getting.

For instance, there's the little detail that CSTV is not yet available to cable viewers in Las Vegas and San Diego, arguably its two most important markets - and certainly its two warmest. That has been the case since the deal was announced in August 2004.

To me, this is like announcing sliced bread, but not having a bakery in which to cook it.

That's why when the MWC sent out a dozen media advisories last week, saying there would be a major teleconference on Tuesday, I thought this had to be it. This had to be the news that Cox cable was finally coming on board and we all could stop whining about wanting our CSTV.

There would be no such announcement.

In fact, about an hour before the teleconference, I received a call from Steve Schorr, vice president of Cox Communications, who was speaking in a resonant voice on speaker phone - usually an indication that he is fired up about something.

The last time I heard Schorr in speaker-phone mode was when UNLV was talking about moving Lady Rebels games out of Cox Pavilion, for which it was built, and into the Thomas & Mack Center.

Anyway, he went on to say that talks with CSTV have broken off, primarily because CSTV wants an arm and a leg in rights fees, and Schorr believes Cox viewers shouldn't have to offset the cost by parting with any more appendages.

In continuing with that analogy, Schorr will have a pretty strong leg to stand on once the sides get back to the bargaining table. He has been to Sam Boyd Stadium and seen all those empty seats.

Even before UNLV started stringing together 2-9 seasons, there just wasn't a lot of interest in Rebel football.

That's why CSTV needs Cox more than Cox needs CSTV.

As for CSTV and the Mountain West, there would appear to be a pretty good trade-off. While $82 million might sound like a hefty price tag, CSTV received a ton of programming and the opportunity to sell advertising in return. Fair enough.

That leaves Mountain West fans. It's hard to say how they'll benefit, if at all. Even a glib salesman such as MWC commissioner Craig Thompson would find it difficult to convince a UNLV or San Diego State fan who subscribes to cable that this is a good deal.

The major announcement on Tuesday was that the Mountain West would operate a "super regional network" under the CSTV umbrella. "The mtn.," as near as anybody can figure, is sort of like the UPN or the WB, only with a lot more women's softball games and men's cross country meets than "Moesha" reruns.

The mtn., according to news release No. 18, "is a multi-faceted super regional network with a number of platforms, including a linear regional cable network, customized local programming, broadband distribution, video-on-demand and wireless applications."

I think what this means is that if you have a fast Internet connection, you might be able to watch the Rebels play Idaho State on your laptop computer.

At least in Laramie or Fort Collins.

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