Six Air Force football games this fall will be televised on The Mtn., a new television network created to feature Mountain West Conference sports, but one that may not be as readily available as previous channels.
The Mtn. will be a regional affiliate of College Sports Television, which will begin broadcasting MWC games this fall following the league's breakaway from ESPN. The creation of The Mtn. was announced Tuesday at a news conference in San Diego. It will not only broadcast games on television but also offer live streaming Internet content.
The problem is that CSTV is still not available in most of the MWC markets as part of a basic cable programming package. In Colorado Springs, cable provider Adelphia carries CSTV but only on in its "Digital Plus" package, which costs $70.77 per month. Other regional sports channels that broadcast local teams like Fox Sports Rocky Mountain and Altitude are available on "Digital Basic," which is $11.49 per month cheaper.
CSTV regional networks president Chris Bevilacqua said the network was working with cable providers on all MWC markets to get both CSTV and The Mtn. included in "broadly distributed packages."
Sandra Mann, public relations director for Adelphia in Colorado Springs, said there haven't yet been any substantive negotiations to make CSTV more widely available in the area.
"That’s a huge negotiation process that all networks go through including Fox Rocky Mountain and Altitude and any others," Mann said. "I’d assume that when the specifics of that are worked out, we would engage in conversation with them for coverage like any network we’d pick. We’re interested in having Air Force sports covered in this city so we’d be interested in discussing what the possibilities are for any kind of coverage but it would have to go through the usual channels it always does."
Air Force games to be televised on The Mtn. include: at Wyoming on Sept. 23, vs. New Mexico on Sept. 30, at San Diego State on Oct. 21, vs. BYU on Oct. 28, vs. Utah on Nov. 18 and at TCU on Dec. 2.
Though CSTV's national fall football schedule won't be released until Wednesday, Air Force's Oct. 7 game against Navy, Oct. 12 game against Colorado State and Nov. 24 game against UNLV have been earmarked for that network. It's also expected that the Nov. 11 game against Notre Dame will be on CSTV, but it could land on CBS, which acquired CSTV last year.
The Nov. 3 Air Force-Army game will be on ESPN2, and Air Force officials expect the Sept. 9 opener at Tennessee to be picked up by ESPN for a nighttime kickoff.
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1316601&secid=3
The Mtn. will be a regional affiliate of College Sports Television, which will begin broadcasting MWC games this fall following the league's breakaway from ESPN. The creation of The Mtn. was announced Tuesday at a news conference in San Diego. It will not only broadcast games on television but also offer live streaming Internet content.
The problem is that CSTV is still not available in most of the MWC markets as part of a basic cable programming package. In Colorado Springs, cable provider Adelphia carries CSTV but only on in its "Digital Plus" package, which costs $70.77 per month. Other regional sports channels that broadcast local teams like Fox Sports Rocky Mountain and Altitude are available on "Digital Basic," which is $11.49 per month cheaper.
CSTV regional networks president Chris Bevilacqua said the network was working with cable providers on all MWC markets to get both CSTV and The Mtn. included in "broadly distributed packages."
Sandra Mann, public relations director for Adelphia in Colorado Springs, said there haven't yet been any substantive negotiations to make CSTV more widely available in the area.
"That’s a huge negotiation process that all networks go through including Fox Rocky Mountain and Altitude and any others," Mann said. "I’d assume that when the specifics of that are worked out, we would engage in conversation with them for coverage like any network we’d pick. We’re interested in having Air Force sports covered in this city so we’d be interested in discussing what the possibilities are for any kind of coverage but it would have to go through the usual channels it always does."
Air Force games to be televised on The Mtn. include: at Wyoming on Sept. 23, vs. New Mexico on Sept. 30, at San Diego State on Oct. 21, vs. BYU on Oct. 28, vs. Utah on Nov. 18 and at TCU on Dec. 2.
Though CSTV's national fall football schedule won't be released until Wednesday, Air Force's Oct. 7 game against Navy, Oct. 12 game against Colorado State and Nov. 24 game against UNLV have been earmarked for that network. It's also expected that the Nov. 11 game against Notre Dame will be on CSTV, but it could land on CBS, which acquired CSTV last year.
The Nov. 3 Air Force-Army game will be on ESPN2, and Air Force officials expect the Sept. 9 opener at Tennessee to be picked up by ESPN for a nighttime kickoff.
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1316601&secid=3
