ASUnited (Arizona State University WeBlog)

Howdy ASU fans! Today we have a special guest post from Porter Olson from Athlete Anthem regarding the new Pac-12 TV Network and how it will affect ASU and Pac-12 sports viewers starting this August 15th. Enjoy!!

The Greater Phoenix Area, including Tempe and the campus of Arizona State University, is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. It’s also one of the largest television markets, which makes the new Pac-12 Network one of the most exciting launches in sports television history.

Made up of a single national channel and six regional networks dedicated to providing full sports coverage of the Pac-12 Conference, the Pac-12 Network will officially launch on August 15, 2012. The network will initially provide nationwide coverage of Pac-12 sports to more than 40 million homes, including every household in each regional broadcast area.

Included in the group of regional networks is the Pac-12 Arizona channel, which will provide awesome coverage of the state’s two Pac-12 schools, Arizona State University in Tempe and the University of Arizona in Tucson.

In addition to Pac-12 Arizona, the following regional channels will be available as part of the network:

• Pac-12 Los Angeles (USC and UCLA)
• Pac-12 Washington (Washington and Washington State)
• Pac-12 Oregon (Oregon and Oregon State)
• Pac-12 Bay Area (Stanford and California)
• Pac-12 Mountain (Colorado University and the University of Utah)

The national channel will ensure that every football and basketball game will be televised nationwide, giving the Pac-12 Conference excellent exposure to a nationwide audience looking for college athletics competing at the highest levels.

Throughout Arizona, fans of the Pac-12 Conference will be able to enjoy watching the Pac-12 Network on Cox Communications cable television. The new network will operate 24/7 right out of the gate, and will deliver complete coverage of every school in the conference. In short, Pac-12 diehards will never tire of the sports coverage.

Like all new television networks, there are still some details that need to be finalized, and some markets that still need to be included. At present, the Pac-12 Network has only reached agreements with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, and Bright House Networks. The new network has yet to ink deals with DirecTV and DISH Network.

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott remains “quietly optimistic” he’ll have deals in place with the two satellite premium home television providers by the fall. Considering Direct TV services more than 32 million accounts, and DISH Network provides similar services to more than 14 million subscribers, the Pac-12 Network would be well advised to get these broadcasting agreements in place sooner than later.

Like many new sports networks, the Pac-12 Network will find itself faced with many challenges along the way. Fortunately, the size of the regional television markets are some of the largest in the United States, including the number two market for Pac-12 Los Angeles, the number six market for Pac-12 Bay Area, and the number 11 market for Pac-12 Arizona. With the popularity of Pac-12 teams around the country, it already looks like it is set for success.

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