2012-13 men's basketball schedule releases & a couple football items

Basketball starts this entry, with three conference releasing conference portions of their schedules this week.

* With the SEC, we saw that, at least with basketball, ESPN3 exclusives appear to be acceptable for a portion of the weeknight schedule.  Also saw an increase in the number of ESPNU games for the SEC on the weekend.  FSN and CSS also saw increases in their sublicense packages and the Wednesday appears to be a split window virtually every week.

Pay attention ACC.  This could be your future, even if from top-to-bottom when Syracuse and Pitt enter the league you might be better than the SEC.

* The Big 12 schedule release doesn't look much different than prior years.  Big Monday? Check.  Usually a Wednesday window? Check.  A Saturday window on ESPN/ESPN2.  TCU will benefit quite a bit with five games on ESPN's national networks and a strong syndication package and West Virginia will see an increase in the number of games they'll appear on national television.

* Up next, it sounds like the Big Ten basketball schedule is close to final.  After that the ACC, which tries to release the initial run of televised games in August, then adds to it during the fall.  The Pac-12 has said September for their list and the Big East typically goes in September as well as they have to contend with pro sports and other tenants in some of their arenas.

If you're curious, the AQ football conferences happen to account for 503 men's basketball games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN, NBCSN and CBS (at least that's the count in my database), excluding neutral site in season tournaments and one-off neutral site games.  I am counting conference tournaments.  The remaining Division I conferences (excluding Patriot League and a portion of C-USA's and the A-10's schedules) accounted for 182 games in that schedule.  

* Late yesterday, a few of the Mountain West schools began to release the conference portion of their schedules and television assignments were included.  Much like the football schedule, the basketball schedule seems to be very top heavy, geared towards UNLV (9), New Mexico (at least 6), San Diego St. (10), Colorado St. (at least 6) and Nevada (8), at least three of which should make noise in March.  The other four MW schools?  Probably hoping that a regional television solution gets resolved soon.  They currently have a grand total of three appearances, with Air Force at zero.  As those teams schedules are released, I'm sure the number will go up too, especially as the non-conference portion has television attached to it.

Now for football...

* A nice late day surprise, thanks to the FOX College Sports, telecast listings is that national FSN games from the Big 12 and C-USA will once again be simulcast through the FCS channels.  The practice of simulcasting the national games on FCS ended sometime before the 2010 season and a reason was never given.  But now that the Pac-12 has moved their regional games to the Pac-12 Networks, there's a hole in the FCS schedule.  I know a lot of folks, particularly those who miss a FSN game due to other regional obligations, will be thrilled with this result.

* Still waiting on the finalized FOX telecast listings for the Big 12.  Mack Brown mentioned last Sunday that their first two games vs. Wyoming and New Mexico would air on Longhorn Network.  To me, that should have been the last piece of the puzzle for those weeks.  I believe that Tulsa-Iowa St. will eventually move to 3:30pm ET (some FOX regional listings show the game at that time), but an interesting twist is that the Northwestern St.-Texas Tech game is still sitting with a TBA start time.  Maybe Tulsa-ISU stays at 12pm on FSN, Appalachian St.-ECU goes to a smaller distribution of regional affiliates (ie. plus and secondary RSNs) in addition to FOX College Sports, and Northwestern St.-Texas Tech airs on FSN at 3:30pm.

* There's a lot of silence regarding the MWC football games not set for national television.  Lot of unrest among those fans.  Can't blame them.  I can understand delaying some TV announcements as the school is probably trying to sell as many tickets as they can, and since kickoff times have been set for those games, fans can make decision for ticket purchases if they desire.  But the silence, particularly to those fans, also leads to the perception of inaction on TV partner CBS Sports Network, who has been charged with finding regional TV partners.  Here's hoping that it gets resolved within the next week.

What's new in college football broadcasting for 2012

Its a rather abbreviated list in 2012.  Less broadcasting changes, but some are directly tied to each other.

Pac-12 takes control of their broadcasting - The Pac-12, after years of what many have felt were behind the times in terms of broadcasting and rights fees, finally gets a broadcasting makeover.  FOX & ESPN are now co-rightsholders and the conference have built itself their own network system known as the Pac-12 Networks.  Made up of six regional networks and one national feed, the goal is to get more Pac-12 content out to the masses.  Several major cable systems have already signed up for the network while the two satellite companies and the telcos are continuing to negotiate.

ESPN adds the Pac-12 - Mentioned above, ESPN will have rights to 22 Pac-12 games and the conference has elected to continue with Thursday and Friday games, in addition to weekly 10pm or 10:30pm ET games each week.  By doing this, ESPN's primetime window has moved up from 7:45pm to 7pm.

A new player emerges in FOX - As part of the new Pac-12 contract, FOX's broadcast network will broadcast around 20 games this year, plus another 15+ games on F/X.  Besides the Pac-12 and Big Ten championship games on FOX, at least eight regular season games will come from the Pac-12 (22 total when counting games on F/X), Conference USA could appear as well and it appears that the Big 12 could get into the mix due to...

...FOX and ESPN are working towards a form of shared rights model for the Big 12 - It sounds like its just for football, and might be tied to agreements where ESPN's Longhorn Network can pick up more than one Texas game per year.  FOX already has a new agreement with the conference where F/X, FSN and FOX College Sports will carry games, but that appears to be in process of changing.

The Mountain West and CBS appear to be headed towards syndication - In lieu of the mtn's demise, a hole was left in most Mountain West schools' TV schedules, particularly New Mexico which didn't have a single game selected by CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports Network or ESPN.  News has crept out that a local affiliate in Denver will pick up the balance of the Colorado St. schedule and that Time Warner Cable in San Diego has contracted with the conference to carry San Diego St. games, but the rest of the regional schedule, which commissioner Craig Thompson said at media day would be around 30 games, is still a mystery.

The Sun Belt and ESPN expand their relationship - A small increase, but an increase nonetheless, in the number of ESPN Networks games with the Sun Belt.  The conference will have Thursday or Friday night games on ESPNU sprinkled throughout the season and will have a larger presence on ESPN3 with games to be added throughout the season.

Changes at the FCS level - The Big Sky and CAA made the biggest changes in broadcasting.  The DirecTV owned ROOT Sports networks, knowing that they would be losing a massive chunk of programming of local interest with the FSN service losing Pac-12 games, made a deal with the Big Sky Conference for up to 18 games per year.  Most Big Sky games will air at 3:30pm ET with a few doubleheaders during the year.  The CAA, by renewing their deal with Comcast, also was able to get a number of games on NBC Sports Network.  Finally the Ivy League and NBC Sports Network renewed their deal for several football games.  In the case of all three, the deals also included men's basketball and other sports.

What's next? - SEC "Project X" on the horizon?  Who becomes the suitor for the Big East television rights?  Does the Atlantic 10 continue its shared rights agreement with CBS Sports Network and ESPN?  Stay tuned...

A few thoughts on Penn St. and possible sanctions

1) I don't expect any changes to the 2012 schedule. Much like when USC was sanctioned and it included the possibility of cancellation of the game at Hawai'i, I think the existing 2012 games, particularly the out of conference games remain intact.

2) I don't think 2013 is a guarantee though. I could see PSU being limited to Big Ten games only, like Baylor basketball.  It would allow the Big Ten to maintain a conference championship game and limit any rebates that ESPN might seek.

3) I think it's a certainty that bowl opportunities will be lost. What some fail to realize is that would trigger the ability for football players to freely transfer without sitting out a year. So the NCAA doesn't have to give out an extra year to those kids. 

I remember in the "30 for 30" documentary on SMU that once players were given the green light to transfer, their campus became a recruiting ground for other schools. I don't know if timing of this announcement lessens that possibility in State College.

4) If they do shut it down for a year, scholarships must be honored if a player elects not to transfer, in my opinion. If the kid decides to continue to pursue his degree, don't penalize him for that.

5) Tomorrow will be a dark day for college athletics. I hope no one takes any enjoyment out of the possible sanctions. What we know is that some will not find the sanctions handed down enough and others will find then too harsh.

Early Big 12 Kick Times

Big 12 kick times are coming out without TV info.  All times ET.  Editing as more come out.
Big 12 now has listings on their site: http://www.big12sports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10410&SPID=13139&SPSID=106580


This might be how the TV stuff shakes out
9/1 Tulsa-Iowa St. (FSN, 12pm) - Move App St.-ECU to 3:30pm
9/1 Marshall-WVU (F/X, 12pm) - confirmed through C-USA media guide
9/1 Wyoming-Texas (ABC, 3:30pm) - Seems like they might be trying to figure out what to do with this one

9/8 Miami (FL)-KState (F/X, 12pm)
9/8 Rice-Kansas (FSN, 3:30pm) - confirmed through C-USA media guide
9/8 FAMU-OU (Sooner, 7pm)
9/8 UNM-TX (LHN, 8pm)

9/15 ULL-OKSt (FSN or F/X, 12pm)
9/15 TCU-KU (FSN or F/X, 12pm)
9/15 JMU-WVU (MSNSportsNet, 4:30pm)
9/15 UNT-KSt or UNM-TT (FSN, 7pm)

TV news re: SEC media days, Big 12 & C-USA

• SEC kickoff times were announced on Monday morning.  Here's a few things that were interesting about the announcement
• To alleviate the glut of games, coupled with the limitations for institutional games and available TV windows, the SEC Network syndication package has a doubleheader on 9/8.  From what I've been told, the SEC requested a few years ago that ESPN discontinue the practice of multiple games in the same telecast windows for the syndication package.  9/8 also happens to be one of the two weeks where CBS doesn't have an SEC telecast.
• From what some folks have informed me, the CSS and FSN regional cable packages will not have an increased number of telecasts at this time.  So ESPN will have the burden of filling as many slots as possible.  And exclusivity with CBS still exists at 3:30pm and 8pm.
• When the Idaho-LSU game came out as a PPV game prior to the complete telecast list, a few folks were surprised since the Towson game on 9/29 would be a logical choice for PPV.  And it is a logical choice.  The difference is that 9/29 only has five SEC home games where 9/15 had ten games to fit in several telecast windows.
• It has been explained to me, and trying to get additional verification, that if you only have six home games, you may not be guaranteed an institutional game.  If that holds true, neither Texas A&M nor Vanderbilt would be guaranteed a local/PPV game.  If I were a TV partner, Texas A&M scheduling two home games vs. FCS competition would not please me if I had to televise both.
• And Project X...its being worked on.  It will be a reality sooner than later.
• FOX College Sports took on seven C-USA games last week
• These are not part of the existing contract with FOX for twenty games on FSN, F/X or FOX
• My feeling is that FOX College Sports may not have many, if any, Big 12 games, so C-USA will fill that void
• I'm not aware if FOX will pick up any other games along the way.  There's a few other games out there, but may be part of the C-USA Digital Network managed through the website hosting for C-USA provided by CBS College.
• Big 12 kickoff times should come out on Monday or Tuesday as part of the conference's media day
• Two were leaked via Conference USA recently.  Tulsa-Iowa St. on FSN with a time TBA on 9/1 and Rice-Kansas at 3:30pm on 9/8, also on FSN
• The C-USA media guide also gives away that Marshall-WVU would air at 12pm ET on F/X.
• One person mentioned to me that Texas and/or ESPN may be considering only airing one Texas football game this upcoming year on Longhorn Network, and that may have been the holdup.  Presumably they would be choosing either the Wyoming or New Mexico game.  With the ESPN slots all full for the 1st three weeks, ABC might have to carry one of the two games on a regional basis.
• Indirectly, any discussion one of the 1st two Texas games airing on ABC would affect who televises Miami (FL)-Kansas St.  If they took the Wyoming game for the LHN game, ABC might try to televise Miami-KSt. regionally on ABC.
• I don't know if there is any residual affect to FOX possibly televising Big 12 games if LHN televises only the one Texas game that they are allotted under the existing Big 12 contract rules.

Site Administration re: WatchESPN

If you take a look at the site, you'll see that I've added the Watch ESPN link and logo.  I've also kept up the ESPN3 logo on the site for the time being.  Here's why:

WatchESPN and ESPN3, which when you type them into a browser resolve to the same website, are functionally different.  WatchESPN generally refers the ability to watch the 24/7 networks online or via smartphone.  ESPN3 on the other hand is an internet exclusive network and does not have a true TV component to it.  

WatchESPN much like ESPN3 is tied to the service provider, but WatchESPN is tied to pay TV subscription, where ESPN3 is tied to your internet service provider.

The big difference when it comes to the two products, right now, is that ESPN3 does not show games from ESPNU, which is why those games only have the WatchESPN logo.

The WatchESPN logo will replace the Mobile ESPN logo put on the site in prior years.

What's the holdup in the Big 12/ESPN/FOX contract?

Watch, it will get announced this afternoon after I write this...

Anyways, Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News mentioned a possible hangup in the finalization of the Big 12 deals with ESPN and FOX.  One could revolve around Texas.  And no, before you get all up in arms that its Texas causing the problem, its probably not the case.

As part of the existing Big 12 contract, no team can appear on ABC more than six times in a season.  Virtually all conferences have some form of exposure limit and its two-fold:

• A team isn't overexposed or dominates all of the appearances for a conference
• It provides some value to the secondary rightsholder that they'll have opportunities to select games from the top tier teams of a conference.

When the Longhorn Network came into being and FOX gave ESPN the ability to take a 2nd game for the network, it was mentioned that all LHN games involving Texas would come out of ABC's appearance count for the season.  By proxy, that means an appearance on LHN counts as Texas appearing on ABC.  We saw that late in 2011 when the Texas-Kansas St. came up for telecast selection.  Texas had its games against Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas A&M preselected for ABC & ESPN, respectively (the UT-TAMU game, when aired on ESPN, counted as part of the ABC deal, a quirk of the TV deal), plus the Rice & Kansas games on LHN and Oklahoma St. game on ABC.  That left ABC with its maximum of Texas games as part of the Big 12 deal.  F/X became the beneficiary of those choices and was able to take the Kansas St. game.

Note: Texas's home game vs. BYU on ESPN2 was a game sublicensed from FOX.  It would not count towards ESPN's count.

So, we get to 2012 and, ESPN may have boxed itself in with respect to Texas again.  It has been rumored that up to three Texas games could air on LHN.  Let's say the Wyoming & New Mexico games, plus a conference game.  Now tack on the Oklahoma game which has already been selected for an ABC telecast.  And then there's the TCU game, which ESPN seems to have a hold on for its Thanksgiving night telecast.  And we're back to where we were in 2011 where ESPN can only choose one more Big 12 game for its telecast package.  

To get to my point, it would not surprise me that ESPN may be requesting some relief when it comes to selecting Texas games.  Maybe an extra appearance in exchange for FOX taking more Big 12 games for their over the air network (LHN is Texas's institutional network, so one of the games theoretically should be exempt from national rights agreements and ABC appearance count), or that FOX can make a priority pick for another game during the season.  I would have thought that ABC would be the destination for the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game on 10/27, particularly because FOX only have one window on their broadcast network, but negotiations are an uneasy peace at times.  ND-Oklahoma would be a helluva lead in to FOX's World Series coverage that night.