Tag: pac-12 network

Great news for USC football fans emerges from early-season TV reveal

#USC’s first two games in 2023 will be on Pac-12 Network. Why is that good? Those will be the last P-12 Net games in USC history.

The USC Trojans hosted Notre Dame in 2022. That was great. USC had not hosted Notre Dame since 2018, because the 2020 game scheduled for Los Angeles was canceled because of the pandemic. However, there was still a price for USC’s win over the Irish in the Coliseum: USC had to play three 2022 games on Pac-12 Network.

This is due to the policy in which a Pac-12 football team’s minimum required number of Pac-12 Network appearances is equal to the number of home nonconference games it plays. Notre Dame bumped that number of home nonconference games from two to three. Therefore, USC had to play three 2022 games on Pac-12 Network.

This year, with Notre Dame hosting USC in October, USC is playing only two nonconference home games. The Trojans will have to appear on Pac-12 Network only twice, not three times.

So, given the news that USC’s first two football games of the season will be on Pac-12 Network, the Trojans’ last-ever game on P-12 Net is likely to be on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Nevada at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time.

The last-ever Pac-12 Network game is before Labor Day? The rest of the season will likely be free of Pac-12 Network broadcasts?

That’s pretty good news.

The Pac-12 Network has been such an albatross and annoyance for USC football fans. The headaches will get out of the way early this coming season.

Next year, if USC isn’t on ESPN, Fox, NBC, or CBS, it will be on Big Ten Network, which is far more accessible on cable packages and tiers.

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YouTube TV disaster in Celtics-Heat playoff game underscores limits facing Pac-12 in media deals

The YouTube TV outage during the Boston-Miami game shows that streaming services continue be unreliable. It’s a problem if the Pac-12 wants to go that route.

The Pac-12 has already tried to be the visionary conference, the league which did things differently and tried to carve out a different slice of the media universe.

Pac-12 Network was supposed to be revolutionary. We say “supposed to” because it never actually did change the game the way the Pac-12 hoped it would. Yet, at the very start, the idea attached to Pac-12 Network was intriguing and ultimately worth a try. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” as the saying goes.

The Pac-12 fully owned Pac-12 Network, meaning that all of its revenues stayed in house. None were shared by ESPN or Fox or other media partners. This was the Pac-12’s baby, its pride and joy. Internal production, internal management, internal control, internally shared profits with no middlemen or outsiders. The concept seemed great.

It just wasn’t executed well.

In 2018, it was apparent that the original revenue-keeping concept of the Pac-12 Network was not going to work out. The Pac-12’s inability to get on DirecTV limited revenue and essentially undercut the larger plan. It wasn’t worth keeping 100 percent of a much smaller revenue pie, within a context marked by millions of Americans with DirecTV not being able to access Pac-12 Network. That was when the Pac-12 needed to hand the keys to ESPN, share revenue, but gain the visibility it had lacked for several years. Larry Scott said no, and now here we are, with USC and UCLA about to depart for the Big Ten and the Pac-12 wondering how to survive.

Now we have new developments which — if the Pac-12 wants to be creative with a new set of media rights deals — represent an obstacle to George Kliavkoff.

Let’s unpack this story for you:

Have we seen the last USC football spring game on Pac-12 Network?

#USC doesn’t officially join the #B1G until the summer of 2024. Does this mean the #Pac12 will show USC’s 2024 spring game?

The 2023 USC football spring game is now history. This was and is the last USC football spring game to precede a Pac-12 football season for the Trojans, who will be off to the Big Ten next year.

Since the 2024 USC football spring game will lead into a Big Ten season, a natural, logical assumption will be that either Big Ten Network or Fox Sports (Fox Sports 1, maybe) will carry next year’s spring game from the Los Angeles Coliseum.

However, USC and UCLA won’t officially join the Big Ten until the summer of 2024. This is part of the college sports year and the academic — also fiscal — cycle which regulates college sports. When conference memberships officially change and teams officially join conferences, the transition point is usually at or near July 1. College sports cycles run from July through June, not January through December.

When you look at the Big Ten Network’s statement below regarding USC and UCLA, it would seem that BTN will not carry USC’s spring game next year.

Does this really mean that Pac-12 Network will cover a game — and a team — which leads into a Big Ten football season? Is that really going to happen?

It’s a fascinating question, to be sure.

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USC avoids all Pac-12 Network TV games at Pac-12 Tournament

The really funny thing about this: It’s the second straight year #USC has escaped Pac-12 Network at the Pac-12 Tournament.

The USC Trojans can’t wait to go to the Big Ten. They are so ready to dash out of the Pac-12. It is therefore impossible to avoid chuckling or giggling at the reality that USC will completely avoid Pac-12 Network game coverage at the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament.

Conspiracy? Secret plot? No. It’s an accident of the bracket, the tournament schedule, and the television schedule … but it’s certainly hilarious if you’re a USC fan who is ready for a new conference.

The Pac-12 Tournament’s No. 3 seed plays the late-night quarterfinal on Thursday of Championship Week. That is and has been the regular schedule for the Pac-12 Tournament. The late-night quarterfinal is also a game which is not carried by Pac-12 Network. ESPN and Fox Sports 1 have alternated every year. This year, ESPN gets that game.

The second Pac-12 Tournament semifinal — the late game on Friday of Championship Week every year — is also a non-Pac-12 Network game. The championship game on Saturday is always a non-Pac-12 Network game.

The No. 3 seed avoids Pac-12 Network every year at the Pac-12 Tournament. Guess which school is the No. 3 seed this year? USC. Which school was the No. 3 seed last year? USC.

You can’t make this stuff up. Trojan basketball will have the most TV visibility of any Pac-12 team this week.

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Mysteries and lingering questions surrounding overpayment scandal as Pac-12 tries to sort things out

While we wonder if this scandal will have any effect on possible media rights negotiations, the first priority is to simply get answers to unresolved questions.

George Kliavkoff has had to clean up many messes left behind by Larry Scott and various events which occurred during Scott’s tenure. He now has another headache to deal with: the emerging overpayment scandal which happened under Scott’s watch.

News of this story broke a few days ago. The general timeline of events is known, but now all sorts of detailed questions remain unanswered, and the Pac-12 needs to get more facts to piece together how this happened.

Jon Wilner of the Wilner Hotline is asking the pertinent questions:

“What prompted the networks to seek the initial audit, by the “industry-leading” firm, in the spring of 2017? Was that simply part of a routine practice? Was there something amiss?”, Wilner wrote.

“If the overpayments were only for “each year since prior to 2016,” why did the distributor not step forward until October 2022? (Possible answer: The Pac-12 never came clean to the partner about the overpayments.)

“Did the overpayments continue after 2016, until the partner stepped forward in October 2022?

“We’re also left to wonder why Willman and Shuken didn’t take what the Pac-12 believed would have been appropriate steps once they learned of the situation. Did the overpayments lead to a revenue figure that somehow triggered performance bonuses for executives?

“’It doesn’t make any sense,’ said a Hotline source familiar with the Pac-12 Networks’ business operation. ‘Something is definitely missing.’

“The other question, of course, is the disclosure piece: Who else knew? Or did Shuken and Willman keep the situation to themselves?

“According to the Pac-12, Willman and Shuken failed to share ‘the ongoing financial risk associated with the apparent overpayment with either the Pac-12 Board of Directors or the Pac-12’s external auditors.’”

“That statement says nothing about whether they alerted former commissioner Larry Scott.

“Is that because they did alert him and Scott failed to act appropriately? Or because the Pac-12’s public disclosure on Friday was intended to focus only on the executives and process with current relevance?”

Wilner’s questions require answers. We will see how this story develops.

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How to watch, listen, stream No. 12 Oregon at Arizona

No. 12 Oregon heads to the desert to face an upset-minded Arizona team this Saturday on the Pac-12 Network.

The Oregon Ducks football team makes their second foray out on the road in conference play as they will go down to the desert to face a surprising 3-2 Arizona squad.

They were fortunate to be able to play this one at night and avoid that dry heat. According to weather reports, it’ll be in the low 70s at kickoff and drop down to the mid-60s as the night goes along.

Oregon hasn’t play at Arizona for four seasons and the last time the Ducks faced the Cats on the road, it didn’t go well as Arizona pulled off the 44-15 upset. Hopefully, Oregon can flip the script and get home with a big win, but the Wildcats, with former Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura, have proven to be a better team than most originally thought before the season began.

When: 6 p.m. PST

Where: Arizona Stadium (50,600), Tucson, Ariz.

Pac-12 Network horror story: Miami resident explains how hard it was to find USC game on TV

Listen to @IanHest, a South Florida resident, describe how hard it was to find USC-Oregon State on Pac-12 Network. It shows how marginalized the conference is nationwide.

It’s hard enough to find Pac-12 Network games if you live in the Western United States and have DirecTV. Imagine the challenge of finding Pac-12 Network if you live on the opposite coast of the country … say Miami, for instance.

Trojans: Wired podcast producer Ian Hest lives in South Florida. He naturally wanted to watch the USC-Oregon State game just like every other college football fan. That was a very big game on Saturday night.

We won’t give away the whole story here. You can listen to Ian talk about his adventure on a new episode of the Trojans: Wired podcast. We can say, however, that in Miami — and, one can assume, other markets in the South or the East — Pac-12 Network is not available on the basic or just-above-basic cable tiers for various regional providers. Consumers who are focused on being able to watch SEC or ACC football would have to go out of their way to pay more to get Pac-12 Network. It’s no wonder that the idea of watching a game on Pac-12 Network is, for a lot of Americans outside the West, a complete waste of time. Why even try if a Pac-12 game is not on ESPN or Fox?

Listen to Ian tell his story. It’s both hilarious and sad:

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Oregon to face Arizona in another night game in the desert

The Pac-12 has announced another night game for the Ducks’ trip to Arizona on Oct. 8.

The Pac-12 Conference announced Monday morning that Oregon and Arizona are scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff in the desert Oct. 8. The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. This will mark the second time the Ducks will appear on the network.

It’s been four years since Oregon has made a trip down to Tucson and that last venture into the desert wasn’t kind as the Wildcats upset Oregon 44-15.

But here in 2022, these start times have been favorable for the Ducks, except for the upcoming 8 p.m. kickoff with Stanford this week. But with a day game in Pullman in the middle of September and now this night game in Tucson to avoid the scorching heat, Oregon doesn’t have a lot to complain about.

The Ducks know it could be a lot worse.

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The sad part about USC-Oregon State on Pac-12 Network: bad games are on ESPN, Fox, FS1

While #USC vs the #Beavers is on Pac-12 Network Sept. 24, Missouri-Auburn is on ESPN. Maryland-Michigan is on Fox. Duke-Kansas is on FS1. Pathetic.

On Monday, USC fans and Pac-12 football fans were stunned to learn that the huge game between the Trojans and the Oregon State Beavers would be shown on Pac-12 Network.

USC-Oregon State is a massive game. The winner takes a big step toward the Pac-12 Championship Game. The stakes are extremely high.

Arizona-Colorado and Arizona State-Cal are Pac-12 Network games. Low-visibility games should be on the low-visibility network. When USC plays on Pac-12 Network, it should be against a bad team such as Cal, not against a good team.

ESPN and Fox want to save their USC games for later in the season, but they’re doing so at the expense of this very important contest. The ultimate problem is that Pac-12 Network is not on DirecTV and is not on a regular (basic) cable tier. It’s not nearly as accessible or visible as SEC Network or Big Ten Network.

What makes this development especially infuriating: Bad games are on ESPN and Fox and other high-visibility national television outlets. Look at all the other matchups on ESPN, or ABC, or Fox, or other prime TV outlets. They’re not as good as Trojans-Beavers. Let’s take a look:

Huge USC-Oregon State game on Sept. 24 is relegated to Pac-12 Network

This is exactly why #USC left for the Big Ten. There is absolutely no excuse for a huge #Pac12 game being dumped onto the lowest-visibility TV outlet.

On Monday, something happened which reminded all of us in the Pac-12 Conference footprint that George Kliavkoff had no chance to prevent USC from leaving for the Big Ten. He really didn’t.

There was so much damage, and so many contractual knots to untie, that Kliavkoff could not have been reasonably expected to unwind them in one year. Yet, one year is all Kliavkoff had before USC left for the Big Ten.

One year was simply not long enough for Kliavkoff to keep USC in the fold. He needed at least a two-year window, probably three … and he didn’t have that amount of time.

What did happen on Monday, you ask? Here you go: The USC-Oregon State football game on Saturday, Sept. 24 — a huge game in the 2022 Pac-12 title chase — has been relegated to Pac-12 Network.

It’s true: This huge game for both teams (the Beavers as well as the Trojans) has been kicked to the lowest-visibility television outlet. A top-tier game has received bottom-rung treatment. A lot of USC fans (with DirecTV) will not be able to watch this game.

Jon Wilner of The Wilner Hotline explained why this is the case:

USC-Cal should be on Pac-12 Network. That game won’t be remotely close. USC-Arizona might be legitimately interesting this year, given how much Arizona has improved, but if we’re choosing between that and USC-Oregon State, it’s clear that USC-Arizona is the Pac-12 Network game. USC-Arizona State is another Pac-12 Network candidate.

ESPN and Fox Sports both did a profound disservice to viewers by not picking up USC-Oregon State, but the biggest problem here is Pac-12 Network being a low-visibility outlet. If it had full distribution on a regular cable tier, we wouldn’t have this problem.

Even ESPNU would offer better distribution than Pac-12 Network. What a shame … and what a reminder of why USC left the Pac-12 Conference.

George Kliavkoff could not simply come into the Pac-12 and immediately end Pac-12 Network contracts and current media rights arrangements. He needed to be able to redraw the map and the terms under which Pac-12 games were shown. He never had a legitimate chance to do that.

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