Learning from the mtn.

With the Big Ten fledgling network still involved in a public spat with Comcast, comparisons to the Mountain West's less than spectacular first year with "The mtn." sports channel are inevitable. In the first year of operation, the mtn. has made it to a whopping 1.2 million homes.

It appears to be a flop. Utah and BYU took the lead and got the rest of the Mountain West members to help foot the bill in hiring an attorney to explore options with their TV deal.

In its annual meeting Tuesday, the MWC Board of Directors voted unanimously to retain Kelly Crabb, the lawyer originally hired and retained last week by BYU and Utah, in efforts to clarify the nature of the TV contract and delineate distribution strategies of The mtn. network.

Crabb will work with Commissioner Craig Thompson and an ad hoc committee made up of three Board members - BYU President Cecil Samuelson, Texas Christian University Chancellor Victor Boschini and Colorado State University President Larry Edward Penley. The conference presidents spearheaded the TV deal that the MWC settled on a year ago with the network co-owned by Comcast Cable and CBS' College Sports Television.

However, there is widespread displeasure because of the troubles in getting The mtn., distributed.

This has fueled speculation that the Mountain West may try to find a way to get out of its deal, and pull the plug on the mtn. The mtn. has not been picked up by either satellite provider, and very few sizable cable operators in the markets (PDF) where the schools operate (Comcast in Utah and Cox in Las Vegas and San Diego are the largest carriers that have it).
It's unlikely that the Mountain West would be able to pull the plug, nor is it clear that the schools really want to. They obviously want to make their fans happier and want to be added to satellite providers and more cable systems. The fans aren't pissed that the games are on the mtn. They are pissed because they can't see their team on TV. That's a lot of what the attorney they hired is likely to try to help accomplish. Negotiate and get the channel better distribution. That would include forcing Comcast and CSTV to work harder or cut the cost per household.

The Mountain West went the route of their own channel for a couple reasons.

Money was the big reason. ESPN actually tried to cut their payouts from $800,000 per school per year to $500,000. Comcast and CSTV offered the Mountain West $1.1 million per school per year.

The other reason, and almost as important. Control. The old contract with ESPN effectively made the Mountain West weekday fall programming filler for the Worldwide Leader. Teams would be playing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Friday nights. Usually after 10 pm Eastern. The fans of the teams who actually attended the games hated it. Attendance suffered and it's hard to market the schools, conference and programs as well when the that TV coverage shows stands half-filled because people weren't able to get to the games on the weekdays.

By going with Comcast and CSTV, the majority of the Mountain West games went back to Saturdays.

But the big service the mtn. network has provided for the MWC has been the flexibility in the athletic schedules, specifically in football.

"Saturday afternoons is when I believe we should play football," Whittingham said. "That's what the mtn. has done. Our home schedule is all Saturday afternoon contests. I think that's a big positive."

Fitzpatrick also noted that the mtn. offers unprecedented coverage within the conference, including on-campus cameras and televised coverage of MWC sports such as swimming, baseball and softball, which are enjoying exposure never seen in the conference before.

It also means their games are featured on both CSTV and Versus. While that doesn't come close to the market penetration by ESPN channels (just ask the NHL), they do have more of their games aired nationally. In the last year of the deal with ESPN, only 7 Mountain West games were on ESPN.

Additionally, the deal to have their own sports channel gave the Mountain West more control over the distribution rights (and revenue streams) from their sports. This means, in the long-term they do have options in streaming games live over the web via their own sites and getting larger cuts of subscriber fees.

Other conferences besides just the Big Ten will eventually follow suit. The control and potential new revenue streams will be too good to pass. The same reason Major League Baseball teams keep setting up their own channels.

Mountain West was merely the first, and the example of things not to do.

Previously on Fanhouse:
Big Ten Network Getting Political Pressure
Big Ten Network May Not Be Huge Fiasco
SEC TV Network? Prepare to Get Nothing Accomplished Again. Ever.