MountainWest Sports Network

Last updated
MountainWest Sports Network
Mtn-Logo.jpg
Country United States
Headquarters Colorado Springs, Colorado
Ownership
Owner Mountain West Conference
NBCUniversal Television Group
CBS Corporation
History
LaunchedSeptember 1, 2006;18 years ago (2006-09-01)
ClosedMay 31, 2012;12 years ago (2012-05-31)

The MountainWest Sports Network, also known as The Mtn. (stylized as the mtn.), was an American college sports television channel. Launched on September 1, 2006, it was dedicated to the Mountain West Conference (MWC), including studio programs following the conference, live events, and documentary-style programs profiling the conference's members. It was the first such network of its kind in the United States. The network was a joint venture between the conference's two rightsholders, CBS Corporation and NBCUniversal (initially via Comcast).

Contents

History

The MountainWest Sports Network launched as part of the conference's new television deals with CSTV and Versus (later known as CBS Sports Network and NBCSN, respectively), which jointly replaced ESPN. [1] It was the first cable sports network in the United States to be devoted to a single college athletic conference—a business model that would later be emulated by Power Five conferences such as the Big Ten, SEC and ACC. [2]

The channel initially struggled to gain carriage; at launch, it was available to approximately one million subscribers, but it was unable to gain carriage on providers in Las Vegas and San Diego (two of the conference's major markets via the San Diego State Aztecs and the UNLV Rebels) nor on satellite television, at launch. [3] [4]

The lack of national distribution proved particularly frustrating for the BYU Cougars, as the team has a notable national fanbase via the LDS Church. [3] The MountainWest Sports Network had narrower distribution than Brigham Young University's own BYU TV, and the conference's television partners CSTV and Versus. While the agreements limited the number of events BYU TV could air, the MWC did promote that the deals would result in more televised events. [3]

In June 2007, the presidents of BYU and the University of Utah issued a joint press release, stating that the schools had "retained a sports broadcasting attorney to explore all possible options in improving the distribution of athletic broadcasts to their fans." [3] [5] In an interview with KUTV, University of Utah president Michael K. Young stated that "President Samuelson and I have been clear about this for the last year and a half that it is absolutely essential that we get on satellite to make our games available to our fans. Anything short of that is unacceptable." He then added that "We are passionately committed to our having our football games being on TV this year." [6]

The MountainWest Sports Network reached a carriage agreement with DirecTV in 2008. [4]

Closure

In 2010, as part of a larger re-alignment of the Mountain West, Utah moved to the Pac-10. [7] In mid-August 2010, after Fresno State and Nevada were invited to the MWC, it was reported that CBS and Comcast wanted to expand distribution of MountainWest Sports Network. It was also reported that BYU was contemplating becoming a football independent and joining the West Coast Conference (WCC) in all other sports, with dissatisfaction with the MountainWest Sports Network being a factor. BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe stated that "We have a national base. We can go all over the country and people can see that. That is a very important thing to us right now—exposure." [8] BYU announced its exit from the MWC as expected on August 31, 2010, [9] and reached an agreement with ESPN to carry its games. [10] In 2011 Comcast-owned Xfinity began expanding its carriage of the channel, especially in non-Mountain West markets, after Boise State joined the conference. [4]

On April 5, 2012, amid further uncertainty surrounding the conference (including the possibility of an alliance or merger with Conference USA), it was announced that the MountainWest Sports Network would shut down on May 31, 2012. Its employees were offered severance pay, and positions at the Comcast SportsNet regional networks. [2] [11] The MWC had not announced formal broadcast plans for 2012–13, though a Colorado Springs Gazette report suggested that some MWC games might be picked up by CBS Sports Network or NBCSN, or offered to a third party such as ESPN. [12] The conference ultimately renewed with CBS Sports Network, and reached seven-year agreements with ESPN [13] [14] and regional network Root Sports Rocky Mountain beginning in the 2013–14 season. [15]

The "Mountain West Network" name remains in use for a digital platform carrying conference events not broadcast on television, which relies on production crews at each individual school. [16]

Programming

Live events

The network covered over 800 live sporting events in its first four years of operation. Details of football and basketball telecasts are listed in the events section below. Also on the schedule are current and former Olympic sports like baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. The Mtn. aired pregame and post game shows from its suburban Denver, Colorado studios in support of most of the network's live event coverage, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball and softball. Halftime shows took place for all football and men's and women's basketball game telecasts.[ citation needed ]

Studio shows

Former shows

The Mountain View (final show 9/3/10), The Mountain Cap, Mountain Peak Performances (final show September 1, 2010) and On Campus Cam have been canceled. On Campus Cam, which featured a panel of students from different institutions across the Mountain West Conference, was rolled into Around the Mountain, presented by Jeep roughly once per month.

Documentaries/reality shows

Notable on-air staff

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain West Conference</span> Athletic conference

The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as an associate member in Hawaii. Gloria Nevarez took over as commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Athletic Conference</span> American college athletics conference

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington.

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CBS Sports Network is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network, it operated as a multi-platform media brand which also included its primary website, collegesports.com, and a network of websites operated for the athletic departments of 215 colleges and universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altitude Sports and Entertainment</span> American regional sports network

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root Sports Northwest</span> American regional sports television network

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball</span> Mens basketball team of UNLV

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. As of 2023, UNLV has the seventh-highest winning percentage (.687) in Division I history. UNLV is 33–19 all-time in the NCAA tournament with a 63.5 winning percentage. In July 2008, ESPNU named the program the eighth most prestigious collegiate basketball program in the nation since the 1984–85 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNLV Rebels</span> American athletic program of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The school's colors are scarlet and gray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 BYU Cougars football team</span> American college football season

The 2007 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. BYU clinched its second consecutive Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship title outright after defeating Utah on November 24. It was BYU's second consecutive, undefeated season in the MWC, its fourth MWC championship since the league began in 1999, and its 23rd conference title. At the beginning of the season the Cougars had won an MWC record 16 straight league games dating back to 2005 and were on a ten-game overall winning streak, the longest winning streak in the country at the time. The Cougars began the season with the second longest winning streak in the country at 11 wins until their loss to UCLA in the second regular season game. The Cougars ended this season ranked 14th in the nation, highest of all schools from non-AQ conferences. This finish was the highest back-to-back rankings in the AP Poll since the Cougars won the national championship in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 BYU Cougars football team</span> American college football season

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The 2008 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament was played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 12–15, 2008. The tournament was sponsored by Phillips 66 and all first round, quarterfinal, and semifinal games were broadcast live on the MountainWest Sports Network and CBS College Sports Network, while the championship game was broadcast on Versus.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009–10 BYU Cougars men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2009–10 BYU Cougars men's basketball team represented Brigham Young University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Dave Rose's fifth season at BYU. The Cougars were members of the Mountain West Conference and played their home games at the Marriott Center. They finished the season 30–6, 13–3 in MWC play. They advanced to the semifinals of the 2010 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament before losing to UNLV. They received an at–large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 7 seed in the West Region. They beat 10 seed Florida in double overtime in the first round before losing to 2 seed and AP #7 Kansas State in the second round.

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Dave McCann is an evening anchor for KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is also the studio host for BYUtv's True Blue, co-host for the Countdown to Kickoff Pregame Show and the Postgame Show, and is the lead play-by-play announcer for BYUtv's college football and men's basketball. McCann occasionally calls women's college basketball with Kristen Kozlowski and college baseball games with Gary Sheide for BYUtv.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010–2013 Mountain West Conference realignment</span> 2010–2013 realignment of the Mountain West Conference

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References

Information on specific programs comes from the half-hour special This is the Mtn., which aired in conjunction with the DirecTV launch. See also:

  1. "OLN joining TV team for MWC distribution". The Denver Post. 2006-07-19. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  2. 1 2 "The Mtn Going Dark May 31 As Mountain West Nears Deal With CBS Sports Network". sportsbusinessjournal.com. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Scott D. Pierce: Even MWC lawyers probably can't fix The mtn". Deseret News. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  4. 1 2 3 Dosh, Kristi (2012-08-15). "Pac-12 Networks fires up, but will it last?". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  5. Jennings, Chantel (2019-07-25). "The grass is always greener: Inside the give and take of Utah and BYU's Mountain West exit". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  6. "Utes & Cougars VS The Mountain". kutv.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  7. Katz, Andy (August 18, 2010). "Sources: BYU mulling Notre Dame path". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  8. "MWC invites two new schools". ESPN.com. August 18, 2010. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  9. Katz, Andy (August 31, 2010). "BYU leaving MWC for 2011–12 season". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  10. "BYU to fly solo with ESPN, possible Irish series". ESPN.com. 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  11. Saunders, Dusty (28 May 2012). "Dusty Saunders: The Mtn. network signs off for good Thursday night". The Denver Post. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  12. "Mountain West TV Network will be discontinued". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
  13. McMurphy, Brett (2013-03-07). "Sources: MWC close to 7-year deal with ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  14. Hinxman, Dan (2013-03-20). "Mountain West, ESPN reach deal on TV rights". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  15. Bern, Taylor (2013-05-15). "Mountain West partners with ROOT Sports for new regional TV deal - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  16. Grimala, Mike (2022-02-08). "Why livestreaming of UNLV games is hit or miss - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". lasvegassun.com. Retrieved 2022-08-19.