Why Did The Mountain West Part Ways With NBC in Favor Of ESPN back in the 2012-2013?

[Anon5251042]

NBC used to be a TV partner of the conference, and also ran the mtn (alongisde the conference and CBS) from '06-'12 football seasons. the mtn. shut down because it struggled to appear on Cable TV packages. Overall, I'm just curious what happened after that.

[RSF]

money

[Rosegreen]

YBU took the tv truck. 

[Kirbycreekpoke]

Does anyone remember the “Blue and White Network”? I think it was some sort of an Air Force and BYU alliance to broadcast regional games. Was this real or did I party to much in Laramie? 

[Brew_Poke]

Remember College Sports Network?  Jeez, we're old.

[King Spartan]

Remember G4 Tech TV?

[thelawlorfaithful]

On 9/7/2022 at 3:11 PM, RSF said:

money

This. The conference was in a precarious position back then (not that we aren’t now). ESPN was preying on the demise of the Big East and our two best prospects had a foot out the door. NBC couldn’t pay and now their sports channel is dead. It was about holding on to any life raft we could during some stormy seas.

[ShoichiKUN808]

On 9/7/2022 at 1:18 PM, King Spartan said:

Remember G4 Tech TV?

G4tv was brought back recently through YT/Twitch streaming, although the success (they haven't reached very high heights of popularity) kind of indicates its time may have passed them by.

https://www.youtube.com/c/g4tv/featured

https://www.twitch.tv/g4tv

[trvitmvnz]

IDK but the worst thing NBC did was rebrand the Versus channel

[LoboMan59]

If the OP doesn't mind, I'll throw in an a second TV question here as well... why did the MWC shift AWAY from ESPN for Fox/CBSSN? I just want to see if some of you have the same thoughts about why this happened, as I do...

[WYO1016]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:16 AM, LoboMan59 said:

If the OP doesn't mind, I'll throw in an a second TV question here as well... why did the MWC shift AWAY from ESPN for Fox/CBSSN? I just want to see if some of you have the same thoughts about why this happened, as I do...

Money and kickoff times. ESPN wanted us to play on weekdays to fill slots. The conference wanted to play on weekends and not have to kickoff at 10pm MT/11pm PT.

[AZdogFan]

The same reason any school/conference does anything in the current college football landscape:

[VandalPride97]

Honestly, so glad I don't have to deal with this shit anymore.  I really, really miss playing MWC teams, but now we don't have to give half a shit about the B1G and SEC freezing everyone out of the playoff, keeping up with better funded schools, the NIL fiasco and whether SDSU's stadium is basically a lava field where fans have to successfully jump from chair to coffee table to couch to avoid burning to death.

[East Coast Aztec]

On 9/8/2022 at 10:34 AM, VandalPride97 said:

Honestly, so glad I don't have to deal with this shit anymore.  I really, really miss playing MWC teams, but now we don't have to give half a shit about the B1G and SEC freezing everyone out of the playoff, keeping up with better funded schools, the NIL fiasco and whether SDSU's stadium is basically a lava field where fans have to successfully jump from chair to coffee table to couch to avoid burning to death.

Still remember when Idaho went down to North Carolina to take your beating, and we just agreed to rush to end the game.  I never saw the use, other than taking the money, to fly out east to get demoralized against mediocre teams, then play a schedule flying all over the country to play schools you will never care about.  Now you can play regional P5's, and then actually play a schedule you give a shit about.  I know Boise fans like to give Idaho shit, but as a fan, I would prefer that over what you were doing.

[King Spartan]

On 9/8/2022 at 10:34 AM, VandalPride97 said:

Honestly, so glad I don't have to deal with this shit anymore.  I really, really miss playing MWC teams, but now we don't have to give half a shit about the B1G and SEC freezing everyone out of the playoff, keeping up with better funded schools, the NIL fiasco and whether SDSU's stadium is basically a lava field where fans have to successfully jump from chair to coffee table to couch to avoid burning to death.

There is joy in the simplicity. People can choose to not listen to media telling them their schools/conferences are inferior, but some need that validation. 

[Pelado]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:16 AM, LoboMan59 said:

If the OP doesn't mind, I'll throw in an a second TV question here as well... why did the MWC shift AWAY from ESPN for Fox/CBSSN? I just want to see if some of you have the same thoughts about why this happened, as I do...

Here's a report from when the MWC first signed up with CSTV in 2004 for broadcasts beginning in 2006:

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2004/08/26/Sports-Media/Mountain-West-Conference-Moving-From-ESPN-To-CSTV-In-06#:~:text=The Mountain West Conference (MWC,corporate sponsorship rights (CSTV).

And here's a report from a month later when they announced the formation of Mountain West TV (which would later be branded the mtn.):

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2004/09/14/Sports-Media/Head-For-The-Mountains-CSTV-Unveils-Conference-Branded-RSN

CSTV was acquired in November 2005 by CBS:

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2005/11/04/cbs-buys-cstv/61917282007/

The initial contract required that a certain number of games be broadcast on a network with substantial distribution (I don't remember how many households were required).  I think their intent was to improve CSTV's distribution to meet that threshold, but I don't think they ever met that contractual threshold.  That's why they had to contract with Comcast, which owned Versus (originally Outdoor Life Network) - a network that did meet the threshold.  That was a big mistake.

As part of the deal, Comcast acquired an interest in the mtn and became its operating partner.

Comcast had no interest in securing wide distribution of the mtn.  They used the mtn to drive cable subscriptions in Utah (and elsewhere in the MW footprint) at the expense of Dish and DirecTV.  As such, the mtn was generally completely unavailable outside MWC locales.  In fact, even some MWC markets couldn't get the mtn.

A couple of years after launch, DirecTV finally added the mtn to its channel lineup.  But from inception the mtn was broadcasting all its games in standard definition (or worse).

The next season, I believe, Versus had a contract dispute with DirecTV and was unavailable.  Comcast eventually bought a controlling interest in NBCUniversal and rebranded Versus as NBC Sports Network.

After BYU and Utah left the MW, Comcast likely saw little benefit in continuing the mtn, so it was discontinued.

[baileyake]

The .mtn folded up shop when SDSU announced they were going to the Big East, according to Thompson, on our local radio broadcast Idaho Sports Talk on KTIK.

[East Coast Aztec]

On 9/8/2022 at 1:37 PM, baileyake said:

The .mtn folded up shop when SDSU announced they were going to the Big East, according to Thompson, on our local radio broadcast Idaho Sports Talk on KTIK.

Even as a homer who wish we had that influence, there is no way that is true.  I would venture the bulk of it was BYU and Utah.

[utenation]

On 9/8/2022 at 5:19 PM, East Coast Aztec said:

Even as a homer who wish we had that influence, there is no way that is true.  I would venture the bulk of it was BYU and Utah.

Not to mention BYU/Utah made a big stink on distribution issues at the very end. I don't remember the exact numbers but I remember seeing the SLC TV market was a big chunk of the low overall ratings. 

[Pelado]

On 9/8/2022 at 5:25 PM, utenation said:

Not to mention BYU/Utah made a big stink on distribution issues at the very end. I don't remember the exact numbers but I remember seeing the SLC TV market was a big chunk of the low overall ratings. 

Yeah, BYU and Utah banded together to hire a law firm to try to improve their situation with the TV deal.  They found a few loopholes (for example, neutral site games weren't included in the deal, so BYU started playing at least one annual basketball game at what is now Vivint Arena to circumvent the TV deal).

I will say, the mtn got better over time.  It was eventually available nationwide on DirecTV.  They eventually started broadcasting all the football games in high definition.  They never got that far for the basketball games, though.  So lots of highlights with Jimmer and/or Kawhi are in standard definition.