MountainWest Sports Network

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mtn.

MountainWest Sports Network, informally known as the mtn. (but pronounced "the mountain") is an American regional sports network.

Launched on September 1, 2006 as a joint-venture of the Mountain West Conference (MWC), College Sports TV (CSTV) (which is owned by CBS Corporation) and Comcast (which owns Versus). The mtn. is a 24-hour television network devoted entirely to covering MWC sports. In its first year the network broadcast about 20 football games. It is also scheduled to broadcast most of the men's basketball tournament and all of the women's basketball tournament. Gary Bender and Glenn Parker are the lead broadcast team for football.

the mtn. also produces MWC events that air on the Versus and CSTV networks.

1 Distribution
2 MWC Institutions
3 Events covered
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Distribution

Like most upstart sports programming networks the mtn. has been plagued by distribution woes in its first year of operation. Cox Cable, the primary cable affiliate in two of the conference's largest media markets – Las Vegas and San Diego – did not carry the network until late December 2006.[1] Viewers in the Mountain West's largest market, Dallas-Fort Worth, still do not get the mtn. through primary providers Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications. It is available in Dallas-Fort Worth through USDTV, although USDTV has announced that it is officially ceasing operations[2].

Comcast gave the mtn. its first significant distribution when it purchased half of the network and is responsible for marketing[3] it to satellite and cable providers. However, the deal with Cox Cable was negotiated instead by CSTV[4]. It has been noted that not distributing the mtn. to DirecTV and Dish Network could be in Comcast's best interest[5]. With the mtn. only available on cable, Comcast could lure satellite subscribers desiring the mtn. to cable. However, there are many areas within the Mountain West region where cable TV is not available, and even Comcast cable subscribers outside of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico still cannot receive the mtn., bringing this possibility into question.

Some of the lack of distribution may be attributed to the high license fees common to sports networks[6].

In the meantime, would-be subscribers have been asked to contact their cable or satellite company and request for the mtn. to be added to their lineup[7].

[edit] MWC Institutions

Air Force Falcons
BYU Cougars
Colorado State Rams
New Mexico Lobos
San Diego State Aztecs (athletics wiki article: SDSU Aztecs)
TCU Horned Frogs and Lady Frogs (athletics wiki article: TCU Horned Frogs)
UNLV Rebels and Lady Rebels
Utah Utes (athletics wiki article: Utah Utes)
Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls

[edit] Events covered

At least two college football games per week
MWC men's basketball tournament (first two rounds; semifinal games are on CSTV, final game is on Versus)
MWC women's basketball tournament (all rounds except final game, which is on Versus)
MWC baseball and softball tournaments (at least most games)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Mountain West Conference
Air Force • BYU • Colorado State • New Mexico • San Diego State (SDSU Aztecs) • TCU (TCU Horned Frogs) • UNLV • Utah (Utah Utes) • Wyoming Related Pages: MountainWest Sports Network (mtn.)

CBS Corporation

v • d • e

Broadcast radio stations owned by CBS Radio

¹Acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management is now awaiting FCC approval.
²Acquisition by Liberty Media is now awaiting FCC approval.

Annual Revenue: $14.54 billion USD (2005) | Employees: Unknown at this time. | Stock Symbol: NYSE: CBS | Website: www.cbscorporation.com