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Pike Position: Gymnastics Turning In Surprisingly High TV Ratings For Pac-12 Nets

Though official TV ratings/audience figures for Pac-12 Networks are not released, the net's VP/Communications Kirk Reynolds said that gymnastics "ranks behind only football and men's basketball in viewership," according to Lya Wodraska of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. It is a "close third" in viewership, and the popularity has "prompted the league to increase its coverage from 12 meets two years ago to 21 broadcasts this season." Reynolds said, "The really interesting thing is we see huge spikes on replays, too. It has been a remarkably strong sport for us." Wodraska notes Pac-12 officials "knew airing the so-called Olympic or minor sports would be crucial to filling air time" when the league network formed. But Reynolds said that they have been "pleasantly surprised at how high the ratings have been." Pac-12 Networks Live Events Coordinating Producer Will O'Toole said that he was "sold on Utah gymnastics as a TV commodity after his first experience in the Huntsman Center." O'Toole: "You take any men's basketball game in the nation, and you aren't going to get the kind of energy those meets have." Univ. of Utah gymnastics coach Greg Marsden said, "TV could be pushing us to make some changes in our sport." Wodraska notes the only "stumbling block in gymnastics is how to broadcast the national championships," which air on ESPN3 (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 2/26).

THE SPORT OF UTES: In N.Y., John Branch notes the sport’s expanding TV attention leads to "some complex questions: Why Utah, of all places?" And "why don't more universities do the same thing?" Utah AD Chris Hill said, "I don't know why. But it's taken a little while to build that." The broadcast of a Utah gymnastics meet last Saturday "lasted about 1 hour 45 minutes, perfectly designed for a two-hour television window." O'Toole said, "With how dialed in they are, and how structured their meets are, it's almost like they were waiting for television to arrive. And that scene, with 15,000 people, the pyrotechnics, the video -- I thought I was at a Knicks game." Meanwhile, Branch notes as if "contagious, gymnastics continues to grow in the SEC." An SEC Network spokesperson said that the net "began airing meets live this season, with plans to expand its coverage significantly." But Branch notes there still are "only 61 Division I gymnastics programs, and the number has barely budged for a decade" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/26).

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