Longhorn Network Raises Questions, Controversy As Launch Approaches

The Longhorn Network premieres Aug. 26 and it “already has raised plenty” of questions -- along with “creating controversy,” according to a front-page cover story by Michael Hiestand of USA TODAY. The ESPN-owned LHN has “sparked debates from whether its original plan to air Texas high school games” gives the Univ. of Texas an “unfair recruiting advantage to whether Texas getting itself in the TV listings might tempt institutions of higher learning to follow suit.” One question is whether LHN “is now in the infomercial business,” while another question is whether the Big 12 Conference “has reined in the Longhorns.” There is not much "precedent for a college power getting its own channel,” but LHN “fits in with a broader TV sports trend: The proliferation of niche channels largely airing events, surrounded by filler programming, that are available because they otherwise wouldn’t be on TV.” While conferences “preclude school channels, Texas became an exception through its leverage when the Big 12 faced defections from Nebraska and Colorado, plus speculation that Oklahoma and Texas A&M might join the SEC.” Texas “staying put helped the Big 12 last spring land a 13-year cable deal with Fox” for $90M annually. Hiestand notes the college TV landscape “is changing,” with Big Ten Network now in its fourth year and Notre Dame “interested in starting a network, despite its exclusive football deal with NBC.” The Univ. of Oklahoma “has talked in general terms about exploring some kind of presence” and the newly expanded Pac-12 is “taking an ambitious swing at a multichannel network.” ESPN Senior VP/College Sports Programming Burke Magnus “won’t estimate how many households” LHN will have at launch later this month “since distribution deals for new channels are often cut at the last minute.” However, a “key selling point in signing operators” will be the channel airing two UT football games annually and 10-12 men’s basketball games "not included in national TV packages” (USA TODAY, 8/12).

NCAA BANS AIRING HIGH SCHOOL GAMES: In Austin, Randy Riggs notes the NCAA Thursday announced that it “will not allow events involving high school athletes on television networks that are affiliated with universities or athletic conferences.” NCAA President Mark Emmert said that televising events involving high school athletes was “impermissible under existing NCAA bylaws.” The NCAA ruling means LHN “can't carry high school football games like it had planned.” Emmert said that a previously arranged Aug. 22 summit in Indianapolis “to discuss the whole issue of university- and conference-affiliated networks will be held as scheduled.” Riggs notes the LHN “has caused concern among other Big 12 schools, and is regarded to be one reason why Texas A&M has renewed its courtship” with the SEC (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8/12).

THE GOOD WITH THE BAD: The AP noted UT football coach Mack Brown “sounds uneasy about the access to his program he's being asked to give" to LHN. The network “has asked to film and broadcast practices and meetings that are normally closed to the media and public and a cameraman always follows Brown or someone on his staff.” Brown has “already turned down a network request to broadcast” this Saturday's scrimmage online. He said that he “likes the exposure the network will give his players and coaches.” But he is “struggling to figure out how to let the network film practices without allowing opponents to study schemes” (AP, 8/11).