In Austin, Brian Davis reported former Texas football coach Mack Brown "hopes to talk about" UT and new coach Charlie Strong "as little as possible in his new role as a college football analyst on ABC and ESPN." Brown said he and Strong "made an agreement early, and I really suggested it, that I not talk about Texas.” He added, "I’m planning on being a college football analyst for ESPN/ABC and I will not be the coach at Texas or the ex-coach at Texas. I will not have favorites. They asked me to be honest and give my true opinions. … It would be very unfair in my estimation to come on as a fan." Davis noted Brown is "not expected to appear on ESPN’s Longhorn Network this fall" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 8/27).
FINDING THE MIDDLE GROUND: The SEC Network launched earlier this month, and in N.Y., Richard Sandomir, writes a conference network "lives on a fine line between vanity and credibility." The "concept of such a network suggests subjective coverage, outright rooting by fans and for fans, and a reticence to cover uncomfortable stories that might cast a dark light on a university." ESPN Senior VP/College Networks Justin Connolly said of the SEC Net, “We’re not going to have the news infrastructure that ESPN has. We will be reporting what’s reported elsewhere.” But, he added, “We won’t hide our heads in the sand" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/28).
YOU SCRATCH MY BACK: In Oklahoma City, Mel Bracht noted Oklahoma's season opener Saturday night against Louisiana Tech will be available on PPV for $39.95, and the funds generated "will help subsidize Sooners Sports TV, one of the nation’s most prolific college sports networks, with more than 2,000 hours of programming annually." Under the Big 12's television contract, conference schools "retain rights to one home football game." OU gave the rights to Saturday's game to Fox Sports, its "partner in Sooner Sports TV." Fox Sports could have aired the game for free on FS Oklahoma, but network PR Dir Ramon Alvarez said, “By putting this game on pay-per-view, it helps generate income to produce and televise all the other programming you see on Sooner Sports TV.” The PPV telecast will be "available on participating Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas providers and nationwide via participating satellite and telco distributors" (OKLAHOMAN, 8/27).
WOW FACTOR: In Columbus, Rob Oller notes TV viewers are "fuming about not being able to watch Saturday’s Ohio State-Navy game on their cable or satellite system." WOW cable, which has 83,484 customers in Columbus, "does not carry CBS Sports Network," which is airing the game. The net generally is "not part of any lower tier or basic cable plan in Columbus." CBSSN has a contract with Navy "to show Midshipmen’s home games" (DISPATCH.com, 8/28).
