A report from SNL Kagan shows that the Pac-12 Networks "generates a dramatically lower average subscriber fee than the SEC and Big Ten networks," according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. Perhaps "more surprising" is that the net’s subscriber fee has "dropped over the years." Pac-12 Networks "received an average of $0.30 per subscriber (coast-to-coast) when it was launched" in '12, but "dropped to $0.11" in '17. That number "accounts for the higher fees paid by subscribers inside the conference’s home markets and the lower fees paid by out-of-market subscribers." Big Ten Network in '12 "commanded $0.37 per sub" and by '17 its average sub fee had "jumped to $0.48," an increase of 30%. Of the 24 networks listed in the research report that existed in both '12 and '17, the Pac-12’s fee "decrease was, by far, the largest." The estimates "show just how far the Pac-12 Networks lag behind their peers at the SEC and Big Ten in subscriber fees and, in a larger sense, how the conference might have overreached its audience in creating six regional networks in addition to Pac-12 National" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 4/11).
