The Big 12's streaming partnership with ESPN+ "remains a point of contention in West Virginia," as conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby "learned first-hand when grilled" by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) during his Senate testimony on the name, image and likeness issue facing the NCAA, according to Alex Hickey of WVMETRONEWS.com. Bowlsby "stayed on-message in defense of his league's new creation." Bowlsby: "The technology is good. The delivery is good. There are places that have access to good enough broadband, but if you're in a rural area and don't want to invest in more expensive broadband, you're probably going to have trouble with buffering issues." Bowlsby said that the issues with Big 12 Now "pale in comparison to those faced when the Big Ten and Pac-12 Networks were rolled out." Bowlsby: "We're on the right side of technology. The digital platform is where it's going. The cable universe is shrinking 1.5-2.5 percent a year. It will bottom out in the 50-60 million household range. A lot of that will be taken up by digital consumption" (WVMETRONEWS.com, 2/24).
