Pac-12 Media Day: Pac-12 Network vs. DirecTV Nowhere Near Resolution
By Kyle Kensing
Jul 26, 2013; Culver City, CA, USA; General view of Pac-12 football media day held at the Sony Studios Lot. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES – The most compelling rivalry in the Pac-12 Conference this season may not be the Civil War, Crosstown Showdown or Duel in the Desert. Rather, the Pac-12 Network and its ongoing battle to get on DirecTV is the biggest rivalry on the West Coast this season.
Pac-12 Networks president Lydia Murphy-Stephans presented new programming for the league’s television and internet network, entering its second year. Partnership with satellite provider DirecTV appears no closer to reality in Year Two than it was for the 2012-’13 athletic season.
@MelendezSports The time has come to drop DirecTV and switch to a provider that has Pac-12 Networks. http://t.co/CCMCKr6zeL
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) July 26, 2013
DirecTV wants to offer Pac-12 Networks as an a la carte or on-demand option, more akin to something like HowardTV than the competing Big Ten Network.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said a deal with the satellite provider is unlikely this season. Other distributors are picking up the channels, however.
“Continuing the expansion of our distrubution remains a top priority,” Murphy-Stephans said.
Murphy-Stephans announced partnerships with Comcast and Google Fiber, which she said increases the network’s footprint into the Midwest. A deal with AT&T U-Verse was agreed upon in principle in the spring, though details have yet to be finalized.
The Pac-12 Network is debuting a documentary style program titled Varsity Days, examining the history of the conference’s football in a similar vein as ESPN’s SEC Storied. The Drive is another new addition. Murphy-Stephans described it as “a Hard Knocks style” series, following two Pac-12 programs throughout the season.