With more than 40 different satellite and cable providers across the country already contracted with and broadcasting the Pac-12 Network, the nation’s number one satellite television company has still not reached an agreement to air the network and seems unlikely to do so before the end of football season.
DirecTV spokesperson Robert Mercer@@http://www.marketwatch.com/story/directv-launches-tropical-storm-isaac-information-channel-2012-08-26@@ points to the price as the reason for being unable to reach an agreement. He says the Pac-12 Network needs to offer a package that won’t break their customers’ bank.
“DirecTV wants to make Pac-12 Network available to the fans who want it,” Mercer wrote in a prepared statement. “To do that, Pac-12 either needs to agree to a price to make it affordable for all of our customers, as we’ve offered and done with dozens of other sports networks, or allow Pac-12 fans to buy the network separately or purchase individual games on demand.”
Although Mercer blames the price as the reason for the delay in reaching an agreement, he would not comment on the price that the Pac-12 Network offered. Mercer also wouldn’t comment on the fact that more than 40 other cable and satellite companies have signed contracts with the Pac-12 Network at similar costs offered to his company.
“It’s a little bit bizarre that the Big-10 Network is available on DirecTV right here in the heart of Pac-12 country,” said Craig Pintens,@@http://dailyemerald.com/2012/09/26/blog-ducks-inc-craig-pintens-and-national-branding/@@ athletic director for marketing and public relations. “It’s baffling to us that a company committed to sports programming hasn’t accepted the Pac-12’s offer because it’s the same deal that’s been accepted by DISH and four of the nation’s largest cable companies.”
Since the beginning of the season, tens of thousands of DirecTV customers have flooded the inboxes of both DirecTV and the Pac-12 Network, begging for the two media companies to sign a contract.
In response, the Pac-12 Network has issued multiple statements telling its fans to switch to another provider that has the network, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, DISH Network and many others in each of the states with Pac-12 schools.
Comcast signed a contract with the Network before the season started and was able to offer its customers their regional channel of the Pac-12 Network at no extra charge. If their customers want the national channel, they can purchase it in a package along with other sports networks.
The Pac-12 Network was unable to be reached for comment but did point to this statement as an explanation of their stance on the issue:
“We find DirecTV’s position baffling. First, the deal we’ve offered DirecTV is fundamentally similar to the deal that has already been accepted by DISH, four of the largest cable companies in the country and more than 40 others. How can a deal that works for all those companies be ‘unaffordable’ for DirecTV, the largest satellite TV provider in the country and the company that built its brand offering every subscriber ‘all the sports they crave’?”