Pac-12: Commissioner Larry Scott on new Pac-12 Network/Dish TV deal
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott discussed the Pac-12 Network's new deal with Dish Network, among other things, with reporters before the UCLA-Nebraska game. He is very excited about the network's early reaction, bullish on the future of the conference and quite pleased with the Pac-12's venture to China. Here are some of his assorted thoughts:
On the agreement with the Dish Network:
“We've been in good discussions with them for some time. Our Pac-12 network people put out a message to fans two days ago that it was close, and there was some traction. (Dish Network) needed to hear loud and clear from fans that they wanted it. That did the trick. Fans really stepped up. Dish heard, and they wanted to be responsive to their customers. When they decided they wanted to carry it, there was an intensive effort done yesterday to make sure it was done in time for today's football games.”
On the delay with Dish Network and Direct TV:
“In an ideal world, if I could've scripted it, you'd have all of them, but from what I'm told that never really happens when you're launching a network. If you look where we are, three weeks into it, I think we've got over 40 agreements, four out of the top five distributors between Time Warner, Comcast, Cox and now Dish. I think it's probably on par if not better than any other launch that's ever taken place. It ranks up there in terms of early success for any network. These things take time with all distributors, and we're hopeful that the distributors that don't have it not only see the quality of games we have on, the quality of the content, but also are responsive to their fans and their customers in the same way Dish and other cable companies have been. We're confident that those who don't have it, their customers will be responsive to the customers, the fans.”
On the negotiations with Direct TV:
“We know they pride themselves on being all about sports, so obviously it's a missing link for their customers. They've been offered the same deal Dish has been offered. No doubt it's a fair deal. Dish thought so, 40 other cable companies thought so. I'm just hoping that they listen to their customers the same way the others have and they'll take it soon. From what I've seen written, they question how much their customers need it, want it. Is what's on ESPN and Fox enough or do they really need to see all these games? I think they've been a little dismissive of the 20 conference games we've got coming up that haven't taken place yet – Houston/UCLA next weekend, including USC/Cal. A lot of big rivalry games -- it's probably been a bit of disconnect for them with what fans really want. At least what I hear our fans saying; it's the reason we created the network in the first place. I heard loud and clear from our fans that felt the conference was underexposed, given what was out there.”
On technical glitches for Dish Network customers with HD:
“Really, we only knew last night as we were getting this done that they were trying to get it done for today. My understanding is that the games will be in HD but they couldn't get it done today. When we decided to do this, we studied the Big 10 Network, Mountain West, MLB, NFL and what was clear to me is you don't try to launch your own network unless you're prepared for there to be some of these negotiations and battles. I don't know if there's ever been a network, at least in recent history, that has launched with every distributor on board right away. In fact, there are some well-known networks and other sports that don't have one yet. Frankly, for anyone who studies these things, you see that distribution is a process. You never have it perfectly wrapped up in a bow from day one. We were realistic, we realized that we wouldn't have everyone, but we knew we'd have all the major cable operators to start with and that was a great head start. Now we have dish with their 12 million customers. That's four of the top five biggest, and that's a real big deal. All of our fans across the country now have an option, whereas yesterday that wasn't the case.”
On the early quality of the Pac-12 football teams:
“Coming into the season, I felt real good where we were with two top-five teams. Three in the top-25. It's early in the season - I know there have been some disappointing losses for our teams, but it's real early. I still feel confident our conference stacks up with any other.”
On the UCLA men's basketball team's trip to China:
“I thought it was a big success. I really enjoyed watching the students experience a foreign country for the first time in China. The cultural exchange and diplomacy was very, very good. It validated the idea of this great opportunity for exchange between our two countries through a sport and that the Pac-12 was well-suited because of our geography, of the Asian and Asian-American interest in our schools. We're now going to move to phase two, which is continuing with men's basketball and women's basketball and adding other sports as well. I still have some of my team in China, debriefing with the partners we have there, planning next year. But I think we're going to expand and eventually have a chance to distribute our content in China and receive more teams over here.”
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