Horns247 Board

DeLoss couldnt scrap it even if he wanted to. You see, since he so wisely cut academia in on this deal, they couldnt give two flips what this is doing to athletics, they just want to cash checks.

No, I'm afraid LHN lives until ESPN pulls the plug, and wont die a day sooner. Its all in ESPN's hands now.

I hear you. Unfortunately UT softball alone has been a sore spot with me for years. We completely wasted Cat when we could have won several national titles. It's become a pattern for many UT sports over the last several years. Christ, my 13 year old daughter could be a starting pitcher for UT and I'm not kidding. That's absolutely ridiculous!!! What in the world are we doing? What are we thinking? Where are we recruiting? We have kids pitching 54-56 mph and Alabama, Oklahoma and Oregon State pitchers are tossing it at 70-72 mph. Well, the response is that it's about rotation. Bullcrap. These girls from Alabama, Oklahoma and Oregon State are throwing high speed balls with terrific spin.

The UT brand is fabulously valuable but one has to wonder how long. Jerry has done the same with the Cowboys' brand but there has to be a reckoning at some point.

I admire Dodds for his financial acumen but, like you, wonder about the competitiveness of the programs that underlie the entire system.

Funny how a guy named Hoopscoach didn't mention how having half the basketball games on there is helping to kill the basketball program too.

That network isn't doing anything but turning people off to UT. People seem to always side against those who arrogantly think they're better than everyone. Well, this network and the way the old white coots in charge of UT have handled things make it seem like UT is exactly that. Hence, we have backlash.

Disagree. The games that are on the LHN are games that either wouldn't be on t.v. anyway, or games that not many people would watch.

And with the way the team has played this year it's probably better that the games aren't shown everywhere.

Oh yes, I didn't even mention the lack of BB programming here out of state. Whereas, before LHN I watched quite a few of the Horn BB games here, The number has been cut in at least half (maybe more). Seems like now they are only on very occasionally.
And, also I used to even see Longhorn baseball here -- back in the 2005-2007 period, but haven't seen any of that lately either. Nor women's BB that I used to follow.

First of all, your claims are not true. There were multiple games in the time frame you said that were pay per view games. I would also bet that there were a decent number of games on ABC's reverse window, similar to Baylor this season. Secondly, There were 3 games on LHN this year, one of which would have likely been pay per view. So the fact that there were 6 games on the regular cable feed wherever you live is not solely because of the Longhorn Network, but because we are just not a very good team right now.

The asking price right now is likely too high, but I wouldn't pay 5 cents for the Opera network, and I still get it. Uverse, Fios, and Cox all have a decent sized national footprint and another national carrier will drop at some point. I know people in different parts of the country that do get the network, and now have unprecedented access to all the programs.

Networks don't just pop on TV. I live in Houston and I can't watch the Rockets, it happens. The launch coincided with a downturn in the program, but let's not blame what is actually a good thing, the LHN, for the current state of the program.

So, you live in Houston where my brother lives, yet you are expert enough to tell me what the premium package of Comcast cable in Alexandria, Va. that is 1500 miles from you and in another state does, or does not carry?

Yes, you are right, on one point. In some of those years, one game a year was on PPV, for $9. The rest were regular broadcast. As it stands right now, I can't get it at any price. Nor am I likely to any time soon.

Yes, I did get the regional games. If you saw the game in Houston, I saw it here. No longer true now. The PPV was $9.95 originally, and eventually went up to $12. Considerably cheaper than what my brother and my wife's family in Houston paid. There were no PPV games the last couple of years here so I have no idea what they charge now.

The point remains that since LHN, there is considerably less on TV here than there used to be. As you very correctly pointed out, it is extremely likely that the fact that Texas was a top ranked team back during the time I was using for reference had something to do with them appearing on TV more often. I don't want to argue any more so this will be my last reply to you.

Reverse mirror just means one game is ABC, the other ESPN, and vice versa. You still get the game on TV.

Yeah, sorry. Meant regionally, like the Baylor game this year. Pretty sure the reverse window is a fairly new addition meaning more games would be seen nationally not less.

I wasn't trying to be a smart ass, just pointing out that the cause of seeing less football games isn't solely on the Longhorn Network. And while it sucks for those that don't have it, it is really a quality product for those that do.

I agree with you (utsal), but he's probably correct that in Virginia he used to get the regional games too. When Texas is good, pretty much the entire country is the the broadcast region except for a small area around the other team playing.

I was in TN during the 2009 season and not only got every single regional ABC game, but the local fox sports affiliate chose the Texas game over the other options as well. I can't remember if 2009 had a ppv or not, but if it did that was the only game all season that wasn't available to a basic cable package.

So the real reason people have to complain about Texas coverage nationally is that the team hasn't been good for 4 years. Doesn't have anything to do with the LHN except for those specific games that it airs.

The bottom line is that Texas only contractually obligated to put one football game per year on LHN. They should be kicking and screaming when ESPN tries to put games 2 and 3 on. This was one of Bobby's points on how things need to change in recruiting. Having 3 games on LHN is a huge detriment to the football program and a big middle finger to the fan base. I say this as someone that has LHN on U-Verse.

No matter how terrible Texas has been the past few years, the Big 12 is damn close to having enough TV slots that every game can be on TV -- whether it be ABC, Fox, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, FX, or FSN. ESPN cut proactive side deals to get games 2 and 3 onto LHN. That is a simple fact. If a game doesn't get picked up later in the year then LHN is always there is a fallback, but the simple fact of the matter is if ESPN doesn't manipulate things they wouldn't have gotten games 2 and 3. That is a situation that Texas should not permit to continue. We need as much national exposure as possible.

As others have said, the whole point of LHN was to get games that weren't on TV already out there. ESPN has done the opposite, pulling football and men's basketball games that were already on out of wider distribution. It's a terrible situation.