Basketball TV visibility will go down in Big East

[UofCT]

The problem is FS1 and FS2 have zero name recognition. I couldn't even tell you what channel they are.

What channel is ESPN news and ESPN +?

 

[tcf15]

Like visibility wasn't an issue in the AAC.

For an 18-game AAC regular season schedule, UConn went from...

2014: 14 games on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU and 4 on CBSSN

to

2019: 7 games on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU and 11 on CBSSN + ESPNews

 

[tzznandrew]

I was generally against this move over the last several years. But as you noted, the AAC TV deal made no effort to accommodate us. None. They probably gave away T3 rights we could sell for $1.5m a year for an extra $1m a year spread across the league. F* that! And I can’t deny the jump in excitement. It’s real. The casual fans just woke up from a long slumber. How screwed is football? I don’t know really. Time will tell.

It really was the contract that was the breaking point on so many levels

 

[CL82]

What channel is ESPN news and ESPN +?

When you have to compare the best broadcast option on fox to the worst option on ESPN, maybe your point isn't quite as good as you thought?

 

[whaler11]

You still need to know channel numbers? I press a button on my remote, say 'FS1', and it changes to that channel. Come live in the future, my friend.

mine has a pop up when a uconn game starts and i hit on ok to go to it. even hockey.

 

[CL82]

mine has a pop up when a uconn game starts and i hit on ok to go to it. even hockey.

What TV provider?

 

[UofCT]

When you have to compare the best broadcast option on fox to the worst option on ESPN, maybe your point isn't quite as good as you thought?

I know what channel fox and espn are on

 

[Storrs South]

Like visibility wasn't an issue in the AAC.

For an 18-game AAC regular season schedule, UConn went from...

2014: 14 games on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU and 4 on CBSSN

to

2019: 7 games on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU and 11 on CBSSN + ESPNews

I agree with your point, but this was likely more a function of quality of program performance in recent years than anything (thanks KO).

Cincinnati, for example, had only 5 conference games on CBSSN this season. Everything else on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNews/CBS. It's a moot point since this is under the old contract.

I hate the idea of even one game ending up on ESPN+ at least in the current landscape. Linear cable still attracts the most eyeballs. Period.

 

[browndog319]

And if you’re not home at the time it airs, at least you can DVR the game. That’s the beauty of linear cable.

 

[Storrs South]

And if you’re not home at the time it airs, at least you can DVR the game. That’s the beauty of linear cable.

Every game on the ESPN family of networks and Fox family has replays posted online. Even the SNY games are simulcast through ESPN3 and those replays are available online as well. Same would go for ESPN+, but thankfully don't need to worry about that anyway.

 

[browndog319]

Every game on the ESPN family of networks and Fox family has replays posted online. Even the SNY games are simulcast through ESPN3 and those replays are available online as well. Same would go for ESPN+, but thankfully don't need to worry about that anyway.

No one wants to watch online!!!!

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Worst case in 2019, what kind of people are still incapable of casting? Or, getting someone with a clue to help?

 

[UConnNick]

I am perfectly tech savvy. But I’m NOT a fan of watching hoops on my laptop or phone. Nope.
I stream most TV content through my Roku or AppleTV but ESPN+ doesn’t seem to be there yet (am I wrong?).
I pay extra to have access to SNY because I live out of the geo area.
Is it so wrong to want to watch on a large TV as nature intended?
Is it so wrong to want to watch in a bar?

Yep. This was the thing that seemed to grab Suzy's attention more than anything else.

 

[browndog319]

No one wants to watch online!!!!

I spend 40+ hours a week on a laptop... I don’t want to watch basketball on a laptop.
We’re a program that deserves to be on TV.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I wish. FIOS has me with ancient equipment. Want to cut the cable but the wife hates change.

Lol that’s a you problem then my man

You don’t even need to know what channel to dictate to your TV now. Standard Cox package gets you the voice controlled remote, just speak “UConn basketball” into it and there it is

 

[UConnNick]

Linear TV viewing is undergoing a slow death. That is why Disney, HBO, ESPN, and others are coming out with over the top options and why Netflix, YouTube TV, and HULU are thriving. It is easy to watch them with a cable box today. I don’t watch Netflix on a computer, but on my TV. Games on ESPN3? I watch it on our TVs. ESPN+ will be the same. Streaming is the future and linear TV is the past.

If UConn decided to move to the Big East to allow women’s basketball games to be shown on a bundled linear cable sportsnet (SNY) which are in decline, they are really dumb.

By the way, the AAC was going to have more men’s basketball and football games on the linear ESPN networks with the new contract, not less.

It wasn't dumb if we get back our 1-2 million per year from SNY to televise those women's games, many of which would have ended up on ESPN+, generating zero additional income to UCONN.

 

[AllAbout5]

What TV provider?

Xfinity X1

 

[UConn Esq]

You are wrong. You can download the app and watch ESPN+ with Roku or Apple TV on your regular TV.

The annoying thing though is that the ESPN+ games are blacked on Sling if you live local. It was actually very difficult to watch games on Sling/Roku since most were blacked out for me.

 

[bendm]

With the Big East media rights outside off the ESPN universe, we should expect to see less coverage of UConn basketball on ESPN.

sooo as a NBE hater you're just disregarding the opinions of hurley, geno and even calhoun? they've all praised the move as a recruiting boon. if the coaches and recruits don't care about Nielsen ratings why should i?

i still havent even been able to process the prospect of teams like kansas, texas tech, michigan state and OSU coming to gampel for the Big East-Big10 and Big East-Big12 challenges. but then again maybe no one will watch those games cause they'll be on FS1? LMAO!

 

[og in Omaha]

Former Kingston, RI native and PC fan (sorry) but now living in Omaha. A couple of thoughts about BE Tv package vs AAC. The BE has games on Fox, FS1, CBS and CBSSN. The coverage was amazing in that all but 3 Creighton games were on TV. And they were all non conference games versus cupcakes. The numbers may not be equal to ESPN but there are plenty of advantages. First. I don't think anyone cares how many other people are watching the game as long as you can. I'd trade be able to watch 90 percent of my games on TV than what ESPN offered. A buddy of mine joked a few years ago he was glad his Huskers played us because then he can watch a game. And NE has their own network/

Second. Obviously CBS and Fox have NFL games during the season. Put a number besides your name and the football audiences (which dwarfs anything ESPN has except MNF) will see your program during in game promos. And there has been times when BE games led in to playoff games.

Third. I know just a little about the future of TV and a lot of you are correct about digital and streaming. In the next five years you will see more content moving towards Amazon and Yahoo. See what the NFL is doing. It is still a few years away. Let ESPN work out the bugs. I guarantee you, everyone will be equal within a few years.

Fourth. The money is pretty good considering it's for hoops, a little soccer and lacrosse

 

[ToolzieFan]

Worst case in 2019, what kind of people are still incapable of casting? Or, getting someone with a clue to help?

Probably a lot of people in our fanbase. Very specifically, our older long-time fans. Maybe even some who donate money to the university.

 

[freescooter]

So you think the NBE didn’t look at any numbers and our administration just said “eh, so we lose millions but think of the memories!”
They looked at expenses for travel and all of the production for the digital assets. They have to know what the value is for the renegotiated contracts and the potential for them.
They looked at what they could get if they made the move. Somehow the numbers work.

LOL. they face a $10 plus mil exit fee and less than $3 mil/year in payments when they are finally getting paid. What s total screw up. But At least we have a plan for Y2K. This is a panic move because that fat f@“$k Warde couldn’t hire a competent coach if his life depended on it. We couldn’t compete in the American so let’s go back to the Big Esst. That will fix everything. Oh and MSG.

 

[RipCity]

TV network/exposure and recruiting don’t seem all that correlated, so I’m fine with Fox. What will matter most is simply people going to games, being excited, and not having to contemplate whether or not spending $10 at the game is “worth it”

 

[ctbbfn]

The annoying thing though is that the ESPN+ games are blacked on Sling if you live local. It was actually very difficult to watch games on Sling/Roku since most were blacked out for me.

Use the espn channel not the sling channel

 

[Big East Fa]

Welcome to back to the Big East. I love being on FS1. If you are a NHL fan it's like the coverage you get on NBCSN compared to the bottom feeder stuff you got on ESPN. The AAC coverage was a joke on ESPNU and ESPNEWS. No name TV crews.

In 2018-19 it was record viewership on FOX/FS1. Marks the 5th straight season of growth. The two networks combined to average 269,000. (Keep in mind that number includes all the cupcake type games, that would be stuck on espn3/ESPN+) FOX averaged close to 900k viewers. Many thanks to the Big Ten finishing up year 2 on FOX/FS1. About 40 games. Also, 22 Pac-12 games per year are on FS1. The Big East has 19 over-the-air games on FOX Sports. Most of on any conference in the country in their games playing on over the air TV. Four games are on CBS, with 20 games on CBSSN.

• FS1 viewership: Up +19% year-over year
• FOX viewership: Up +3% year-over-year

Gus Johnson headlines FOX Sports’ list of play-by-play broadcasters. Veteran Tim Brando; voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers and FOX College Football announcer Joe Davis; FOX MLB host and NFL broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt; FOX Sports announcer Justin Kutcher; Milwaukee Brewers and national MLB commentator Brian Anderson; FOX College Football and boxing’s Brian Custer; BTN’s Kevin Kugler. New last season was, Dave O’Brien; BTN host Dave Revsine.
Bill Raftery, Jim Jackson, Donny Marshall Steve Lavin, Len Elmore; Nick Bahe (Creighton), Stephen Bardo (Illinois), Stephen Howard (DePaul), Casey Jacobsen (Stanford), Dickey Simpkins (Providence), Jim Spanarkel (Duke) and Tarik Turner (St. John’s). Doug Gottlieb; YES Network, Brooklyn Nets analyst and FOX Sports contributor Sarah Kustok; former NCAA assistant coach Vin Parise are the many TV/studio men and women on FOX/FS1.

Other properties have come to FS1, since the Big East came to FS1 in the 2013-14 season.
-MLB & MLB Playoffs
-College Football (Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12)
-(Soccer) Men's & Women's World Cup. MLS, Bundesliga, etc.
-USGA Golf
-Nascar
-NHRA Racing
-PBA Bowling
-Westminster Dog Show
-PBC Boxing