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Message: [QUOTE="Husky25, post: 1594953, member: 2839"] It seems pretty clear to me that the first of the two conferences to develop their own conference media network is the one to have a much better chance of surviving. ESPN seems to think an ACC network is not viable. I agree. Except for Virginia and North Carolina, they arguably do not have a single state Flagship. Every other member program either shares, or is a distant runner up in, their respective state. The Big XII is Texas heavy, however the and while it is a very large and populated state, not many markets outside Texas really give a hoot and half. The difference is [B]The Big XII already has the infrastructure in place for a network. [/B][SIZE=1]if only UT-Austin would realize it. [/SIZE]ESPN is taking a bath on the Long Horn Network and they will continue to unless they can't find a way out of the contract. Part of it is their own fault. The LHN was both poorly conceived and poorly received by consumers and no one outside of Texas really cares to even inquire of their cable provider about the LHN let alone subscribe. Carriage fees are reportedly about $0.30/month/subscriber, and according to the LHN deal, they paid UT-Austin $10.8 M in 2011 which escalates by 3% each year until 2031. A quick & dirty calc. reveals they owe UT an average of just under $16M per year for the rest of the deal. All the money that ESPN has spent over the last 5 years and has agreed to spend for the next 15 are sunk costs, but the infrastructure is still there. So on the other hand, if ESPN can renegotiate the development of a Big XII network, in lieu of the LHN, they can market it to Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, West Virginia and the other two markets they invite (presumably NYC, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Northern Kentucky), increase subscription fees (the SNY effect), allowing them to make Texas whole for their terrible LHN contract and be able to give gobs of money to the other 11 member programs. Unfortunately, two things have to happen and one of them is to make the most stubborn, self-centered, individualistic population on the face of the Earth understand that they will suffer if the Big XII implodes, which is very hard see through $225 Million guaranteed over the next 15 years. [/QUOTE]

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