Comcast and the the Pac-12 Network

[anmalanman]

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The new Pac-12 Network went on air (do we still say that for cable?) yesterday and today a lot of Comcast customers are very disappointed and angry.

Comcast is having a terrible time rolling out their new Pac-12 channel. Many customers - mostly those outside the Pac-12 states - find they have no access to the Pac-12 channels at all. I have been tracking a Comcast FAQ/Complaint board and here are some of what they have to say:

"If you live outside one of the Pac-12 states, The Pac-12 National Network will be part of our Sports Entertainment Package in most markets."
 
The PAC 12 Network is not currently scheduled to be added in

 * Indiana or Illinois
 * the Minnesota area
 * Virginia
 * the Metro DC area

There could be other areas where it will not be available, I don't know.

And as for watching online, the Comcast online feature is expected to be up and running by September or earlier - in time for the beginning of the football season they say. Online availability will be possible only for customers who receive the Pac-12 channels by cable.

And finally, they admit their website's channel finder tool "needs updating".

[Roberton3]

The PAC 12 Network is not currently scheduled to be added in
 * the Metro DC area

 

I didn't think it would be possible to make me hate Comcast any more than I already did.  Evidently it was.

[fullmetal]

I can't believe they didn't add the metro DC area.  That's absolutely ridiculous given the high ROI there.

[washingtonismoney]

It's crazy. I think I see more Pac-12 college apparel around here than any other BCS conference.

[anmalanman]

I should add that the Comcast answer-person at the FAQ website has been giving out channel numbers for areas that do carry the Pac-12 Network.

See http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Channels-and-Programming/Pac-12-FAQ-and-Information/td-p/1329911/page/2

If you're searching for your Comcast channel, check it out.

[Farm93]

Have Cox in the OC now that I moved down.  Having moved between the Bay Area and SoCal a few times now, I can assure you that Comcast has far better customer service than Cox.  Think D- vs. F.

FWIW - Cox did not have anything for the conference in HD yesterday.  The SD channel was easy to find, I guess.  The online registration for the online access was acceptable, but requires a familiarity with the webpage that is probably uncommon.  I needed to know my Cox online ID and password.  I have those things set up for pay online and bill view because I do that for almost every account, but without that I would have been stuck.  So I am confident few cable customers will get instant access if they try to figure it out 10 minutes before kickoff of their team.

I would love to get a different provider, but will stick with Cox until someone else in SoCal steps up to provide access.

All seven channels seemed to show the same things last night based on the online experience.

First, there were a few programs that seemed focused on getting to know the studio hosts and establish the studio hosts as Pac-12 football experts.
Every football team in the conference seemed capable of beating every non-Pac-12 team, upsets of OOC teams like LSU, for example, were predicted.  Then we got a nice set of feel good stories about how the Pac-12 channel talent came to love the Pac-12.  Summer Sanders seemed to have the best and longest section.  It was far and away the most focused on the campus and the campus experience.  I attributed that to Sanders' genuine interest in Stanford and the proximity of the campus to the network HQ.

Then the night had a feature series on Alex Smith (got to get Utah in somehow), and Andrew Luck.  If you live in the Bay Area both stories probably seemed like old news, but they did reinforce the idea that the conference produces big time NFL talent.

Finally the night's prime time feature was presented on all channels.  That feature was the painfully boring replay of Oregon and UCLA in the Pac-12 football championship game.

Did not watch after that, but the channels will seem to have the production quality of the regional FSNs.  I would probably be willing to stream live content to watch Stanford sports, but I am very confident that casual fans will not do that unless the Pac-12 creates some type of Olympic Sports fantasy league or something.

[washingtonismoney]

Don't have much to add, but their streaming is really quite good. Impressive that they've been able to figure that aspect out so well and quickly. They could give some tips to NBC.

[garvin]

Here's a guy writing about the Pac-12 Network with a slightly more skeptical tone than most sportwriters.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/19802949/pac-12-network-debuts-now-everyone-please-calm-down

[garvin]

I don't agree with the overall slant of this piece, but it offers a good discussion of the economics of sports and cable TV, and why these carriage negotiations sometimes break down.

http://www.cougcenter.com/2012/8/16/3248139/pac-12-network-directv-negotiations

[washingtonismoney]

Skepticism is fine, but Dodd doesn't note that the Pac-12 network launched in more homes than the Big Ten Network did at its onset. So it's certainly off to a good start, comparatively speaking.

[garvin]

I think the Pac-12's alleged number of homes is highly inflated. It's based on total subscribers to the cable systems that have signed up so far. But if Comcast and Cox are not offering the channel to entire blocs of states, you've got to subtract homes in those states from the number. The fact that the Pac-12 won't release the number of actual subscribers is also suggestive.

[washingtonismoney]

It's certainly possible. However, it's the only apples-to-apples comparison we have of the two networks at an equivalent time in their histories. Doubtlessly the Big Ten Network's numbers were similarly inflated at a comparable time.

[Yvonne]

I can't wait for football season to start so we can have something better to talk about than the size of conferences' TV network.

[garvin]

If the footprint of the channel continues to have all these gaping holes, I'd guess there will be a lot more discussion, not less, when the games start being played. As things stand right now, I don't get the channel, and I believe there are a number of others on the board in the same boat.

[needle]

I'm of course absolutely unqualified to judge, but this fan's perspective: Get Pac-12 on DirecTv and the idea is an early success, don't and it's time to start shining up the pitchforks for Scott.