MWC and CSTV ready lineup announcement

PASADENA, Calif. — Ute and Cougar fans will soon get at least some of the answers they've been waiting for — like where to find their teams on television this fall.

The Mountain West Conference and CSTV are preparing an announcement that we're promised will please a lot of local fans. It will involve not just CSTV but also The mtn., the soon-to-be-launched channel devoted entirely to MWC sports.

And it's a big deal to local fans, given that BYU and Utah each are scheduled to have 10 of their 12 football games telecast on either CSTV or The mtn. this fall.

Don't be surprised when Comcast, the largest cable provider in Utah, plays a big part in the announcement. And don't be surprised if it goes beyond just what cable systems will carry the channels.

"We have what we think are going to be some very well-received announcements ... about who can see us when," CSTV president Brian Bedol said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. "We assure you there will be distribution that will deliver on the promise of giving the most fans in the Mountain West territories the most access to the most games."

Bedol was short on specifics but indicated that viewers in Utah will have access to both CSTV and The mtn. He also said CSTV has been in negotiations with Comcast — the nation's largest cable company with more than 23 million subscribers — for some time. Comcast's television markets include Salt Lake City, Denver and Albuquerque, which cover five of the nine teams in the Mountain West (Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico and Utah).

(CSTV had hoped to make the announcement at the Mountain West meetings currently under way in San Diego, but that has been delayed because of unrelated business at Comcast.)

CSTV is also negotiating with cable providers in other MWC markets: Bedol was in San Diego last week; he's scheduled to be in Las Vegas today. And there have been talks about The mtn. with various cable operations and satellite providers Dish and DirecTV.

He also said it was possible that CSTV could syndicate games to local broadcast stations in markets that don't carry either CSTV or The mtn. "We assure you there will be distribution," Bedol said.

That appears unlikely in Utah, however.

"There are multiple negotiations going on simultaneously, and they happen at a different pace," Bedol said. "But I really do sincerely feel great about where we are.

"Often, these are negotiations that go down to the wire. We're doing everything that we can to get them done before they head down to the wire."

Since CSTV and the MWC announced the deal two years ago, CSTV has been acquired by CBS. Which, if nothing else, puts CSTV on a strong financial standing and able to pay the league the $82 million in rights fees the pact calls for over seven years.

But speculation that MWC football and/or basketball games could end up on CBS is premature at best.

"I would say that's not a big part of the plan. There may be the occasional game that does, but that's not part of the upcoming announcement," Bedol said.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com