MWC caught in middle of DirecTV vs. Versus dispute

Before you DirecTV subscribers blow your tops, take a moment and feel at least a little bit sorry for the folks at the Mountain West Conference.

Yet another TV-related public relations nightmare has been dropped in their laps.

And not only are they in no way responsible for it, there's not a darn thing they can do about it.

DirecTV and Versus are engaged in one of those us-vs.-them battles that mostly hurts viewers. DirecTV has dropped Versus from its lineup, claiming that Versus wants too much money.

Versus, on the other hand, maintains that DirecTV wants to move it to a higher, more expensive tier — removing it from 6 million of the 14 million DirecTV homes that used to get the channel.

(Comcast subscribers shouldn't have to worry about losing Versus because Comcast owns Versus.)

While not an everyday occurrence, this sort of thing is far from uncommon. Earlier this year, KJZZ and DirecTV were involved in exactly the same kind of battle, and KJZZ disappeared from DirecTV for about six weeks.

DirecTV-vs.-Versus is a problem for the MWC because Versus is one of the three channels that carries the league's football games. And MWC fans have been told that if they want to see their teams, sign on with this particular satellite TV provider because it carries The mtn., CSTV and Versus.

For the moment, at least, it no longer carries Versus.

This is going to be a problem for local fans if the two sides don't resolve their difference. And relatively soon.

The Florida State-BYU game on Sept. 19 will air on Versus.

And if the two sides don't kiss and make up before Oct. 24, DirecTV subscribers won't be able to watch either Air Force-Utah or TCU-BYU.

There are five other MWC games on Versus, including San Diego State-Utah on Nov. 21.

Generally, these things tend to get worked out. Sometimes it's a few days; sometimes it's a few weeks.

In the meantime, the MWC conference is already taking hits from fans who, once again, feel betrayed. Fans who subscribed to DirecTV because they'd have access to every Utah or BYU game that's televised — and now they don't.

But, honestly, nobody at the league could possibly have known this was going to happen. Nobody at the league has any power over the situation.

If you're a BYU fan and a DirecTV subscriber, find a friend who has a cable or Dish Network lineup that includes Versus. You'll need a backup plan if this dispute isn't resolved in the next couple of weeks.

NICE JOB: Well, my fears about KSL-Ch. 5's helicopter coverage of high school football were unfounded.

"Friday Night Flights" debuted last week with shockingly little self-promotion. The helicopter shots were nice — if not altogether enlightening.

Altogether a good effort.

Even though it was an attempt to horn in on KUTV-Ch. 2's turf.

e-mail: pierce@desnews.com