MountainWest Sports Network

MountainWest Sports Network

MountainWest Sports Network
The Mtn.
Launched September 1, 2006
Closed June 1, 2012
Owned by Mountain West Conference (30%)
Comcast Corporation (30%)
CBS Corporation (40%)
Country United States
Headquarters Colorado Springs, Colorado
Website themtn.tv
(former; now redirects to Comcast SportsNet homepage)

MountainWest Sports Network, informally known as the mtn. (pronounced as the mountain), was an American regional sports network dedicated to the Mountain West Conference. It launched on September 1, 2006 at the start of the 2006–07 academic year. It was shut down on June 1, 2012 due to the Mountain West Conference's ongoing realignment. Most properties were taken by NBCSN and CBS Sports Network.[1]

History

The Mtn. premiered on September 1, 2006 as the first network dedicated to a college athletic conference - the Division I Mountain West Conference (MWC). The Mtn. annually produced and aired more than 170 collegiate sporting events, including football, basketball, Olympic sports, and conference championship coverage. The Mtn.’s expanded coverage included news programming, coaches’ shows, pre and post game analysis and feature programming about MWC athletics. The Mtn. was owned by the conference, Comcast, and CBS Corporation. Despite CBS owning the largest stake, Comcast handled much of its operation.

Closure

On April 5, 2012 it was announced that the Mtn. would cease operations on June 1, 2012.[2] With the Mtn's closure, the Mountain West had not announced formal broadcast plans for 2012–2013, though a Colorado Springs Gazette report suggested that some MWC games might be picked up by CBS Sports Network and/or NBC Sports Network, or offered to a third party such as ESPN.[3] Eventually all three networks picked up some MWC games while Root Sports Rocky Mountain picked up a cable package of games. Additional games were shown on Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter Cable Networks or on third tier local stations.

Programming

Live events

The network covered over 800 live sporting events in its first four years of operation. Details of football and basketball telecasts are listed in the events section below. Also on the schedule are current and former Olympic sports like baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. The Mtn. aired pregame and post game shows from its suburban Denver, Colo. studios in support of most of the network's live event coverage, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball and softball. Halftime shows took place for all football and men's and women's basketball game telecasts.

Studio shows

Former shows

The Mountain View (final show 9/3/10), The Mountain Cap, Mountain Peak Performances (final show 9/1/10) and On Campus Cam have been canceled. On Campus Cam, which featured a panel of students from different institutions across the Mountain West Conference, was rolled into Around the Mountain, presented by Jeep roughly once per month.

Documentaries/reality shows

Notable current on–air staff

Awards

The Mtn. received 28 Emmy Award nominations and won five times. The network has also garnered three Promax/BDA nominations and won two Promax Awards. In 2009, The Mtn. was a finalist in the Live Game or Live Event for Corporate Entities category at the SVG/NATAS Global Media Awards for College Sports.

Distribution

The Mtn. was available nationally on DirecTV and regionally on several small cable providers.

Distribution controversy

On June 1, 2007, the presidents of Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, unsatisfied with the current distribution, issued a joint press release that they "retained a sports broadcasting attorney to explore all possible options in improving the distribution of athletic broadcasts to their fans".[4]

On June 5, 2007 the MWC Board "reaffirmed its unanimous support of the league's television model and its commitment to working collectively as a unified group", and its Directors unanimously voted to join BYU and Utah to retain the attorney they had hired.[5]

In an interview with KUTV, President Michael K. Young of Utah stated that "Every [MWC member] knows...President Samuelson and I have been clear about this for the last year and a half that it is absolutely essential that we get on satellite to make our games available to our fans. Anything short of that is unacceptable." He then added that "We are passionately committed to our having our football games being on TV this year."[6]

MWC institutions

Events covered

Root Sports Southwest

Some programming on newly formed Root Sports Houston will feature The Mountain West Conference

See also

References

Information on specific programs comes from the half-hour special This is the Mtn., which aired in conjunction with the DirecTV launch. See also:

  1. ↑ Sources: Mountain West Shutting Down Conference's TV Network Sports Business Daily, April 5, 2012
  2. ↑ Saunders, Dusty (28 May 2012). "Dusty Saunders: The Mtn. network signs off for good Thursday night". The Denver Post. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Mountain West TV Network will be discontinued". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
  4. ↑ "BYU and Utah hire attorney regarding the .mtn debacle". byu.edu. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  5. ↑ "MWC Board address TV distribution". themwc.cstv.com. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  6. ↑ "Utes & Cougars VS The Mountain". kutv.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
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