LHN

[IndyHorn]

Can anyone please tell me how long the contract with ESPN is for the LHN? And can anyone tell me what percentage of house holds in Texas, in the southwest US, and the US as whole receive it? The reason I ask is I truly fear it is an albatross. I know I a may not
be a visionary in saying this, but does UT need it? We get 300 million for 5 years or whatever. But if kids cannot find our games on TV, how long until we cannot recruit. In addition, it sure seems like the 3rd tier rights, our clinging to our own network pissed off a lot of other schools. This season wherein Texas at best is a NCAA tourney bubble team, which member of selection committee is angry with us and grinds an ax? Am I an idiot for hating the LHN?

 

[Texdoc]

I only hate it because nobody in charge can talk DirecTV into adding it.

HOOK 'EM,
Texdoc

 

[Bigtex112]

I don't hate LHN. I think it makes great sense $$ wise for the University. However, as stated above, for Basketball specifically, I think it is going to hurt recruiting top-notch kids in Texas if ESPN cannot get Direct or Dish to come on board with it.

In previous year's most of these games that are being blacked out on LHN currently were picked up by other small carriers across the state like Channel 21 in Dallas (can't remember the channel name on Direct). So the kids in Dallas could watch that game. Now, unless they have Verizon Fios, they can't.

The other sports weren't televised anyway, so LHN does not impact them negatively. Men's Basketball, however, is in jeopardy, in my opinion of losing unless this changes before next season.

 

[Third Coast]

I would think there are more recruits and their families with cable than satellite. I believe it will definitely have a negative impact on recruiting if those prospects can't see several of the games before choosing a school and their families can't watch them if they do come to Texas. I also feel that other schools recruiting these players will point out that yes we have our own network, but very few people actually see it.

 

[MojoMan]

Instead of trying to list which cable companies do not have the LHN, it would surely be a much shorter list to list the cable companies that do carry it. There aren't very many.

 

[majorwhiteapples]

How many kids a year do we recruit in basketball? How many of those kids actually live in Dallas or Houston where one of these small TV stations exist?

I think the commercials for the Longhorn Network or the subtle references to Texas on ESPN and ESPN.com are doing more for Texas then Channel 21 in Dallas showing Texas blowout some rinky dinky school.

I think the argument that you can't see it is much stronger then basketball recruits not being able to see it.

Remembering this time of year, most recruits are busy with basketball practice, games and studying to watch some rinky dinky game on TV anyway.

 

[TempestHorn]

In reply to:

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[Chest Rockwell]

The LHN needs to be offered on streaming devices (Roku, Playstation, etc.). The athletic dept thought they won the lotto when they signed this deal, but the fallout is a reduced amount of games on TV. I got screwed out of 2 football games and at least 10 basketball games. Ridiculous.

I was hoping to tune into the Iowa State hoops game tonight, but I'm not one of the dozen or so people that have the LHN.

 

[scallahorn]

I live in St. Louis and will likely never have access to LHN, none of the providers here care to carry it. I love Longhorn hoops but have to say my enthusiasm and excitement in the program is hard to maintain when I cannot watch the games. Long term, I thnk LHN hurts the hoops program unless you get more nationwide coverage. A handful of ESPN games is good but not enough to continue to build a national hoops brand.

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

Chest, you got screwed but the university won and that's all that matters right? That's the way they think otherwise they'd do something other than defer to the providers when we ask.