3rd PTN President in less than 5 years... solid.
PAC-12 really needs some more Western schools in the central time zone, for TV markets and inventory
I would go after four Texas schools. The PAC always adds a AAU school + a rivalry/travel partner. i.e. Colorado/Utah and Arizona/Arizona State
Add:
Rice - AAU
Texas - AAU
Houston - Rice Rival
Texas Tech - Texas Rival
FOUR DIVISIONS
NORTH
Washington
Washington State
Oregon
Oregon State
WEST
Stanford
Cal
USC
UCLA
EAST
Utah
Colorado
Arizona
Arizona State
SOUTH
Texas Tech
Texas
Rice
Houston
That gives them almost the entire Texas market (except DFW, however UT makes up for that). West Texas, Austin/San Antonio, and Houston.
This would also allow for the PAC-12 to add another large state besides California for its markets. They can then move the championship game to a more centralized location in Phoenix.
TV already has those four Texas teams. They don't need to switch to a P12 network. TV isn't going to pay for that.
Well you can look at his resume and make some varying assumptions:
1. He was hired to make a push for carriage.
2. He was hired to take them into a profitable streaming format.
3. He was hired because he is running from the sinking ships that his former employment history represents. And, he won't be the PACN president for very long.
4. He was hired to transition the PACN from a regional self defined network into something imminently more marketable for a national audience.
(08-14-2017 12:35 PM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote: [ -> ]PAC-12 really needs some more Western schools in the central time zone, for TV markets and inventory
I would go after four Texas schools. The PAC always adds a AAU school + a rivalry/travel partner. i.e. Colorado/Utah and Arizona/Arizona State
Add:
Texas - AAU
Kansas - AAU
Oklahoma
TCU or Texas Tech
That gives you two of the best college football *brands* and one of the best college basketball brands. As far as markets, the PAC would add:
- DFW market (#5 market in the nation, probably #2 or #3 market for college football)
- piece of Houston (#8 market)
- San Antonio (#31 market)
- Kansas City (#33 market)
- Austin (#39 market)
- Oklahoma City (#41 market)
......... TV already has those brands and those markets. They are not going to allow the PAC abscond with them.
The PAC has 12 great brands, the best in their two timezones, and a great market in those timezones. Stick with those, further develop those.
(08-14-2017 01:02 PM)JRsec Wrote: [ -> ]Well you can look at his resume and make some varying assumptions:
1. He was hired to make a push for carriage.
2. He was hired to take them into a profitable streaming format.
3. He was hired because he is running from the sinking ships that his former employment history represents. And, he won't be the PACN president for very long.
4. He was hired to transition the PACN from a regional self defined network into something imminently more marketable for a national audience.
For (1), it would be to either repair bridges burned by previous negotiations with DirecTV or, better yet, to sell part or all of PTN to Fox or ESPN and let them twist arms for cable/satellite carriage like they do for all of the other conference networks.
(2), Streaming will happen at some point down the road, but, similar to ESPN's situation, PTN can't sell streaming or "TV everywhere" separately until either their current deals with cable/sat co's expire or they negotiate with cable/sat co's to permit selling it to people who don't subscribe to cable/satellite.
The P12 Networks don't need additional content. The B1G filled a network with 11 schools.
The P12 doesn't "need" to expand. They have an exclusive territory with little competition.
The P12 Network President isn't the problem. He can only do what the board of directors (i.e. the school presidents) tell/let him do.
(08-14-2017 02:14 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]or they negotiate with cable/sat co's to permit selling it to people who don't subscribe to cable/satellite.
Unless you're HBO, Showtime, etc., there is no such thing. If you want carriage on cable/sat, then you aren't going to be allowed to have extra action on the side.
(08-14-2017 01:16 PM)YNot Wrote: [ -> ] (08-14-2017 12:35 PM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote: [ -> ]PAC-12 really needs some more Western schools in the central time zone, for TV markets and inventory
I would go after four Texas schools. The PAC always adds a AAU school + a rivalry/travel partner. i.e. Colorado/Utah and Arizona/Arizona State
Add:
Texas - AAU
Kansas - AAU
Oklahoma
TCU or Texas Tech
That gives you two of the best college football *brands* and one of the best college basketball brands. As far as markets, the PAC would add:
- DFW market (#5 market in the nation, probably #2 or #3 market for college football)
- piece of Houston (#8 market)
- San Antonio (#31 market)
- Kansas City (#33 market)
- Austin (#39 market)
- Oklahoma City (#41 market)
Problem is that they can not get Kansas or Oklahoma. They will have a hard time getting Texas and the only way to do that would be to allow UT to keep the Longhorn Network. TCU is a no go (conservative private school does not work in PAC). Texas Tech will go because they have no where else to go and they are a true western school. Rice and Houston would jump at the chance for a spot in the PAC. Rice brings another Stanford for the conference with Houston as a rival. Rice fans will return with being in a conference with Texas and Houston and the West Coast AAU teams in USC, UCLA, Cal, and Stanford.
Tech is way down in the research rankings, even though they're trying to inflate their numbers with institutional grants to their own faculty.
Nonetheless, if the PAC was desperate, I do think there is some merit to a partnership between old Border Conf rivals Texas Tech and U of New Mexico, and trying to sell themselves to the PAC conf that way.
The 2011 PAC expansion concept included Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma St.
Texas would still have Oklahoma in their top-4 picks for PAC expansion mates.
The PAC would go after Kansas before they fall back on Rice or Houston.
Kansas was looking at MWC membership when it looked like Texas and Oklahoma were headed to the PAC in 2011; the Jayhawks would accept a PAC invite if the Big 12 falls apart.
KU and K-State would do backflips if they could follow either Colorado or Nebraska.
I think the biggest challenge facing the Pac 12 is their content generally doesn't have that much appeal outside of their footprint and within their footprint there isn't the same level of demand (call them t shirt fans if you like) the way there is for some of the programs in the Big Ten and SEC do.
I don't mean this as an insult to Pac 12 fans. You're an excellent group of schools with some great athletic programs. You're stuck facing an uphill battle. Most eastern time zone fans are not going to stay up into the wee hours of the morning for West Coast games and the networks are not going to cede the 7:30 pm/8:00 pm EST slot to just any old Pac 12 game when they paid big money to have to top rated Big Ten or SEC game or games involving big brands from the ACC or Big 12. The Pac 12 scheduling philosophy also can have a backfire effect--9 conference games adds more overall loses to the league compared to the 2 leagues that still just play 8 and then the need to go out and play P5s across the country to try to draw viewers from outside the footprint might mean your champ loses its only big OOC game
The biggest problem the PAC faces is the time slots they play in.
I would contend that many of the PAC12 after dark games have been the most entertaining games to watch but know one sees them on the East coast because they're in bed.
People not watching those games causes the national media and Voters especially to not have any understanding of the teams in the PAC. This creates a perception of mediocrity and keeps our teams lower in the poles. I know the PAC is not the SEC but it's been pretty decent( 2-4th best depending on year) for a long time now.
Maybe this guy can sell the network to Fox or ESPN. Maybe, just maybe he can get more of these games on at midnight moved to the middle of the day, so voter's and casual fans alike can actually watch them.
(08-15-2017 09:31 PM)SouthEastAlaska Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe, just maybe he can get more of these games on at midnight moved to the middle of the day, so voter's and casual fans alike can actually watch them.
ESPN loves the west coast prime time games. As we discussed awhile back on the CS&CR board, it's like the baseball stat "Wins Above Replacement" -- Pac-12 FB and BB games in west coast prime time do better in the ratings than anything else they could air in that time slot, and that's the value to ESPN. ESPN has many options for FB and BB games in east coast prime time and earlier, but Pac-12 games are the best programming for ratings in the west coast prime time window.
The Pac-12 can and should find a way to air fewer PTN games in the late time slot, but the ESPN games are going to stay.
This is where the PAC-B1G alignment would have helped. Get a half dozen PAC teams in B1G territory each year and the entire conference in front of lots of East Coast eyeballs.
(08-15-2017 09:51 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]ESPN loves the west coast prime time games. As we discussed awhile back on the CS&CR board, it's like the baseball stat "Wins Above Replacement" -- Pac-12 FB and BB games in west coast prime time do better in the ratings than anything else they could air in that time slot, and that's the value to ESPN. ESPN has many options for FB and BB games in east coast prime time and earlier, but Pac-12 games are the best programming for ratings in the west coast prime time window.
The Pac-12 can and should find a way to air fewer PTN games in the late time slot, but the ESPN games are going to stay.
The question is ... would adding central timezone schools help with those objectives? I just don't see how.