So the good news this football season is that every Rice game is going to be televised. The bad news is that I probably won't have access to all of the alphabet soup television networks.

So my question is, should I cut the cord and subscribe to OwlVision solely for my Rice football viewing pleasure? Or will I just get even more frustrated?

Seriously, what has been the experience? Inquiring Owls want to know...

I'm 90% sure about the following ... so if someone else has better info please jump in.

* Only two of our football games will be available through Owlvision - Hawaii and FIU (both games which are televised through the American Sports Network)

* All other games will be available only through TV or through the TV provider's web product (NBC Sports app, Fox Sports Go, etc...)

Owlvision usefulness should pick up for basketball and baseball.

(07-28-2014 10:38 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  * Only two of our football games will be available through Owlvision - Hawaii and FIU (both games which are televised through the American Sports Network)

The American Sports Network (ASN) was launched less than two weeks ago by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

C-USA is the class of their schedule, with their other agreements being with the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South Conference, Southern Conference, and Patriot League.

Sinclair either owns or has content agreements with a passel of stations across the nation. There are six stations in Texas, but none in Houston or Dallas. Their Texas affiliations are with the following channels ... with their transmission and (digital) channel numbers and network affiliations and (s):

Amarillo-Clovis: KVII-TV 7 (7) / ABC & The CW (DT2)

Austin: KEYE-TV 42 (43) / CBS & Telemundo (DT2)

Beaumont - Port Arthur: KBTV-TV 4 (40) / Fox
KFDM 6 (21) / CBS & The CW (DT2)

El Paso: KDBC-TV 4 (18) / CBS & MyNetworkTV (DT2)
KFOX-TV 14 (15) / Fox

Harlingen-Brownsville-McAllen: KGBT-TV 4 (31) / CBS

San Antonio: WOAI-TV 4 (48) / NBC
KABB 29 (30) / Fox
KMYS 35 (32) / The CW

Sinclair has only two stations in California -- in Fresno & Bakersfield -- so I am unlikely to be able to view the Hawaii and FIU games unless additional deals are made to add more stations to take the ASN feeds.

Mike:

The CUSA office did say that the ASN games would be available through the CUSA Digital Network (and Owlvision) ... so the Hawaii/FIU games should at least be available online.

Owlvision is useless for football season now that all the games are on tv. It's kind of a strange result, because most of the games on tv are on random regional channels that are hard to get; so it ends up harder to watch the games than it used to be when we were never on tv.

Most sports bars can get access to regional channels even if they are out of region.

(07-29-2014 11:05 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Most sports bars can get access to regional channels even if they are out of region.

Except when they can't. In other threads we have seen many examples of Rice games being unavailable for esoteric reasons.

Guess we will all just have to attend every game in person.

I wish.

(07-29-2014 10:49 AM)07owl Wrote:  Owlvision is useless for football season now that all the games are on tv. It's kind of a strange result, because most of the games on tv are on random regional channels that are hard to get; so it ends harder to watch the games than it used to be when we were never on tv.

Yep, market failure. Ideally, the regional channels should be willing to forego some exclusivity (i.e. allow Owlvision to also carry the games) in return for paying lower rights fees. The channels would be better off in that they would save money; Owlvision would be better off in that it would have more subscribers; and Rice would be better off in that it would have more actual viewers. Yet the utility-maximizing outcome fails to happen because this particular market is decidedly non-rational.

For 2014, all of the regional channels carrying our games should be available through nearly all TV distributors (e.g. no more CSS), although there have been a couple of instances where the games on Fox College Sports (FCS) have been a bit inconsistent on DirecTV.

The only two games this coming season which should present significant issues are Hawaii and FIU (on the new American Sports Network syndication package) - and these should be available through Owlvision.

Next step ... upgrading our TV basketball coverage.

(07-29-2014 11:23 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 11:05 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Most sports bars can get access to regional channels even if they are out of region.

Except when they can't. In other threads we have seen many examples of Rice games being unavailable for esoteric reasons.

Not all cable/satellite TV providers carry all the possible sports channels. And bars typically only have one TV provider. Sometimes a channel is available only on one provider intentionally, due to an exclusivity deal. Sometimes it's due to steep fees that one side or the other wants to receive (and the other side refuses, so they get nothing and fewer folks can see their content).

(07-29-2014 11:34 AM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  For 2014, all of the regional channels carrying our games should be available through nearly all TV distributors (e.g. no more CSS), although there have been a couple of instances where the games on Fox College Sports (FCS) have been a bit inconsistent on DirecTV.

The only two games this coming season which should present significant issues are Hawaii and FIU (on the new American Sports Network syndication package) - and these should be available through Owlvision.

Will have to check into OwlVision this year. It's been quite a while since I tried it ... and found that it delivered far less than acceptable content. Hope it's gotten tolerable. (And I hope that they don't use the misleading "All-Access" for packages that don't include all the games.)

Re: ASN and Sinclair, isn't there a chance they could find some way to show the games in the Houston market (like on the CW or that the Tube channel).

(07-28-2014 11:23 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Sinclair has only two stations in California -- in Fresno & Bakersfield -- so I am unlikely to be able to view the Hawaii and FIU games unless additional deals are made to add more stations to take the ASN feeds.

Clearly RU and I (probably the only two owls between Fresno and Bakersfield) carry a lot of weight.

You are welcome to come to the watch parties.

(07-29-2014 12:18 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(07-28-2014 11:23 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Sinclair has only two stations in California -- in Fresno & Bakersfield -- so I am unlikely to be able to view the Hawaii and FIU games unless additional deals are made to add more stations to take the ASN feeds.

Clearly RU and I (probably the only two owls between Fresno and Bakersfield) carry a lot of weight.

You are welcome to come to the watch parties.

Great idea!! More later.

So, even though the FIU game will be televised, we won't be able to see it here in Houston because ASN doesn't have a deal with any local provider?