I read the articles about it but its a hard thing to listen to because there's no fast forward or rewind (maybe if I downloaded the SoundCloud app) but I finally remembered to turn the thing on and ignore it for awhile before I heard Wes Durham come on the show.
I was just interested to hear in what context Durham made those comments.
So, the Louisville guys asked Durham about Dennis Dodd article that said that soon the ACC will be making more TV revenue than the Big 12 whether the ACC gets a network or not. Durham, first joked that he needs to talk to Dennis Dodds to see what he knows but then said something like, "Remember, there is a clause in the ESPN contrat, well reportedly a clause, that will pay the ACC $45 million per year if a network is not agreed upon by July 1, 2016." That isnt an exact quote but pretty close.
Durham has spent his entire career in the ACC and is as well-connected as there is so give or take some minor details, I take this information as true. Then there was that report that came out that ESPN asked for more time to give the network decision. The GT AD said that in October. Then, there was a report about a Dec 31, 2016 date for a decision. The timelines are all adding up. We heard when the deal was announced about the 5 year look in which is coming up and this network possibility was a part of that.
The disappointing thing was that Durham said he does not think the ACC Network will be channel 610 or 611 on your cable system but more of a cross-branding across multiple platforms. So, inotherwords, if his prediction is true, the ACC Network will just be a logo and branding change, nothing really substantial and is ESPN's way of saying, "Sorry guys, we couldnt do a network for you but here's a cool logo to tie you over until half of you join the Big Ten and SEC in 6 or 7 years." If there is no network, the ACC as we know it is pretty much done unless they can get Texas and ND to join.
If they do do a cross-branding, perhaps it will help to spread the games out more and for ESPN to work more with Raycom and Fox Sports South.
For example, speaking about basketball, maybe a Saturday will look like this:
noon ESPN
1:00 Raycom
2:00 ESPN2
3:00 Fox Sports South
4:00 ESPNU
6:00 ESPN
8:00 ESPN2
Instead of
noon ESPN
noon ESPN2
noon Raycom
noon Fox Sports South
2:00 ESPN2
2:00 ESPNU
4:00 Fox Sports South
ACC football games are notorious for starting in the noon hour so maybe ESPN, FSS, and Raycom work together to spread them out and ensure that the home team game is on ESPN. So, lets say Pitt/UVa and Duke/Miami are both scheduled for noon kicks. Pitt/UVa is on ESPN in those markets and FSS does Duke/Miami in Western PA and Virginia.
If I had to bet on this, at this point, I don't think the ACC will have a traditional network. I think the league will get $45 million more and ESPN will brand ACC games as "The ACC network" and the logo/branding will be the same on Raycom and FSS. So you'll see ESPN/ACC Network graphics. And other than perhaps the spreading out of game times and ensuring that home teams are seen on ESPN instead of thisTV or mundoFOX, I dont think there will be much of a change although I am sure the press release will indicate what a game-changing thing this "new-age, multi-faceted, multi-platform" network is. There will even be people on this site claiming its better than the B10N and SECN because its available on multiple channels and multiple plaforms. But, anybody who knows anything about the TV biz knows that in speaking about MAINSTREAM American Sports, which major D1 football and basketball is, the money is made through MAINSTREAM platforms (ie broadcast network and cable).
I was just interested to hear in what context Durham made those comments.
So, the Louisville guys asked Durham about Dennis Dodd article that said that soon the ACC will be making more TV revenue than the Big 12 whether the ACC gets a network or not. Durham, first joked that he needs to talk to Dennis Dodds to see what he knows but then said something like, "Remember, there is a clause in the ESPN contrat, well reportedly a clause, that will pay the ACC $45 million per year if a network is not agreed upon by July 1, 2016." That isnt an exact quote but pretty close.
Durham has spent his entire career in the ACC and is as well-connected as there is so give or take some minor details, I take this information as true. Then there was that report that came out that ESPN asked for more time to give the network decision. The GT AD said that in October. Then, there was a report about a Dec 31, 2016 date for a decision. The timelines are all adding up. We heard when the deal was announced about the 5 year look in which is coming up and this network possibility was a part of that.
The disappointing thing was that Durham said he does not think the ACC Network will be channel 610 or 611 on your cable system but more of a cross-branding across multiple platforms. So, inotherwords, if his prediction is true, the ACC Network will just be a logo and branding change, nothing really substantial and is ESPN's way of saying, "Sorry guys, we couldnt do a network for you but here's a cool logo to tie you over until half of you join the Big Ten and SEC in 6 or 7 years." If there is no network, the ACC as we know it is pretty much done unless they can get Texas and ND to join.
If they do do a cross-branding, perhaps it will help to spread the games out more and for ESPN to work more with Raycom and Fox Sports South.
For example, speaking about basketball, maybe a Saturday will look like this:
noon ESPN
1:00 Raycom
2:00 ESPN2
3:00 Fox Sports South
4:00 ESPNU
6:00 ESPN
8:00 ESPN2
Instead of
noon ESPN
noon ESPN2
noon Raycom
noon Fox Sports South
2:00 ESPN2
2:00 ESPNU
4:00 Fox Sports South
ACC football games are notorious for starting in the noon hour so maybe ESPN, FSS, and Raycom work together to spread them out and ensure that the home team game is on ESPN. So, lets say Pitt/UVa and Duke/Miami are both scheduled for noon kicks. Pitt/UVa is on ESPN in those markets and FSS does Duke/Miami in Western PA and Virginia.
If I had to bet on this, at this point, I don't think the ACC will have a traditional network. I think the league will get $45 million more and ESPN will brand ACC games as "The ACC network" and the logo/branding will be the same on Raycom and FSS. So you'll see ESPN/ACC Network graphics. And other than perhaps the spreading out of game times and ensuring that home teams are seen on ESPN instead of thisTV or mundoFOX, I dont think there will be much of a change although I am sure the press release will indicate what a game-changing thing this "new-age, multi-faceted, multi-platform" network is. There will even be people on this site claiming its better than the B10N and SECN because its available on multiple channels and multiple plaforms. But, anybody who knows anything about the TV biz knows that in speaking about MAINSTREAM American Sports, which major D1 football and basketball is, the money is made through MAINSTREAM platforms (ie broadcast network and cable).
