[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

lol, SEC Network...

biggest fail in the history of sport

That would be the PAC 12 Network.

Washington, D.C. (July 24, 2014) - Larry Scott, the commissioner of the Pac 12 Network, appears to have finally figured out why DIRECTV won't carry his conference's regional sports channel.

The San Jose Mercury reports that Scott yesterday said that it's unlikely that DIRECTV will carry the network this season, which would mark the third straight football season since the Pac 12 Network launched that the satcaster won't carry it. The Pac 12 Network airs live conference football and basketball games as well as other sports.

Scott said he's more hopeful that DIRECTV will come on board after its merger with AT&T is approved by federal regulators, which could be as early as early 2015. AT&T's U-Verse TV service carries the Pac 12 Network and Scott calls the telco one of the conference's best partners.

It remains to be seen if AT&T would make a difference in the DIRECTV discussions next year. However, it says here that the AT&T-DIRECTV merger will likely rule out the satcaster carrying the sports channels this year.

Why?

Because Scott believes he has a friend in AT&T, he and his conference network are highly unlikely to budge on their current demand that DIRECTV carry the channel in a basic programming package. The satcaster would prefer to carry it a la carte, which means subscribers would only pay for it if they wanted to subscribe to it specifically. The latter approach would be less lucrative for the Pac 12 because fewer DIRECTV viewers would get the channel; carriage fees are based on how many people get the channel.

And since DIRECTV knows that Scott believes he will get better terms from AT&T next year, the satcaster is highly unlikely to change its bargaining position because it does not believe the Pac 12 would negotiate in good faith this year.

In short, the merger puts everything on hold.

But that's not the only problem facing the Pac 12 Network. The San Jose Mercury article notes that Scott acknowledges that by not partnering with ESPN or Fox Sports, the Pac 12 Network is an independent broadcaster that has less leverage over DIRECTV in negotiations. Unlike the ESPN-owned SEC Network, which DIRECTV is likely to carry by next month when that channel launches, the Pac 12 Network can't say, "DIRECTV, if you don't carry our channel, we will take away our other channels, too."

ESPN, and its owner, Disney, can use that ploy and it often does so with great effectiveness.

"Short-term, it would have been much more expeditious to partner with ESPN or Fox, someone who had leverage to go in and get a distribution deal done," Scott said, according to the San Jose Mercury.

But Scott maintains that staying independent will make the conference stronger in the years ahead.

That may be, but right now, the Pac 12 Network is not available on the nation's largest satellite TV service and it's not likely to be on it later this year or perhaps even next.