Feb. 23, 2008

Albuquerque Journal

Mtn. to Appear on DirecTV This Year
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff Writer

The Mtn. officially has become much bigger than a molehill in terms of television distribution.
   
The MountainWest Sports Network, which owns broadcast rights to all Mountain West Conference and University of New Mexico athletics events, and DirecTV announced Friday that the satellite provider will carry the network on a nationwide basis in 2008 on or before Sept. 1.
   
The agreement adds a potential 17 million homes to the 1.2 million The Mtn. had reached on cable television.
   
Lobo athletics, most notably the football team and the men's and women's basketball teams, will have a much larger television audience.
   
"It gives us access and penetration into a lot more homes," UNM athletics director Paul Krebs said. "That helps in recruiting. That helps fans that don't have access to the product. I think it's great news. I think everybody wishes it would've happened sooner."
   
Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson, however, said the league was ahead of schedule in terms of the original agreement it signed with CSTV, now renamed CBS College Sports Network, for broadcast rights beginning in 2006.
   
CBS, which bought CSTV, co-owns The Mtn. with Comcast.
   
"I think it continues to validate what we did was right," Thompson said. "I've said many times that the original contract called for 4 million homes in year five. With today's announcement, we have blown past that in light speed."
   
Thompson has been under fire almost from the moment The Mtn. premiered in September 2006. He admitted a feeling of vindication over Friday's announcement but added, "It's a case of too much credit, too much blame. This was a group effort. I'm very pleased and excited to continue and grow the partnership with Comcast, CBS and now with DirecTV."
   
Thompson said the next step in increasing television distribution will be to reach an agreement with the nation's other satellite provider.
   
"We're going to hit Dish Network hard next week," he said. "That's the next focus."
   
Krebs noted that the league still must find a way to get clearance for local broadcast rights for home games that aren't broadcast on Versus, CBS College Sports Net or the Mtn.
   
"This should really provide a big boost to the Mountain West Conference and to all of the athletic programs at the University of New Mexico," men's basketball coach Steve Alford said in a statement through UNM.
   
Football coach Rocky Long did not return phone calls seeking comment.