SportsCenterU finds itself on ESPN2!

Caught between the silliness and stubborness, ESPN is finding that it has to put more and more EPSNU content on ESPN2, because ESPNU has limited availability. And it's really sad because the people working at ESPNU are producing a lot of excellent content, like the "Inside the Polls" and "SportsCenterU".

So starting tonight, SportsCenterU, a version of Sportscenter for ESPNU, will be shown periodically on ESPN2, usually after college hoops games. Look for it tonight at 830pm pacific after the conclusion of West Virginia vs DePaul and the ensuing College Gamenight.

And speaking of TV, be sure to check the preview to the CIAA (division 2) conference tournament tomorrow (Thursday) at 930am pacific (1230pm eastern) on ESPN Classic. The tourney itself tips off later on Thursday. That's right, conference championships are upon us already! Hello March Madness!

For more TV listings be sure to check our February 2008 an March 2008 college hoops tv listings.

Rant: On Comcast, ESPN and ESPNU

This is something that is bothering sports fans who are Comcast susbcribers. ESPNU is not available on Comcast in any shape or form, even though they have hundreds of channels available, some having duplicate content even. So why not ESPNU?

Right now there appears to be a stalemate on ESPNU. Comcast wants to put it in the sports tier package ($5 per month extra (currently on sale for $3/month), while ESPN wants ESPNU to be available to all subscribers.

As you can see this is a petty difference where reasonable minds can find a reasonable compromise. Unfortunately stubborn mules are apparently handling this situation thus the stalemate :-)

In protest, ESPNU is not listed in this blog's TV listings until Comcast and ESPN come together and reach a compromise.

If you want ESPNU, call your local cable and satellite provider and demand ESPNU and tell them to stop the diva wars and reach a compromise. Also let ESPN know that you want them to do whatever it takes to reach a compromise and make ESPNU available one way or another on Comcast.

It's a shame that the ESPNU crew is working so hard to produce so many games, documentaries and in-studio programming that subscribers of one of the biggest cable providers cannot watch.

The case of Big Ten vs Comcast vs ESPNU

More on this saga: One of the industry publications (Multichannel News) has another story. Big Ten Commissioner James Delany tries to play hardball (without Chris Matthews) as he wants Big Ten fans to switch to DirecTV if Comcast does not carry the network on basic cable in the Big 10 markets. Comcast has one third (1/3) of cable subscribers in Big-10 country.

Basic cable you say? Yes. He cites Comcast's own (you knew there would be this type of problems once carriers became content providers at the same time) mtn being carried on basic cable in SLC (salt lake city). The mtn is the network of the Mountain West Conference, produced in association with CSTV (now a CBS company). As you may recall Comcast is having problems themselves getting competitive cable providers to make this channel widely available in Mountain West cities/states. Isn't that special?

Comcast does seem to have a relationship with Fox Sports which is a co-owner of the Big Ten Network. They are already carrying three Fox College Sports channels, Fox Soccer, the spanish version of Fox Sports, Speed, as well as FSN+ (overflow channels). At the risk of introducing common sense to this "unsolvable problem", Fox College Sports (along with other FSN channels) could easily carry live and tape-delayed events from the Big Ten Network (BTN) on their three Fox College Sports channels in markets where the BTN network is not yet available. This could be an interim measure until BTN manages to find its way on more and more cable providers line-ups.

Comcast wants to put this channel on digital cable, and not just that, but on the Sports Tier, a digital cable package that costs an additional $5 per month and includes the likes of CSTV, Fox College Sports (three channels), NBA-TV, NFL, Fox Soccer, Speed, Tennis, Gaming (horse racing and such), and such. This of course may vary from market to market. This is exactly where Comcast wants to put ESPNU. And this is what is causing ESPNU not be carried on Comcast because ESPN wants to make it widely available. Apparently all the suits at Comcast and ESPN are unable to come up with a compromise solution that would make ESPNU available to millions of fans. Common sense is apparently not a required skill for business executives these days.

Every 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament game on DVD!