ESPNU
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| Type | cable television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National, through regional affiliates |
| Owner | ESPN Inc. (The Walt Disney Company) |
| Launch date | March 4, 2005 |
| Website | ESPNU official website |
ESPNU is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced by, affiliated with and owned by parent network ESPN. ESPNU originates out of ESPN Regional Television's Charlotte, North Carolina offices. The Vice-President and General Manager of ESPNU is Burke Mangus.
The network was launched on March 4, 2005 from the site of Gallagher-Iba Arena on the Oklahoma State University Campus in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The network's first live event was a semi-final game of the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball touranment that saw Southeast Missouri State University fall to Eastern Kentucky University. The network was launched as a response to upstart rival College Sports TV (CSTV), which has since been purchased by CBS Corporation. ESPN was also being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department due to "warehousing" of college games from certain conferences, or signing a deal with a conference for all their games, but only televising a small number and not allowing the conference to make other arrangements for TV broadcasts.1
ESPN and XOS Technologies signed a partnership for college athletics websites to compete directly with College Sports TV's growing internet presence. On August 28, 2006, ESPNU plans to launch a new SportsCenter spin-off dealing entirely with college sports. That show will broadcast from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut and be called SportsCenterU. No anchors have been announced, but Mike Hall, its current lead anchor, is expected to remain on staff in some capacity. Also, on August 28, 2006, ESPNU premiered ESPNU.com. The website will include Live streaming college sports events, multi-media player dedicated to college sports, podcasts and ESPN Motion clips of studio programming from the ESPNU television network.
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[edit] Availability
[edit] On providers
- Both DBS services in the United States, DirecTV and Dish Network, carry ESPNU.
- One Cox Communications system (Phoenix, Arizona) recently began carrying it. [1]
[edit] Controversy
ESPN has been choosing to air important games (such as # 2 Michigan's game against Ball State) on ESPNU as a way to try to force multichannel video providers to carry it, but at a deal better for Disney/ESPN. For most cable companies, ESPNU is only being offered as part of a premium package of channels, rather than on basic cable. The same strategy is being used for ESPN360, a broadband IPTV service. As a result of this many fans are missing live games that would have otherwise been available. It should be noted Disney used the same practice ten years ago when it launched ESPN2. [2]
[edit] Programs
[edit] Current
[edit] Studio
- ESPNU Bracketology (2006-present)
- ESPNU Coaches Spotlight (2006-present)
- ESPNU Inside the Polls (2005-present)
- ESPNU Recruiting Insider (2006-present)
- Insdie the Big East (2006-present)
- SportsCenterU (2006-present)
[edit] Game Telecasts
- ESPN Full Circle (2006-present)
- ESPNU College Baseball (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Basketball (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Football (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Football Primetime (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Hockey (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Lacrosee (2005-present)
- ESPNU College Softball (2005-present)
- High School Showcase (2005-present)
[edit] Other
- Faces of Sports (2005-present)
- Honor Roll (2005-present)
- Summer House (2006-present)
[edit] Former
- The U (2005-2006)
[edit] See Also
[edit] Reference
1USA Today, Apr. 8, 2005, page 1C
[edit] External links
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