By Jay Jones, August 22, 2008

Where can I find my Ducks on TV?

Ever since the relationship between the University of Oregon and Chambers/KEZI 9 fell apart in late July, that’s the question Duck fans have been asking themselves, getting few answers.

Earlier this week, University of Oregon Senior Associate Athletic Director Joe Giansante offered to answer just about any, and all, questions regarding the Ducks’ broadcast status, exclusively for Duck Sports News.

Over the course of Thursday and Friday this week, Duck Sports News solicited questions from Duck fans, and visitors to DSN, for Joe to answer.

Thank you for all the great questions. In an effort to distill the issues and questions surrounding such a complex issue as broadcast rights, I parsed down the list of questions to the most relevant questions, looking for bottom-line answers from Joe.

And Duck Sports News would also like to thank Joe for taking the time to answer these questions.

Much like RadioShack, Duck fans have questions and Duck Sports News gets answers.

Here’s our Q&A with Joe:

Will everyone who was able to view OSN programming last year be able to view that programming this year?

JG: That is unknown at this point depending on who the over-the-air carriers of the programming are. Different stations have different footprints. I can tell you that it is very likely that hundreds of thousands of fans who used to not be able to see anything at all will be able to view a huge amount of programming. (Seattle (48,000 alums), Spokane, and soon nationally on satellite providers. Any new deal will greatly enhance the national presence of Oregon sports, and will give Oregon the largest college sports footprint in the nation by far. The net result will be hundreds of thousands of more people seeing the programming, and we hope a greater expansion of the footprint in Oregon.

What games will be on OSN affiliates?

JG: Utah State and Boise State will be on OSN affiliates. It looks like the game at Washington State is also available and can be selected to compete against FSNNW’s presentation, which we will likely do. The Stanford game is the only other possibility, and if it does not get picked up by fox or ABC or FSN, it is likely OSN will televise that one too.

What are the OSN broadcast affiliates?

JG: Still being negotiated. You might have read that Chambers broke off ongoing negotiations to carry the live games this year, and had previously refused to carry the coaches shows in a decision that was made about 4 months ago. I have been told by IMG that one of the major sticking points was that Chambers wanted the Oregon Football Replays to be free of charge for them, while still getting to sell half of the commercials. IMG places value on replays (which Oregon is the only team in the Pac-10 to produce them) and the rights to carry a football game are not free.

Where will the coaches’ shows be broadcast?

JG: See above… We are also trying to produce a better show with greatly enhanced access, while reducing the coaches time commitment while he’s trying to recruit football players. It looks like Sunday night at 6:pm, followed by a live show at 6:30, followed by the replay at 7, followed by the re-air of the 6 and 6:30 shows at 10 is what the entire programming block will look like.

Where will game replays be broadcast?

JG: Again, I hope the previous two answers covered this…

Where will special OSN programming be broadcast?

JG: See above. Part of the deal OSN is putting together includes more coaches shows, specials, highlight video’s, basketball games, track and field, and 15 baseball games this year. It also includes new productions for on-line, mobile, and in stadium replay boards for football, track and baseball.

Is there going to be a football pre-season special this year?

JG: There will likely be a few of them.. I know KVAL is working on one.

Why did the relationship between Chambers/KEZI 9 and the University of Oregon come to an end?

JG: See above. There were some serious errors in the reporting of this story. For example, based on the previous OSN agreement, the rights fees being paid for all of Eugene, Medford, Bend totaled in the 300k range (not the $1 million that was reported).

Each entity, IMG and Chambers, have different business models. It is much cheaper for IMG to produce programming than it would appear to be for Chambers, who I assume is in business to make a profit on production and it would seem must apply a mark-up percentage to be profitable.

The current negotiation, if finalized, just in Portland will result in an amount 50 times more than what Chambers paid the UO for Portland. As we indicated in the newspaper story, we wish Chambers nothing but the best in the future, including in their new agreement to provide production services for Oregon State.

Who will be producing OSN’s programming?

JG: OSN – they have been producing live Oregon sports for 20 years.

Does OSN have a deal in place with Comcast and Comcast SportsNet?

JG: No, but talks are ongoing and have been productive.

Does OSN still have its relationship with ESPN Gameplan?

JG: Yes, live games should be available on ESPN Gameplan.

Will OSN be on over-the-air broadcast channels or on cable? Or both?

JG: Depends where you live. In Portland they will likely not be over the air, although negotiations are ongoing, just as last year, although we forecast that through near future deals the programming will be available to 83 percent of the Portland market, with the only people not able to see it being the ones that have no cable or satellite.

Is Comcast going to have deals in place with the satellite companies before the season starts?

JG: Don’t have the answer to that, but if they did this all gets a lot easier. It you are worried about it, don’t hesitate to call your satellite provider.

Will OSN programming be available on the Dish Network?

JG: See above. We are optimistic.

Will OSN programming be available on DirectTV?

JG: Same as previous.

Will OSN programming be available on Charter Communications?

JG: Being negotiated. I would hope that high demand and competitive forces will drive that question to the affirmative.

If OSN programming is available on Comcast, will Comcast subscribers in markets outside of Oregon have access to that programming?

JG: Yes, throughout the northwest. If programming is on Comcast SportsNet, and on satellite providers nationwide once Comcast SportsNet is on DirecTV and Dish. However, these deals are not in place as I write this.

How many games will be available on Comcast?

JG: Any and all that are not selected by the conference agreements (FOX and ABC/ESPN) and that we are allowed to televise, IF an agreement is reached.

Will OSN be producing games not picked up by other carriers, or will IMG do any producing of live games? If so, will those games be available nationally through satellite?

JG: OSN/IMG is one in the same.

Will OSN programming be on an over-the-air broadcast channel in Central Oregon? Eastern Oregon? Southern Oregon? Coastal areas?

JG: Southern Oregon is possible, but more likely on cable and satellite in the other three. It is likely a supply/demand issue that will be negotiated by rights holders.

Will OSN programming be available sooner on GoDucks.com than it has in the past?

JG: Yes…Goducks.com will soon launch a new OSN Online…and OSN Mobile service much like you see with NBCOlympics.com.

Will Portland’s CW channel be an OSN affiliate?

JG: Ongoing negotiations.

If OSN partners with Comcast, is the future of Comcast SportsNet secure?

JG: Great question…Yes…much more so than any other regional sports network and they are growing by leaps and bounds, and they have excellent, accomplished , top notch leadership, and people who really understand this business. The parent company of Comcast SportsNet now is also the parent company of FSN regionals. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Fox Sports Net Bay Area recently was eaten up by Comcast Sports Net Bay Area, where you can now see Giants and A’s games. There is a great lesson here. Imagine a scenario where all of the current programming FSNNW has goes to Comcast SportsNet…Would it be better to be first… or last in that scenario?

What’s the bottom-line for Duck fans in terms of whatever broadcast deals are made?

JG: Tough question because it will be different for people depending if they live in Seattle or Chicago or Gold Beach. That being said, the department completely understands who gets what, where, and our goal is to have as many duck fans as possible see as much programming as possible… and that the world is getting smaller, meaning our reach needs to expand to people who are as passionate about Oregon as you and I are who are sitting in Clearwater, Florida… or wherever…(not to mention reaching all of those students around the country who may want to attend our institution). It is important to remember we are discussing programming that very few, if any colleges provide. Oregon is the only school in the Pac-10 to have a traditional coaches show, the only one to have a basketball coaches show, a women’s basketball coaches show, game replays, etc.

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