Remember back in the day when the Bluejays were not on TV? A couple games every once in a while? The special 11PM start times (in the Wyoming/Creighton days) just so they could get on TV? Never ESPN channels on a regular basis? Well in the past 5-7 years, there have been more Jays games on TV with ESPN networks, Fox Sports Net, and local coverage by KMTV and NET. In fact, last season 22 regular season games and 25 games total were available on TV to the residents of Omaha. We are becoming spoiled and would love to have the Jays on the tube for every game, especially the away games that most are not able to attend. Now is the time to make sure you have these options for the upcoming season.
Well, today, New Mexico released their 2009-10 basketball schedule. As anticipated as part of the MVC/MWC Challenge, Creighton will visit The Pit and take on the Lobos on Saturday, December 19th. It also lists that the game will be televised….but on The Mtn.
The Mtn is a TV channel formed by the Mountain West Conference about 3 years ago after they decided not to re-sign contracts with ESPN to distribute their games in all their college sports. The channel was spin-off of the former College Sports TV (CSTV) and owned in part by Comcast, which owns the channel Versus. CSTV was purchased by CBS and is now known as CBS College Sports. All sports from the Mountain West Conference are not on any ESPN channels anymore, but distributed through Versus, CBS College Sports, and The Mtn.
The Mtn has suffered from distribution on Cable and Satellite carriers being limited. This past year DirecTV announced they would carry The Mtn. across all of their systems. In Omaha, Cox Communications is the major cable company. Though other Cox markets do carry The Mtn., Omaha currently does not.
This is where you, the fans, come into power. Cox Communications stresses that when it comes to new channels, they will look into channels when customers demand them. If they don’t get calls requesting a particular channel, they do not look into it — especially sports channels because they cost more than your standard Lifetime, Food Network, or QVC channels. If you want to see the Creighton-New Mexico game in the comfort of your home and you are a Cox cable subscriber, I suggest you call Cox Communications at 402-933-3000 and request The Mtn. be added to the system. Because it takes time to get channels added (I understand up to 6 months in some cases so they can get an agreement, make sure they have space on the system, and promote that is is coming), now is the time to call in and request it..