oz615 Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 CSTV has opnly been around 2 years, but it has quickly become one of the largest College Sports Television providers around. This year CSTV Football Nation was picked up on i (formerly PAX), and next year CSTV gains control of the Mountain West Conference sports package as a whole. Today CBS announced their intentions to purchase CSTV for $325 million when CBS and Viacom split later this year. What do you all think of this new development? Does this mean CSTV will finally be joining regular cable packages everywhere?http://www.streamingmedia.com/press/view.asp?id=3921CBS To Acquire CSTV: College Sports Television Networks CSTV.com network includes 250 college sports Web sites with full audio and video New York, NY (November 3, 2005) - CBS today announced the acquisition of CSTV Networks, Inc., the leading digital media company devoted exclusively to college athletics. The announcement was made by Leslie Moonves, Chairman of CBS and Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom Inc.CBS is acquiring CSTV Networks, Inc. for $325 million. The transaction is likely to close in early January 2006, after certain governmental approvals are obtained, and after the split of Viacom into two discrete entities, which is expected by the end of 2005. At that time, consideration for the transaction will be in CBS Corporation Class B non-voting common stock.The new cable programming entity will be operated by its founder and CEO, Brian Bedol, who will report to Moonves. The acquisition includes:-- A digital cable network featuring 30 men's and women's college sports events and nearly 15 million subscribers by year end and growing; license deals now include numerous sports agreements with colleges, universities and conferences across the nation;-- Online properties consisting of a network of more than 250 official college athletic websites -- each maintained and managed for its institution by CSTV -- featuring full video and audio, news, scores, community elements and e-commerce for retail college sports-related products;-- A fast-growing website, www.CSTV.com, that supports the cable networks and other online properties. In its most recent analysis, Comscore Media Metrix ranked the CSTV.com network as one of the top ten destinations with the greatest prior monthly increase in unique visitors during the month of September 2005, with a 43 percent increase from August, and more than 7.5 million unique visitors;-- Regional College Sports Networks to be launched in 2006, featuring the sporting events of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA, including Utah, Brigham Young University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Marshall and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no97 Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 For my purposes (college hockey), I think it stinks. CSTV will likely become CBS football and (more likely) basketball 24/7/365. The one thing CSTV has done to this point is give the non-traditional sports (like hockey, which is realy it's biggest live event, with a Friday night game-of-the-week package) a national stage. I think the CBS buy-out will kill that angle. I can only hope I'm wrong...Moose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Helix- Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 For my purposes (college hockey), I think it stinks. CSTV will likely become CBS football and (more likely) basketball 24/7/365. The one thing CSTV has done to this point is give the non-traditional sports (like hockey, which is realy it's biggest live event, with a Friday night game-of-the-week package) a national stage. I think the CBS buy-out will kill that angle. I can only hope I'm wrong...Moose Or maybe it'll go the other way and we'll see CBS treat hockey like the major sport it should be.I doubt it, but it's wishful thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsGoAdmirals Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 For my purposes (college hockey), I think it stinks. CSTV will likely become CBS football and (more likely) basketball 24/7/365. The one thing CSTV has done to this point is give the non-traditional sports (like hockey, which is realy it's biggest live event, with a Friday night game-of-the-week package) a national stage. I think the CBS buy-out will kill that angle. I can only hope I'm wrong...Moose I agree. I mean, it wouldn't affect me much as Badger hockey is on FSN most of the year, but I like seeing other games like UND/UNH and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no97 Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 For my purposes (college hockey), I think it stinks. CSTV will likely become CBS football and (more likely) basketball 24/7/365. The one thing CSTV has done to this point is give the non-traditional sports (like hockey, which is realy it's biggest live event, with a Friday night game-of-the-week package) a national stage. I think the CBS buy-out will kill that angle. I can only hope I'm wrong...Moose I agree. I mean, it wouldn't affect me much as Badger hockey is on FSN most of the year, but I like seeing other games like UND/UNH and so on. For a point of reference, check out the current CSTV Game of the Week schedule. Not bad for a second-tier sport like hockey on a national network (hell, they broadcast a game from Alaska-Fairbanks last weekend). I'll hold final judgement until CBS announces exactly what they intend to do with CSTV, but I'd be surprised if they treat NCAA hockey this well...Moose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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