Big 12 Network
Type | Live Syndicated college sports programming service |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Availability | Mainly in central portions of the United States |
Owner |
ESPN, Inc. (ESPN Events) |
Launch date |
1996 (under ESPN Plus branding) September 6, 2008 (under the Big 12 Network branding) [1] |
Dissolved | March 15, 2014 [2] |
Picture format |
1080i 16:9 HDTV (since 2008) 480i 4:3 SDTV widescreen (1996-2008; 1996-2010 on some affiliates) |
Official website | Big 12 Website |
The Big 12 Network (stylized as the Big XII Network) was a syndicated package featuring live broadcasts of College basketball events from the Big 12 Conference that was broadcast under that branding from 2008 until 2014. It was owned and operated by ESPN Plus, the syndication arm of ESPN, Inc., and was mainly shown in areas in the Big 12’s geographical footprint, along with other areas of the United States. Games were shown locally on broadcast stations, regional sports networks, as well as on ESPN Full Court, and WatchESPN.
History
The Creative Sports/OCC merger and the ESPN Plus years
Beginning in 1996 after ESPN’s consolidation of Creative Sports (which ESPN owned since 1994 [3]) and OCC Sports (acquired from Ohlmeyer Communications Corporation), ESPN Plus (also known as ESPN Regional Television) assumed syndication rights to Big 12 Conference men’s basketball games after the Big 8 Conference and the Southwest Conference merged to create the Big 12. Raycom Sports previously had syndication rights to basketball and football games of both those conferences from the 1980s until that syndicator lost the Big 8 in 1993-94, and the Southwest Conference merged with the Big 8 to become the Big 12 Conference in 1996.[4][5][6]
The new branding
Starting with the 2008-2009 season, all Big 12 Conference basketball game broadcasts from ESPN Plus began to be broadcast under the Big 12 Network branding.[1]
Demise
After the first 18 years of the conference’s existence, the Big 12 Network ceased operations in 2014 as all rights to Big 12 Basketball moved to the ESPN family of networks (e.g. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews).[2] [7] Several Big 12 basketball games also moved to the Texas Longhorns-oriented Longhorn Network, which is a joint venture between ESPN and the University of Texas at Austin that launched in August 2011. However, CBS Sports does choose to broadcast at least two to three Big 12 games under their NCAA on CBS branding.
On-air personalities
College basketball
- Dave Armstrong - play-by-play commentator (2010-2013)
- Reid Gettys - color commentator (2010-2013)
- Mitch Holthus - play-by-play commentator (2010-2013)
- Bryndon Manzer – Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2013)
- Chris Piper – Big 12 Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013)
- Brad Sham – Big 12 Conference play-by-play (2010–2013)
- Jon Sundvold – Big 12 Conference color commentator (2010–2012)
- Rich Zvosec – Big 12 Conference sideline reporter (2012–2013)
Availability
The Big 12 Network was available mainly in areas of the central United States, including much of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and western Arkansas. Other areas served by the Big 12 Network included parts of West Virginia, north-central and east-central Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and southern Pennsylvania, especially during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 season. This was true because in 2012, Texas Christian University joined the Big 12 from the Mountain West Conference, and West Virginia University joined the Big 12 from the original Big East Conference. In spite of the University of Missouri (along with Texas A&M University) leaving the Big 12 to join the basketball-powerful Southeastern Conference in 2012, some stations in Missouri, especially in the Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, and Joplin markets, either kept the local rights to the Big 12 Network or lost them to another station in their home market.
In addition to the listed areas above, three independent stations in California also carried the syndication package. Throughout the 2008-2014 branding period, some Big 12 Network stations also broadcast football games from sister syndicator SEC TV, which provided Southeastern Conference football games to certain stations, most notably including KTXA/Dallas, Texas and KDOC-TV/Los Angeles, California, although KDOC also broadcast SEC TV basketball games on a limited schedule. This was especially true to some former Big 12 Network partners that switched to or altered to and from SEC TV broadcasts.
Broadcast affiliates
The following over-the-air broadcast stations broadcast the Big 12 Network:[8][9][10]
Arkansas
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Fort Smith/Fayetteville | KFTA-TV | Fox | |
KNWA-DT2 | In-market repeater of KFTA-TV | ||
Little Rock | KASN | The CW | affiliate until 2012 |
KARZ | MyNetworkTV | Affiliate from 2012 to 2014 | |
California
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles | KDOC-TV | Independent | Affiliated 2011-2014 [11][12] |
San Diego | KUSI-TV [11] | Big 12 Network was aired on a limited schedule on KUSI due to SEC TV partnership; This station also serves Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico | |
San Francisco/Oakland | KOFY | ||
Idaho
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Boise | KTRV-TV | MyNetworkTV | Affiliate from 2013-2014 |
Illinois
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Chicago | WLS-DT2 | Live Well Network | Ran Big 12 Network programming until 2012 |
Peoris/Bloomington | WAOE | MyNetworkTV | |
Rockford | WTVO WTVO-DT2 |
ABC MyNetworkTV |
Affiliation shared between two of WTVO’s main channel and DT2 subchannel |
Indiana
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Evansville | WTVW | Fox (until 2011) Independent |
Now an affiliate of The CW since 2013 |
Indianapolis | WHMB-TV | LeSEA | Became an affiliate in 2013 |
WHMB-DT2 [13] | World Harvest Television | Alternate affiliate in 2013-2014 | |
WRTV-DT2 | Hometown Sports Indiana | ||
WTTV [14] | The WB (now The CW) | Affiliate until 2008; became a CBS affiliate in 2015 Licensed to Bloomington, Indiana | |
Kokomo | WTTK | Full-time satellite of WTTV/Bloomington; became a CBS affiliate | |
Iowa
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Cedar Rapids | KFXA | Fox | |
Davenport | WQAD-TV | ABC | Licensed to Moline, Illinois |
Des Moines | WOI-DT | ABC | Acquired from WHO-TV in 2008 |
WOI-DT2 | Live Well Network | Now defunct as of 2015 | |
Ottumwa | KYOU-TV | FOX | |
Sioux City | KPTH-DT2 | MyNetworkTV/This TV | |
Kansas
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Dodge City | KSAS-LP | Fox | Satellite of KSAS-TV/Wichita as part of the region-wide network, “Fox Kansas” |
Garden City | KAAS-LP | ||
Great Bend | KOCW | ||
Salina | KAAS-TV | ||
Topeka | KTMJ-CD | Relays signal to translators KMJT-LP/Ogden, KETM-LP/Emporia, and KTLJ-CD/Junction City | |
Wichita | KSAS-TV | Flagship station of the Fox Kansas regional network | |
Kentucky
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Campbellsville (Louisville) | WBKI-TV | The CW | Affiliate 2012-2014 [11][15] OTA signal also serves portions of the Bowling Green market by default, and also reaches parts of the Lexington market |
Lexington | WTVQ-DT2 | MyNetworkTV | Affiliate 2012-2014 [15] |
Louisville | WMYO-DT3 | The CW | Simulcast of WBKI-TV/Campbellsville since 2012 |
Paducah | WDKA | MyNetworkTV | Simulcast on KBSI-DT2/Cape Girardeau, Missouri; both KBSI and WDKA shared Big 12 Network affiliation until 2012 |
Michigan
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Lansing | WHTV | MyNetworkTV | Big 12 Network partner 2012-2014; licensed to Jackson, Michigan [11] |
Mississippi
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Meridian | WTOK-TV WTOK-DT2 |
ABC MyNetworkTV |
Affiliate 2011-2014 [11] |
Missouri
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Cape Girardeau | KBSI | Fox | Alternating affiliation with MyNetworkTV outlet WDKA/Paducah, KY until 2012 |
Columbia-Jefferson City | KMIZ-TV | ABC | Primary affiliate in Columbia until 2012 |
KZOU-LP | MyNetworkTV | Alternate affiliate in Columbia until 2012 | |
KQFX-LD | Fox | ||
Joplin, MO-Pittsburg, KS | KFJX | Fox | |
Kansas City, MO-KS | KSHB-TV | NBC | |
KMCI-TV | Independent | Alternate affiliate in the Kansas City DMA | |
Springfield | KYTV | NBC | |
K15CZ | The CW | Full-power simulcast on KSPR-DT2 | |
St. Louis | KTVI-DT2 | Antenna TV | Was a This TV affiliate when KTVI-DT2 first affiliated with the Big 12 Network |
Nebraska
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Lincoln | KLKN | ABC | Affiliate until 2012 |
Omaha | KXVO | The CW | |
KPTM-DT2 | MyNetworkTV / This TV | Alternate affiliate | |
Ohio
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Toledo, Ohio | WMNT-CD | MyNetworkTV | |
Youngstown | WYFX-LD | Fox | Affiliate from 2012 to 2014 |
WKBN-TV | CBS |
Oklahoma
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma City | KAUT-TV | MyNetworkTV until 2012 | Now an independent station |
KOCB | The CW | Alternate affiliate for the OKC market | |
Tulsa | KMYT-TV | MyNetworkTV | |
Pennsylvania
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Pittsburgh | WPXI-TV | The CW | Affiliate from 2012 until 2014 |
State College-Altoona | WHVL-LP | MyNetworkTV | Big 12 Net. Affiliate 2012-2014 |
Puerto Rico
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Ponce | WTIN-TV | Independent | Satellite of WAPA-TV/San Juan; also ran some SEC TV content |
San Juan | WAPA-TV | Available in the mainland United States via DirecTV | |
Mayagüez | WNJX-TV | Satellite of WAPA-TV/San Juan; also ran some SEC TV content | |
Texas
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Abilene | KIDZ-LD | MyNetworkTV | |
Amarillo | KCIT | Fox | |
KCPN-LP | MyNetworkTV | Alternate affiliate; simulcast on full-powered KAMR-DT2 | |
Austin | KBVO-TV | MyNetworkTV | |
KBVO-CD | Low-powered translator of KBVO-DT | ||
Beaumont-Port Arthur | KBMT | ABC | |
KBMT-DT2 | NBC | Branded as KJAC | |
KUIL-LD | MyNetworkTV | Full-power simulcast on KBMT-DT5 | |
Bryan-College Station | KBTX-TV | CBS | Big 12 Network partner until 2012; semi-satellite of KWTX-TV/Waco |
Dallas-Fort Worth | KTXA | Independent | This station also broadcast football games from Big 12 Net’s sister service, SEC TV; now broadcasts Atlantic Coast Conference sports programming from Raycom Sports-operated ACC Network |
Houston | KUBE | ||
Lubbock | KMYL-LD | MyNetworkTV | Now a satellite of KUPT/Hobbs, New Mexico |
Odessa-Midland | KOSA-DT2 | MyNetworkTV | |
San Angelo | KIDY-DT2 | ||
San Antonio | KCWX | ||
Sherman, Texas-Ada, OK | KXII-DT2 | ||
Tyler | KTPN-LD | ||
Longview (Tyler) | KLPN-LD | Satellite of KTPN-LD/Tyler, Texas | |
Waco-Temple-Bryan | KCEN-TV | NBC | affiliated from 2013 until 2014 |
KCEN-DT2 | Azteca America | Alternate Big 12 Network partner 2012-14; Now a Cozi TV affiliate | |
KWTX-TV | CBS | Original affiliate until 2012 | |
West Virginia
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Bluefield, WVA-VA | WOAY-TV | ABC | |
Charleston-Huntington | WQCW-TV | The CW | Big 12 Net. Affiliate 2012-2014 |
Clarksburg | WVFX | FOX | |
Parkersburg, WVA-Merietta, OH | WTAP-TV | NBC | Affiliate 2013-2014 |
WTAP-DT3 | MyNetworkTV | Affiliate of Big 12 Net (2012) Now defunct | |
WIYE-LD [11] | MyNetworkTV | Affiliate of Big 12 Net in 2013 and 2014 | |
Wheeling, WVA-Steubenville | WTOV-TV | NBC | |
WTOV-DT2 [16] | Me-TV | Alternate Big 12 Network partner; now a Fox affiliate | |
Wisconsin
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
La Crosse-Eau Claire | KQEG-CA | ION Television/AMGTV | [11] |
Milwaukee | WMLW-TV | Independent | Affiliated 2012-2014 [11][12] |
Wyoming
DMA | Station | Main affiliation (at time of Big 12 Network partnership) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Cheyenne | KGWN-TV | CBS | |
Laramie | K19FX-D | Translator of KGWN-TV/Cheyenne | |
Online platforms and Regional sports networks
See also
- ESPN Events - previously known as ESPN Plus, and ESPN Regional Television (ERT)
- SEC TV - the ESPN Plus-operated syndication service of Southeastern Conference basketball and football
- SEC Network - the cable-exclusive SEC-dedicated network that launched in 2014
- Raycom Sports - the previous syndicator of Big 8, SWC, and SEC sporting events
- ACC Network - Raycom Sports’ syndicated programming service that provides Atlantic Coast Conference basketball and football events
- American Sports Network - new syndicated programming service of Sinclair Broadcasting Group with syndication rights to Conference USA
References
- 1 2 "Big 12 Men's Basketball Television Frequently Asked Questions". Big 12 Conference.
- 1 2 “Big 12 Network syndication coverage concludes after tournament semifinals”. Clones Confidential (Fan site of the Iowa State Cyclones), March 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ↑ ESPN.com - TV LISTINGS - What is ESPN Regional TV?
- ↑ Company History - Raycom Sports
- ↑ Raycom Sports - Big Eight Conference Syndication Package - Promotional Brochures (1990-1996)
- ↑ Raycom Sports - Southwest Conference Syndication Package - Promotional Brochures (1991-1996)
- ↑ “Big 12 Network to Tune Out After Conference Tournament”. Kansas City Star (March 12, 2014).
- ↑ Big 12 Network Station List (2008-2009). University of Kansas Athletic Department.
- ↑ “2013-2014 Big 12 Network Television Package”. Big 12 Network.
- ↑ Big 12 Network Affiliates - SportsLine.com
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 February 27, 2014 Host - 2014 NCAA Men s Final Four. Big 12 Conference, February 27, 2014.
- 1 2 “Big 12 Network listings for Oklahoma at Baylor (Feb. 25, 2014)”. Baylor Bears. February 22, 2014.
- ↑ 2014 BIG 12 NETWORK BASKETBALL - Clearances for Texas Tech @ Kansas State. Big 12 Conference. January 2014.
- 1 2 "2007-2008 Big 12/ESPN Plus Station List - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- 1 2 Big 12 Network Latest Clearances (2013-2014 season). ESPN Events. January, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ↑ “Texas Tech-West Virginia Game Moved to Big 12 Network, ESPN3”. Texas Tech University Athletics Department (January 2, 2014).