In another part of Dish’s big deal with Walt Disney that encompasses ABC, Disney and ESPN, it’s been announced that the satellite provider will pick up Longhorn Network, the ESPN owned-and-operated network devoted to University of Texas sports.
After launching it in 2011, the network struggled to gain pickups in the Lone Star State. It’s been slowly gaining momentum and in this new deal with Dish, ESPN says it more than doubles its subscriber base nationwide.
At the time, schools in the Big 12 Conference were worried about the impact of the Longhorn Network, but other members in the league quickly signed their distribution deals including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
Here’s the ESPN/Dish announcement.
DISH to Deliver Longhorn Network to Texas Fans Nationwide
ESPN and DISH (NASDAQ: DISH) have reached an agreement for DISH to carry Longhorn Network (LHN), the 24/7 channel devoted to the University of Texas, within the state of Texas and nationwide. The deal is part of a larger announcement made by DISH and the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).
The channel will be available to DISH customers in the America’s Top 120+ and higher packages nationwide later this summer. In addition, DISH customers who receive LHN as part of their satellite service will be able to enjoy the network’s exclusive live events and content on their computers and iOS devices – at home or on-the-go.
“DISH is the best place for college sports fans to follow the teams they love,” said Dave Shull, DISH executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “ESPN has a long tradition of delivering the best in sports, and we are proud to be the first nationwide television provider of the Longhorn Network.”
LHN launched in 2011 and televises more than 175 athletic events in 20 sports annually, as well as academic and cultural programming from in and around the greater Austin community. DISH customers have access to exclusive Longhorn games, Texas coaches’ shows, dedicated pre- and post-game football coverage, basketball and baseball games, nightly news/information programming, in-depth features and all-access content and programs covering the history and pride of Texas athletics.
“We are excited to have DISH join the growing list of LHN providers,” said University of Texas Men’s Athletics Director Steve Patterson. “UT fans nationwide will now have access to this award-winning network that does such a great job in covering our university’s sports and academics programs. As we have said from day one, this is a long-term commitment and we are very proud of our partnership with ESPN.”
“This agreement with DISH presents a tremendous opportunity to bring Longhorn Network’s robust content offerings to Texas fans across the country,” said ESPN’s Justin Connolly, senior vice president, college networks.
The deal between ESPN and DISH more than doubles LHN’s national distribution. Details on LHN’s channel number will be available on www.dish.com at a later date. Financial terms and other details of the agreement were not disclosed.
And that’s it.
