No.

Comcast, the Mountain West Conference and the Mtn. television network say they aren’t asking fans to do their job.

They just want some help.

A panel of representatives of those organizations, as well as from CSTV and Versus, answered questions from the media on Monday afternoon at the MWC preseason meetings. What came out of the discussion was a variation of what MWC fans have been hearing since the beginning of the league’s deal with CSTV: Be patient. These things take time. We’re negotiating but it helps to put pressure on the satellite companies by fans calling and requesting the Mtn.

“We’re in daily communications with the satellite companies and other providers,” MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said. “We know we’re not where we want to be or where it’s acceptable.

“We’re still the first and only conference in the country with it’s own network. There’s no blueprint for doing this. It’s difficult but we’re encouraged with our negotiations.”

Thompson and the panel members all pointed out there has been growth. He said the league had 10 national telecasts two years ago; this season, there are 23 scheduled on CSTV and Versus, with an additional 30 telecasts on the Mtn. regionally distributed.

“We’re five weeks out from the start of the season,” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, only the cable providers make the decision to carry programming.”

That includes satellite giants Direct TV and the Dish Network, as well as others like Time Warner, Charter and Cox Cable around the country.

Tim Fitzpatrick, a Comcast representative, said he wouldn’t speak for the satellite companies or negotiate publicly, so the reasons behind the delay in a carriage agreement for the Mtn. Network remains a mystery.

“Launching a new network takes time,” Fitzpatrick said. “CSTV launched in 2003 in about two million homes. Now we’re in 22 million homes and available in 60 million. The formula for getting those things done is to have good content and to put constant pressure from people calling in to request the channel.”

Kevin O’Malley, a television consultant who was once the Senior Vice President of Programming at CBS Sports, said there are many examples of this process.

“ESPN struggled with distribution for seven years, until they ended up overpaying for the NFL,” he said. “ESPN2, with all of the clout of Disney behind them, struggled for nine years. Three other conferences that wanted to create their own channel looked at losing money for the first two seasons and waiting three years for distribution. The process takes time. It’s a cliché, but like many clichés, it’s one because it’s true.”

Thompson said the original business plan for the Mtn. has reached 25-30 percent of the distribution goals in less than a year, but that the league is not content with those numbers.

Bringing in the satellite companies, according to O’Malley, is top priority.

“Satellites can be the big key,” he said. “They can kind of wave their magic wand and put you in universal availability mode. I can tell you that the last several months, the negotiations have intensified.”

BYU will have all 12 of its games on the Mtn., CSTV or Versus. For Cougar fans who don’t have all three channels, there are two options: Make enough phone calls to satellite or cable providers to help get a deal done or find a nearby friend or relative who has the channel they are missing.

In other words, 2006 all over again.

∫ Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Read his blog at blogs.heraldextra.com/Darnell.