Big 12 Network Explained

Network Name:	Big 12 Network Big XII Network
Country:	United States
Type:	Live Syndicated college sports programming service
Available:	Mainly in central portions of the United States
Owner:	ESPN, Inc.
Launch Date:	1996 (under the Big 12 Network branding) ^[1]
Dissolved:	^[2]
Picture Format:	1080i HDTV (since 2008) 480i SDTV widescreen (1996–2008; 1996–2010 on some affiliates)
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 Communication Company), 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.^[7]

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).^{[8] [9]} 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:^{[10] [11] [12]}

Arkansas

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
			In-market repeater of KFTA-TV
Little Rock			affiliate until 2012
		MyNetworkTV	Affiliate from 2012 to 2014

California

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		Independent	Affiliated 2011–2014 ^[13] ^[14]
	KUSI-TV		Big 12 Network was aired on a limited schedule on KUSI due to SEC TV partnership; This station also serves Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Illinois

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		Live Well Network	Ran Big 12 Network programming until 2012
	WTVO WTVO-DT2	ABC MyNetworkTV	Affiliation shared between two of WTVO’s main channel and DT2 subchannel

Indiana

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		Fox (until 2011) Independent	Now an affiliate of The CW since 2013
		LeSEA	Became an affiliate in 2013
	WHMB-DT2 ^[15]		Alternate affiliate in 2013–2014
	WRTV-DT2
	WTTV^[16]	The WB (now The CW)
	WTTK		Full-time satellite of WTTV/Bloomington; became a CBS affiliate

Iowa

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		Fox
		ABC
			Acquired from WHO-TV in 2008
	WOI-DT2		(now with Laff)
Ottumwa		FOX
	KPTH-DT2

Kansas

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
	KSAS-LP	Fox	Satellite of KSAS-TV/Wichita as part of the region-wide network, “Fox Kansas”
Garden City	KAAS-LP
	KOCW
	KAAS-TV
	KTMJ-CD
			Flagship station of the Fox Kansas regional network

Kentucky

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
Campbellsville (Louisville)		The CW	Affiliate 2012–2014 ^[17] OTA signal also serves portions of the Bowling Green market by default, and also reaches parts of the Lexington market
		MyNetworkTV	Affiliate 2012–2014
Louisville		The CW	Simulcast of WBKI-TV/Campbellsville since 2012
		MyNetworkTV	Simulcast on KBSI-DT2/Cape Girardeau, Missouri; both KBSI and WDKA shared Big 12 Network affiliation until 2012

Missouri

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		Fox	Alternating affiliation with MyNetworkTV outlet WDKA/Paducah, KY until 2012
		ABC	Primary affiliate in Columbia until 2012
	KZOU-LP	MyNetworkTV	Alternate affiliate in Columbia until 2012
		Fox
		Fox
		NBC
		Independent	Alternate affiliate in the Kansas City DMA
		NBC
		The CW
	KTVI-DT2		Was a This TV affiliate when KTVI-DT2 first affiliated with the Big 12 Network

Nebraska

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		ABC	Affiliate until 2012
		The CW
	KPTM-DT2	MyNetworkTV / This TV	Alternate affiliate

Ohio

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		MyNetworkTV
		Fox	Affiliate from 2012 to 2014
		CBS

Oklahoma

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		MyNetworkTV until 2012	Now an independent station
		The CW	Alternate affiliate for the OKC market
		MyNetworkTV

Pennsylvania

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		NBC	Affiliate 2012–2014
	WHVL-LP	MyNetworkTV	Affiliate 2012–2014

Puerto Rico

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
	WTIN-TV	Independent	Satellite of WAPA-TV/San Juan; also ran some SEC TV content
Mayagüez	WNJX-TV		Satellite of WAPA-TV/San Juan; also ran some SEC TV content

Texas

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		MyNetworkTV
		Fox
		MyNetworkTV
Austin		MyNetworkTV
			Low-powered translator of KBVO-DT
		ABC
		NBC	Branded as KJAC
	KUIL-LD	MyNetworkTV	Full-power simulcast on KBMT-DT5
Bryan-College Station		CBS	Big 12 Network partner until 2012; semi-satellite of KWTX-TV/Waco
		Independent
		MyNetworkTV
Odessa-Midland		MyNetworkTV
	KIDY-DT2
Tyler	KTPN-LD
Longview (Tyler)	KLPN-LD		Satellite of KTPN-LD/Tyler, Texas
Waco-Temple-Bryan		NBC	affiliated from 2013 until 2014
	KCEN-DT2	Azteca America	Alternate Big 12 Network partner 2012–14; Now a Cozi TV affiliate
		CBS	Original affiliate until 2012

West Virginia

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
Bluefield, WVA-VA		ABC
		The CW	Big 12 Net. Affiliate 2012–2014
		FOX
		NBC	Affiliate 2013–2014
		MyNetworkTV	Affiliate of Big 12 Net (2012) Now defunct
	WIYE-LD	MyNetworkTV	Affiliate of Big 12 Net in 2013 and 2014
	WTOV-TV	NBC
	WTOV-DT2^[18]	Me-TV	Alternate Big 12 Network partner; now a Fox affiliate

Wisconsin

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		ION Television/AMGTV
		Independent	Affiliated 2012–2014

Wyoming

DMA	Station	Main affiliation	Notes
		CBS
	K19FX-D		Translator of KGWN-TV/Cheyenne

Online platforms and Regional sports networks

Channel	Main affiliation	Service area via cable	Notes
	Independent
	Independent	Varied areas (mainly within Cox Communications service areas)
MC22	Independent	Varied areas (mainly within Mediacom service areas)
MASN2			Altetnate MASN feed
	Independent		Available nationwide via Dish Network and DirecTV
Altitude 2			Alternate outlet of Altitude
ESPN3		USA Nationwide (Cable and satellite subscribers only)
Pittsburgh Cable News Channel	Independent
	Independent	Milwaukee and surrounding areas; Green Bay (northeast Wisconsin)
AFN Sports

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

External links

• Big 12 Conference
• ESPN
• Longhorn Network

Notes and References

1. http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1523043 "Big 12 Men's Basketball Television Frequently Asked Questions"
2. http://clonesconfidential.com/2014/03/15/big-12-network-syndication-coverage-concludes-tournament-semifinals/ “Big 12 Network syndication coverage concludes after tournament semifinals”
3. https://www.espn.com/tvlistings/networks/espnregional.html ESPN.com – TV LISTINGS – What is ESPN Regional TV?
4. http://raycomsports.com/expanded-company-history/ Company History – Raycom Sports
5. http://raycomsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Big8slick.pdf Raycom Sports – Big Eight Conference Syndication Package – Promotional Brochures (1990–1996)
6. https://web.archive.org/web/20141009201331/http://raycomsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SWCslicks.pdf Raycom Sports – Southwest Conference Syndication Package – Promotional Brochures (1991–1996)
7. http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1523043 "Big 12 Men's Basketball Television Frequently Asked Questions"
8. http://clonesconfidential.com/2014/03/15/big-12-network-syndication-coverage-concludes-tournament-semifinals/ “Big 12 Network syndication coverage concludes after tournament semifinals”
9. http://www.kansascity.com/2014/03/12/4885090/big-12-network-to-tune-out-after.html “Big 12 Network to Tune Out After Conference Tournament”
10. http://www2.kusports.com/news/sports/big_12_network_tv Big 12 Network Station List (2008–2009)
11. http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=1523659 “2013–2014 Big 12 Network Television Package”
12. Web site: Big 12 Network Affiliates – SportsLine.com . 2016-02-13 . 2014-02-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140208022344/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ksu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/Big12Network.pdf . dead .
13. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/bay/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/Big12NetworkListings030114.pdf February 27, 2014 Host – 2014 NCAA Men s Final Four
14. http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010412aad.html “Big 12 Network listings for Oklahoma at Baylor (Feb. 25, 2014)”
15. http://mattsarzsports.com/Coveragenotes/Basketball201314/Big12NetWk13.pdf 2014 BIG 12 NETWORK BASKETBALL – Clearances for Texas Tech @ Kansas State
16. Web site: 2007–2008 Big 12/ESPN Plus Station List – Big 12 Conference – Official Athletic Site. Big 12 Conference. November 14, 2015.
17. http://mattsarzsports.com/coveragenotes/Basketball201314/Big12NetWk9.pdf Big 12 Network Latest Clearances
18. http://www.texastech.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010214aaa.html “Texas Tech-West Virginia Game Moved to Big 12 Network, ESPN3”