Ventura County Star, Calif., Jim Carlisle column
Sep 27, 2012 (Menafn - Ventura County Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Never has a party had so many invitations sent and wound up being so exclusive.
Time Warner Cable SportsNet launches at 7 p.m. Monday, with its first Lakers preseason game scheduled for Oct. 7 and its first regular-season game Oct. 31. But as things stand now, unless you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber, you won't see any of it.
The new network -- and its Spanish counterpart, Time Warner Cable Deportes -- will televise 70 of the Lakers' 82 games this season. But the only TV provider Time Warner has signed up to carry the channels so far is itself.
That has many Lakers fans on pins and needles about being able to watch their favorite team, just as it has added Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
It's a strange situation for Time Warner, which is usually on the receiving end of pitches to carry new channels. It's also not generally in the business of running its own networks, but did so in this situation to eliminate the middleman.
What is also unusual is how in less than two months, Time Warner has become the TV provider to go to for sports. Once, any time a new sports network was launched, DirecTV would put it on immediately and Time Warner would be leery about adding anything for which customers would eventually have to pay higher prices. Now it's the other way around.
Not only has TWC cornered the Lakers (and hopes to do the same with the Dodgers next year), it is one of the few companies to carry the 6-week-old Pac-12 Networks and -- after a bitter, nine-year dispute -- agreed last week to add NFL Network to its lineup.
It has also recently made CBS Sports Network more available, putting it on its Variety Tier as well as its Sports Pass tier. That was likely a tradeoff for CBS allowing SportsNet to show some San Diego State, Fresno State and UNLV games to which it had rights.
For now, Time Warner is still shopping its networks around to other providers as the Lakers season looms. The carriers are hesitant.
First of all, it's a lot of money. TWC is said to be charging 3.95 per subscriber per month to take it. Second, the companies who decide to take it are likely to wait until just before the season starts to do so. Why sign up on Oct. 1 and pay for an extra month when real games won't be on the air until Oct. 31?
But let's pretend for a moment that you will eventually be able to get Time Warner Cable SportsNet. What's going to be on it?
A whole lot of Lakers. They could've called this channel LakersNet and nobody would've blinked. While the Galaxy and Sparks will also be on SportsNet, the Lakers rule this network.
"These are brand new (networks) with more hours of programming, greater depth and access, and in two languages," said Mark Shuken, SportsNet's executive vice president and general manager. "So we want to really emphasize that Southern California sports fans really will be experiencing something they've never received before."
"Access SportsNet" (ironically named given how few viewers might get to see it) will be the network's signature show, airing at 7 and 10 p.m. The show promises to provide behind-the-scenes coverage of Lakers, Galaxy and Sparks news. Don't confuse this program with "SportsCenter" or any other sports news show. Apparently, if you aren't the Lakers, Galaxy or Sparks, you aren't news.
On Lakers game nights, live coverage will start 90 minutes before tipoff on something called "#LakeShow," hashtag and all. It'll lean heavily on social interaction. The show also airs at 6:30 on non-game nights.
A one-hour postgame show, "Access SportsNet: Lakers," comes on after every game, even the ones SportsNet doesn't show.
The network's first Galaxy game is Oct. 21 with similar pregame and postgame shows airing for an hour before and after.
Other Lakers programming includes classic games; "Encore," enhanced replays of this season's games; and "Lakers Compacto," in which games are replayed in a condensed, one-hour format.
"Backstage: Lakers" (called "Lakers Confidencial" on Deportes) will chronicle the Lakers' season with access into places like the locker room and executive offices.
"Laker Girls" (which conveniently translates to "Laker Girls" on Deportes) will be a five-part miniseries starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday and concluding Tuesday, Nov. 6 (an alternative to watching election returns).
SportsNet and Deportes will be available on high-definition channels 403 and 481, respectively, on Time Warner Cable. The standard-definition channels are 47 (43 in the city of Ventura) and 48.
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