Joe Drennan
Sports EditorWith many Twin Cities metro area cable viewers blacked out to the new Victory Sports One network, Victory Sports One president Kevin Cattoor put an offer on the table for cable and satellite providers that would allow them to carry Victory Sports One for free until the end of the University of Minnesota Gophers basketball season.
ìWe sent the offer out this week recognizing that we werenít making progress [in getting the channel picked up by providers],î Cattoor said. ìPeople were upset that they were not getting the service, and they wanted to watch Gopher basketball.î
Cattoor said that just before the launch of Victory Sports One on Halloween, negotiations with cable and satellite providers seemed to hit a brick wall. With the Gopher basketball season underway, Cattoor said it was unfair to the fans/viewers to be caught in the middle of the negotiationsóthat is why the decision was made to offer the channel for free until the end of the season.
ìWe would encourage and hope that part of entering this short term agreement is that the provider would enter into negotiations for a long term agreement,î Cattoor said.
A customer representative for Dish Network simply said that they do not offer Victory Sports One right now. Direct TV representatives could not be reached for comment.
One of the things that is slowing down talks with satellite providers is that their corporate offices are in Los Angeles and Denver. This is a challenge for Cattoor because he says the awareness of Victory Sports One is much different than that of the cable providers who have offices in the metro area.
ìI called a customer service line for one of the satellite providers, and it ended up being in Texas. The guy I talked to had no idea who or what Victory was,î Cattoor said. ìI asked him if he knew who the Gophers were and he had no idea, but when I asked him who the Longhorns were, he knew. Thatís the customer service viewers are dealing with.î
U.S. Cable, the cable provider for the Forest Lake area, says that it plans on picking up Victory Sports One, but does not know when that will happen as they are still in negotiations with Victory Sports One.
ìIf we do an agreement with Victory Sports One, it will be a long term agreement,î Jonathan Rod of U.S. Cable said. ìThis [the free offer] is just to entice the providers to get on board.î
Rod says that U.S. Cable has been receiving numerous calls from subscribers requesting the channel, so he knows the demand is there, but the question is what percent of subscribers are willing to pay for the channel. Rod said it could be about 20 percent of subscribers who wouldnít mind a rate increase to carry Victory Sports One once the free trial is over, and 80 percent of subscribers who would have a problem with an increase. This is the reason U.S. Cable is taking their time with their negotiations.
ìWe want to do whatís best for us and our customers,î Rod said.
With Victory Sports One carrying 120 of the Twins games this coming season, it is only a matter of time until all the providers pick up the channel. U.S. Cable looks like it will have a deal struck long before spring training. So sit tight Forest Lake viewers, Victory Sports One should be on its wayóeventually.
ìThe reason we did this at this time is we have a really big month coming up in December with a number of Gopher games and WCHA games,î Cattoor said. ìWeíll be bringing our programming to the next level.î
To request Victory Sports one, call your cable or sattelite providor. U.S. Cable 1-800-783-2356, Direct TV 1-800-494-4388, and Dish Network 1-800-333-0245.
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