With its April 7 launch approaching, College Sports Television Network has
signed up its first distributor.
DirecTV Inc. will carry CSTV on its "Sports Pack" sports tier.
CSTV cofounder Brian Bedol -- who also started up Classic Sports Network before
selling out to ESPN -- said the network is in active discussions with major MSOs
and will unveil other carriage deals in the next 30 days.
CSTV will go on the air around 11:30 p.m. EST April 7, right after the NCAA
Men's Basketball Tournament final. Its debut program with be a 2003 men's
college-basketball year-in-review show.
About one-half of CSTV's programming will be games and studio-produced and
archival programs, with news and information making up the other half.
The network will carry sports ranging from some marquee sports like
basketball and football to lacrosse, hockey, baseball, volleyball, golf and
gymnastics. CSTV has lined up programming deals with more than 1,200
universities and scores of athletic conferences.
"Part of our mission is to help sports fans appreciate these sports in the
college calendar the way they do when they watch the Olympics," Bedol said.
