Pac-12 Network Notes: Coming to “U-verse,” Neuheisel’s New Deal & Still No DirecTV

As we suffer through the long off-season there are some Pac-12 network related notes that are worth keeping track of on BN. It appears that the Pac-12 network maybe entering into a deal with "U-verse" this summer per Jon Wilner:

The Pac-12 Conference and AT&T have agreed on the framework for a distribution deal, according to conference sources.

The contract is weeks (and perhaps months) away from being finalized as the sides hammer out final details.

If all goes as expected, the Pac12Nets will be available on U-verse sometime this summer - probably just before the start of the football season.

U-verse has approximately 4.5 million customers, by the way. It's the seventh-largest multi-channel video distributor in the country.

I have no idea how many folks on BN have U-verse, but if you have it there you go. I have to say I have been enjoying the network a lot via Comcast. Obviously there is always room for improvement but I found the quality of their programs so much better than the c*ap we used to get on old FSN or Prime Ticket. I found their football programs to be lot more fun than hoops but that may have to do with Dan Guerrero's wrecking of the hoops program. And, it may not be getting better any time soon.

Anyway, in terms of football it looks like one of UCLA's biggest supporter Rick Neuheisel is going to be back on the network and will stick around for a while:

The Pac12Nets have signed star studio analyst Rick Neuheisel to a multi-year, exclusive deal, according to Murphy-Stephans, who was promoted to Pac12Nets president (from general manager) after Enterprises boss Gary Stevenson resigned last month.

Retaining Neuheisel - the glib, insightful former head coach who's as good as any analyst in college football - was critical to the Pac12Nets building on their credibility.

Expect him to have a greater presence next season and to be involved in the year-round football show.

Good for Neuheisel. The network is also planning for lot more coverage on football. Wilner has all the details.

Unfortunately right now it looks like for those of you who have DirectTV you may be missing out on all of this for a while. Don't think we can expect DirectTV to come running to Pac-12 any time soon because of this:

Shares of DirecTV rose Tuesday after the company reported net income that beat Wall Street expectations.

The El Segundo company reported first-quarter net income of $690 million ($1.20 a share), 6 percent less than the same period a year earlier.

The earnings beat the average analyst estimate of $1.09 per share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue for the satellite television giant increased 8 percent to $7.6 billion. The revenue beat analyst expectations of $7.5 billion.

Well, Larry Scott has made mostly right moves since he became the Commissioner. It will be interesting to see how it all works out with Direct TV. Because if this situation doesn't resolve any time soon, looks like a big chunk of the Pac-12 fanbase will continue to miss out on lot of the good stuff, and that will not be good news for neither the programs nor the fans.

GO BRUINS.