It was rumored on Orangebloods and Hookem.com earlier this week but early this morning the Longhorn Network went live for AT&T U-verse customers across the country. Longhorn fans everywhere are dancing in the streets over the news that they’ll get the chance to watch the season kickoff tomorrow against Wyoming live on LHN.
There wasn’t an official press release until late this morning, but LHN started showing up as channel 1609 (standard def 609) sometime overnight and by the 8am Twitter was blowing up with fans and former Horns fired up about getting access to the network.
Adding U-verse probably triples the number of people in the state of Texas that now have access to the network and gives them a second large national carrier (along with Verizon FiOS.) This is great news for Texas fans and could help nudge Time Warner, Comcast, DirecTV, et. al. into adding the network as well.
Who knew Mack Brown was such a Dancing with the Stars fan?
I want a TV hidden behind a painting in my office.
You think you are excited for the new Longhorn Network, Bevo can barely contain his excitement in this new commercial for the network:
Posted August 25th, 2011 by Brian
Filed under: Baseball, Basketball, Football, TV
The Longhorn Network is coming, in HD, for Texas subscribers to Verizon FiOS TV packages. The LHN will be near the other sports programming on channel 579 (79 for standard def) for FiOS TV Prime HD, Extreme HD and Ultimate HD subscribers that live in Texas. Fans in other states will need to be Ultimate HD subscribers (the most expensive package) to see their Horns.
The press release:
Joining a growing lineup of regional and national collegiate sports networks on FiOS TV, the Longhorn Network has arrived on FiOS just in time for the start of the college football season. The Longhorn Network is a channel devoted to athletic programming and related activities at the University of Texas.
Verizon is the largest video service provider to date to announce the addition of the Longhorn Network to its channel lineup.
“The Longhorns have a huge presence in Texas, with a passionate fan base that extends across the country,” said David Preschlack, executive vice president, Disney and ESPN Media Networks. “Verizon’s early commitment to this network speaks to the university’s popularity and the consumer demand for this content.”
Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, said, “We know Texas Longhorn fans are among the most loyal and enthusiastic in college sports, so we’re pleased to add the Longhorn Network to our already robust sports lineup on FiOS TV. The addition of this groundbreaking collegiate sports channel adds to Verizon’s commitment to bring the best in sports and entertainment and overall video content to our customers.”
The national distribution agreement with the Longhorn Network will allow fans of FiOS and the Longhorns to start watching the network on Sept. 1. FiOS TV Ultimate HD subscribers outside of Texas can watch LHN on Channel 320. In Texas, FiOS TV Prime HD, Extreme HD and Ultimate HD subscribers can watch LHN on Channels 79 (standard definition) and 579 (high definition).
In the near future, the Longhorn Network also will be available online, on tablets and on smartphones for fans with a Verizon FiOS TV plan, making UT athletics and other programming easily available anywhere, anytime.
Very cool video of an advertising company projecting video and effects onto the side of the Tower for upcoming Longhorn Network promos. The use of the black color to give the illusion that the Tower is really being morphed and rotated. A nice Rubik’s Cube effect. Watch some handheld video:
Update: Here’s the eventual “What Starts Here…” commercial that features some of this footage:
Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for beat by beat coverage of the two big recruits making their commitments today. We’ll have breaking news and our thoughts during today’s [tag]Jackson Jeffcoat[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Hicks[/tag] press conferences. Things start early with Jeffcoat’s announcement from Plano West High School at 10am. We’ll be live here and on Twitter so join us to discuss the next Longhorn greats.
Feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ’em!
(Live threads from Jeffcoat & Hicks commits after the jump.)
Even though Texas has a bye this week there is still plenty of college football going on. The weird thing this weekend is the fact that ESPN Gameday is at the Florida State vs Boston College game. Is anyone really interested in this game? Let’s check out the actual games to watch this weekend.
4 LSU at 18 Georgia (-3.5) – 3:30 PM EST on CBS. LSU is ranked 4 in the country, but they find themselves having to apologize for their high ranking due to their poor performance last week against Mississippi State. If they want to stay in the Top 5 they will have to bring a much better effort against the favored Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 9-1 in their last 10 games against the SEC West and has won the last 3 matchups in this series. The real stat that I am looking at though is Georgia 1-7 ATS in their last 8 at home and 1-8 in their last 9 overall. Georgia just doesn’t seem to step-up in the big games. I like LSU plus the points in this one.
7 USC at 24 California (+5) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. I will must say I am pretty bitter in regards to Cal after they completely laid an egg last weekend against Oregon. USC still has a lot to prove after losing to Washington and struggling against Washington State. USC is also dealing with the scary events of recent days when running back Stafon Johnson suffered a crushed neck and larynx after a weight lifting accident. I expect USC to pull together and play a tough game for star running back. Their defense has been outstanding and I see them putting a lot of pressure on the struggling Cal QB. Take USC in this one.
8 Oklahoma at 17 Miami (+7.5) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. This is the game I have been looking forward to for a couple of weeks now. Oklahoma is without Sam Bradford again this week, but that hasn’t slowed them down as backup Landry Jones has filled in well. Oklahoma still has the athletes on both sides of the ball and I expect them to put a lot of pressure on Miami QB Jacorey Harris. He showed last week that he still has a lot to learn, making bad throw after bad throw. Those kind of mistakes won’t fly against Oklahoma. Oklahoma wins this one easy on the road.
College Gameday
(13) Georgia at (9) Oklahoma State (-5.5) – 3:30 PM EST on ABC. Oklahoma State is starting the season with the highest ranking in school history. A few years ago Oklahoma State got absolutely killed in their season opener and will no doubt be looking for some revenge. This is OK State’s chance to show just how much they have improved and that they are ready for the big stage. I Georgia has too many question marks and OK State wins this one pretty easily. Give the points.
(20) BYU at (3) Oklahoma (-22) – 7:00 PM EST on ESPN. Oklahoma is known to start of the season a little slow, but I expect them to finally learn from their previous mistakes and take care of business here. By now you have probably all heard of Gresham’s injury, but I don’t see that being a huge factor here, Oklahoma just has too many weapons on offense. I don’t like the 22 number, but I would go ahead and give the points here.
Louisiana-Monroe at (2) Texas (-42) – 7:00 PM EST on FSN. Wow, another 42 point spread season opener. Obviously this game won’t get much national attention, but it is always good to try and get some opening season questions answered. Has the defense matured from last year? Who is going to step up at running back? Now I almost never bet on Texas, but even with the 42 points I think Texas covers this easily. Look for something in the neighborhood of 59-7.
(5) Alabama at (7) Virginia Tech (+6) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. You can’t start the season off much stronger than this night-time battle of top tens. Virginia Tech is also coming in with their highest ranking in school history and has a few question marks after some injuries this preseason. Alabama started off last season better than anyone, but fell short in their last two games. Saban hopes to start erasing those bad memories with a big win tonight. Virginia Tech is starting a freshman at QB and RB. In my opinion that spells trouble against the Alabama defense. I think Alabama covers this spread, though it might just be by 1. Give the points here.
11. Taylor Potts will break every collegiate record known to man, afterwards go undrafted in the NFL, and then end up working at a car dealership.
Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach has been very vocal lately that he thinks his quarterback Graham Harrell isn’t getting a fair shake from the media or NFL scouts. He stood up for Harrell at Heisman time and is now upset that his QB went undrafted this weekend. In the process of defending Harrell he took a hilarious shot at former Aggie and future Cowboy backup Stephen McGee: “I’m happy for Stephen McGee,” Mike Leach said. “The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”
Ouch.
Cowboys fans should be excited they’re getting a quarterback who couldn’t even start for his college team, just like Dallas legend Quincy Carter. Plus, he’s a jerk:
McGee actually isn’t terrible and was done in by horrible coaching and mediocre teammates at A&M, maybe he’ll have better success with a poorly run NFL franchise. Dennis Franchione tried to make into an option QB for no reason and then current head coach Mike Sherman decided the team’s future was more important than McGee’s. With good coaching, McGee has the talent to become a decent backup in the league, hopefully he gets an attitude adjustment as well.
Source (Note: Watching Aggies and Tech fans argue on the Internet is hilarious.)
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