The Mountain West Conference's new regional television network dedicated exclusively to the league's college athletic programs will be available throughout much of Utah on the expanded basic service in the Comcast cable systems.

That means fans who subscribe to the largest cable distributor in the state will be able to watch the "mtn." without paying more than they do to receive popular channels like ESPN, Nickelodeon, CNN and the History Channel - about $47 a month.

"It's a wonderful thing for fans in Utah," said Ray Child, a spokesman for Comcast.

The mtn. is scheduled to show at least 33 of the league's 63 televised football games this season, including a dozen involving Utah and Brigham Young. A few of those games could be bumped to national parent network College Sports TV, however, and that channel will be available on Comcast only as part of a digital programming package that will cost more than expanded basic - though an exact price has not been determined.

Still, the deal announced Wednesday was a breakthrough for the Mountain West.

The league had been putting fans on edge with its inability to tell them exactly how (or for how much) they would be able to see their favorite teams on television, now that the league has signed an eight-year deal with CSTV worth $82 million and all but eliminated the possibility of seeing league teams on free over-the-air stations like KSL or KJZZ.

But now, fans in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico - home to five of the Mountain West's nine teams - will have access to the new network, which will feature nothing but Mountain West programming, including news conferences and coaches' shows as well as live coverage of events from all 19 league sports. At least 75 men's basketball games are scheduled for the network.

"This is another major step toward building the Mountain West brand," league commissioner Craig Thompson said.

The league has promised to make the new network available to all of the markets it encompasses by the time it debuts Sept. 1. It's also working on deals to get the mtn. on the DirecTV or Dish Network national satellite television services, and expects to reach agreements with those companies as well as cable distributors in other league markets within the next few weeks.

The mtn. won't be the only location for Mountain West sports, however.

CSTV is scheduled to broadcast at least 16 football games nationwide, including the rivalry game between the Utes and Cougars on Nov. 25. Another six late-season games will be shown on either CSTV or the mtn., but a decision on those won't be made until midseason.

Under the agreement, CSTV and Comcast each will own half of the mtn., and Comcast will manage it. The largest cable distributor in the country with 21.7 million subscribers, Comcast already owns and operates four regional sports networks in Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and Sacramento.

The company understands "the value of quality programming," said Brian Bedol, the co-founder and chief executive of CSTV, and it knows "what it takes to launch and maintain a successful sports network."

The new mtn. network is an innovative and somewhat risky step for a league that abandoned ubiquitous sports broadcasting giant ESPN last year because it was frustrated with being leveraged into playing many of its marquee football and basketball games at unpopular midweek dates and late-night times.

By partnering with CSTV, the league has been able to schedule almost all of its football games for the Saturday afternoons when teams have traditionally played, and make more money for doing it. However, CSTV has only a sliver of the audience of ESPN, and certainly none of the pop-culture cachet.

Nevertheless, the creation of the mtn. is a move that already is being copied by the Big Ten Conference, and one that the league sees as the wave of the future in sports broadcasting.

It's true that fans will not be able to see many league games on free TV the way they once did. But noting the increasing array of pay-per-view and subscription sports packages on cable and satellite television that is available to fans,

Thompson came to a perhaps painful conclusion about sports programming in the modern world:

"There is no free TV" anymore, he said.

Guide to the Games

* The networks that will broadcast almost all of the games from the Mountain West Conference - College Sports TV and the new "mtn." - will be available on Comcast, the largest cable television distributor in Utah.

* College Sports TV is scheduled to nationally broadcast at least 16 football games from the Mountain West this season, including the rivalry game between Utah and BYU on Nov. 25. However, eight of those games are expected to be moved to the Outdoor Life Network, which soon will be renamed Versus. Similarly, seven men's basketball games will be shown on Versus.

* The mtn. is scheduled to broadcast at least 33 league football games this season as part of programming focused entirely on the Mountain West, though some of those games could be bumped to CSTV. Six other late-season games will be shown on one network or the other, with decisions expected midseason. Many of the scheduled kickoff times are tentative, and can be changed to "better serve the fans."

* The mtn. will be part of the extended basic package on Comcast that costs $46.60 per month, while CSTV will be moved into a lower-priced digital programming package than the one in which it is currently available for $61.55 per month, but at a cost yet to be determined.

* The league has no deal yet to broadcast the mtn. on either the DirecTV or Dish Network national satellite television services, but one is expected soon.

* CSTV already is available on both satellite systems. On DirecTV, the network is available in the Total Choice Premier package for $99.99 per month. On the Dish Network, it is available within the DishFamily Pak for $19.99 per month.

* Both networks will be available on the basic lineup within the MSTAR fiber-optic television system available in select cities along the Wasatch Front. CSTV already is available on that system, but subscribers must purchase super-high-speed Internet service for $39.95 per month in order to receive the television service for an additional $40 per month.

* Games will not be blacked out on cable television if they're not sold out at an arena or stadium. However, game broadcasts on the Internet could be blacked out for that reason.

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Sources: The Mountain West Conference, College Sports TV, Comcast, DirecTV Web site, Dish Network Web site, MStar.

The Highlights

* CSTV and the mtn. will be available on Comcast cable.

* The mtn. will be part of the extended basic package on Comcast that costs $46.60 per month.

* CSTV will be moved into a lower-priced digital programming package than the one in which it is currently available for $61.55 per month.

* CSTV is available on DirecTV and Dish Network. The MWC has no deal yet to broadcast the mtn. on either satellite services, but one is expected soon.

BYU Schedule

Date Opponent TV Time

Sept. 2 at Arizona TBS 7:15 p.m.

Sept.9 Tulsa mtn. 2 p.m.

Sept. 16 at Boston Co. ESPN2 10 a.m.

Sept. 23 Utah St. mtn. 1 p.m.

Sept. 28 at TCU CSTV 5 p.m.

Oct. 7 San Diego St. mtn. noon

Oct. 21 UNLV mtn. 1 p.m.

Oct. 28 at Air Force mtn. noon

Nov. 4 at Colorado St. mtn. 4:30 p.m.

Nov. 9 Wyoming CSTV 6 p.m.

Nov. 18 New Mexico mtn. 2 p.m.

Nov. 25 at Utah CSTV 1:30 p.m.

Utah Schedule

Date Opponent TV Time

Sept. 2 at UCLA FSN 5 p.m.

Sept. 9 No. Arizona mtn. 6 p.m.

Sept. 16 at Utah State KJZZ 6 p.m.

Sept. 23 at SDSU mtn. 6 p.m.

Sept. 30 Boise St. mtn. 1 p.m.

Oct. 5 TCU CSTV 7 p.m.

Oct. 14 at Wyoming mtn. 1 p.m.

Oct. 19 at N. Mexico mtn. 7 p.m.

Oct. 28 UNLV CSTV 2 p.m.

Nov. 11 Colorado St. mtn. noon

Nov. 18 at Air Force CSTV/mtn. TBA

Nov. 25 BYU CSTV 1:30 p.m.

Note: All times Mountain