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As three-sport Utah season-ticket holders, the Perry family is composed of certified Utes fanatics. They go to football games, men's basketball games and gymnastics meets throughout the year.
When they're not watching from the stands, they're often watching at home — on the Pac-12 Networks. David Perry says he'll flip on reruns or the Pac-12 Sports Report while he's doing chores, and his 10- and 8-year-old daughters will watch Red Rocks routines over and over.
"I shudder when I hear Utah fans complain," he said. "I feel like this is unprecedented coverage for college sports."
The Perrys are the kind of family the Pac-12 Networks would love to highlight four years into the league's grand experiment. No other conference in the country owns its own network, and they broadcast 850 live events a year.
And yet, while a Tribune survey into how Utah subscribers and fans experience the network yielded several positive stories like the Perrys', there remain others who have more mixed reviews and frustrations. The networks' distribution remains a problem: The conference hasn't been able to cut a deal with DirecTV for wider exposure. And even those who do get some form of it aren't always getting the version they want — or have limited HD options — thanks to the Pac-12's regional model.
Lisa Brothman, a Comcast subscriber in Cottonwood Heights, has a casual interest in the U. of U. but graduated from Arizona. When she notices that a Wildcats football or men's basketball game is on Pac-12 Networks, she inevitably groans.
Comcast offers only the Mountain Network in her area, which focuses on Utah and Colorado events. What frustrates her even more is she used to get access to those games, but now that the Pac-12 has transitioned to a more regional focus, she's locked out of the teams she'd like to follow.
One of the issues Tribune survey respondents highlighted was not being able to watch all the Pac-12 Tournament basketball games in March, an issue the Pac-12 asked subscribers to talk to their TV providers about. While the Pac-12 says they offer their national network and six regional networks to all of their television partners, different providers have different mixes of packaging for the Networks.
Comcast subscribers commonly complained that they were limited to the regional network in their area. Dish subscribers typically said they get the national network as well, but some complained that high definition options weren't available.
One theme that seemed to be consistent: The people who are able to watch the sporting events they want appreciate the quality of the broadcast. Gary Rodgers, a retired season-ticket-holder living in Salt Lake City, said he likes the camera angles, commentary and polish of broadcasts. But he also will watch other Pac-12 Networks programming, such as their studio shows, in his spare time.
His wife, an Ohio State fan, watches the Big Ten Network, too. In Rodgers' opinion, the quality doesn't compare.
"I enjoy the weekly news reports they do, the features they do on athletes, the 100 years of the Pac-12," he said. "I've become a fan of U. of U. softball from watching their games on the network. It's really cool. Those kinds of things are on every day all the time."
For others living outside of the Pac-12 footprint, the Networks offer many more opportunities to catch Utah sports. U. of U. alum David Bennett is apart of a small group of Pac-12 fans living in Philadelphia who gather weekly at a sports bar downtown to watch games together.
While some kickoffs and tipoffs are later than he would like (he DVRs games that go late), he's able to see Utah sports more often than he was a few years ago.
"On the East Coast, we don't really have much access to West Coast football," he said. "The Pac-12 Networks is a huge step up from what we were used to seeing."
Still, the problem remains not enough people are seeing it. Recent estimates place the Networks with 12.3 million subscribers — approximately 50 million fewer than the SEC Network or Big Ten Network.
Sandy resident Al Sorensen built himself a "man cave" with a 65-inch screen and surround sound. He also has a 14-foot screen in his backyard where he watches movies with his family.
As a DirecTV subscriber, one thing is missing: The access to his favorite football team's conference network. While Sorensen is enough of a Utah fan to have constructed a nine-foot "U" logo in his front yard, he hasn't seen enough incentive to switch his TV provider to catch Pac-12 Networks games. Occasionally, he borrows his brother's log-in to watch games on his computer.
"It's kind of annoying," he said. "You keep thinking if their goal is to get all this exposure, but you're not getting a deal done with one of the biggest companies."
Even those who said they have positive experiences with Pac-12 Networks also expressed a creeping dread that the Networks' profitability doesn't compare with its SEC and Big Ten counterparts. The San Jose Mercury News reported last week that Pac-12 Network revenue accounts for only $1.4 million of the $25.1 million in TV revenue each school received in the last reported fiscal year. Big Ten and SEC schools reported over $32 million in per-school TV revenue in the same period.
It seems inevitable that the revenue gap will increase over the next few years with the Pac-12's current model, a concern several subscribers scratch their heads over. But for many of them, such worries won't keep them from watching.
"I guess I consider myself a realist," Rodgers said. "I accept the fact that it's not going to make a ton of money. But watching the Pac-12 Networks makes you proud to be in the Pac-12. It showcases the U. of U. in an exceptional light."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Viewers' voices
The Tribune sought opinions regarding the Pac-12 Networks last week via the Utah Public Insight Network, a partnership with Utah Public Radio and American Public Media.