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On Saturday, the Utah football team will be playing on the Pac-12 Network at 2 p.m. at Oregon State.

That's great for fans in Utah, where P12N is available on Dish, Comcast and other cable systems. It's not so easy to get in other parts of the country. P12N is only in about 12-14 million homes out of the 113.4 million TV-equipped homes.

That's why, in the midst of its fifth season of telecasting football, the Pac-12 Network remains a point of contention and a cause for concern for the league. It's generating a fraction of the revenue that was projected when the channels — six regionals and one national feed — launched.

P12N is catching criticism from the inside. Pac-12 members question the decision to go it alone instead of partnering with ESPN (SEC and ACC) or Fox (Big Ten). They've formed committees to investigate. They've consulted investment bankers. They considered — and rejected — an AT&T pitch that would have give that media giant a stake in P12N.

Some fans somehow believe that asking questions about P12N is an attack on Utah and the Pac-12. But Utah is among those asking the questions — it's adversely affected by the ongoing issues.

If questioning the Pac-12 Networks is anti-Utes, somebody should tell Utah athletic director Chris Hill, who has been clear about his disappointment with P12N for the past couple of years.

Utah's bottom line is taking a hit. Utah and the rest of the league can't keep up with the revenue generated by the Big Ten and the SEC, whose TV channels are both in more than 70 million homes.

The household number is about more than availability. A channel is paid a per-houehold fee, and distribution affects advertising revenue.

Estimates are that over the next eight years, Pac-12 schools will pocket about $10 million less TV money per year than their counterparts in the Big Ten and SEC — in large part because Pac-12 schools are only getting $1 million a year from P12N. That's $80 million less to fund scholarships, upgrade facilities, pay coaches, etc.

And the Pac-12 is at a recruiting disadvantage because its cable channels are available in about 60 million fewer homes than Big Ten Network and the SEC Network.

We don't know what P12N ratings are, because the channel doesn't release any. Which should tell you something.

Hey, I personally have no complaints about the Pac-12 Network. The quality of the programming has been top-notch from the get-go. The football and men's basketball telecasts are up there with the best of them.

The studio shows have a certain home-team quality — OK, they're homers — but this is the Pac-12's outlet, so what were you expecting?

I'm amazed at what a fine job P12N has done with its series "The Drive," despite operating with a much smaller budget and with a much smaller crew than similar shows that go behind the scenes of football teams. I wish P12N could afford to do more programming like that.

Maybe going it alone and owning 100 percent of the Pac-12 Network positions the league for a future when more people stream and fewer subscribe to cable or satellite.

But when is that? In eight years, the Pac-12 will be almost a billion dollars behind the SEC and Big Ten in TV revenue. Can it thrive under those conditions?

Utah is asking those questions itself. The answers are important to the Utes' future.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.