2011 08 26 1 owned by university of texas at austin espn inc. img college picture format 720p hd 480i sd slogan hook em horns country united states language english broadcast area nationwide headquarters austin texas sister channel s espn espn2 espn3 espnews espnu espn deportes espn classic sec network website longhorn network availability satellite dish network channel 407 hd sd directv channel 677 hd only cable cox ar ks la and ok check local listings charter ar la nm tx and va check local listings grande tx check local listings time warner tx channel 383 hd sd iptv at & t u verse channel 611 sd channel 1611 hd verizon fios texas channel 79 sd channel 579 hd other areas channel 320 sd google fiber channel 230 hd sd streaming media watchespn espn.go.com longhornnetwork the longhorn network lhn is an american regional sports network that is owned as a joint venture between the university of texas at austin espn and img college and is operated by espn itself owned jointly by the walt disney company and the hearst corporation . the network which launched on august 26 2011 focuses on the texas longhorns varsity sports teams of the university of texas at austin . the longhorn network whose name and logo was revealed during the longhorns spring football game on april 3 2011 2 features events from 20 different sports involving the texas longhorns athletics department along with original and historical programming . the network also features academic and cultural content from the ut austin campus . contents 1 carriage 1.1 carriage agreements 1.1.1 2012 1.1.2 2013 1.1.3 2014 1.2 online presence 2 programming 2.1 regular programming 2.2 sports 3 controversies 3.1 high school football 3.2 big 12 conference football 3.3 potential conflict of interest 4 references 5 external links carriage edit the first national provider to carry the longhorn network was fiber optic television service verizon fios which announced a deal to carry the network in august 2011 . 3 on august 31 2012 the network began to be carried on at & t u verse . several smaller cable providers throughout texas have also added the channel namely consolidated communications bay city cablevision mid coast cablevision texas mid gulf cablevision en touch systems e tex communications and grande communications . 4 5 currently the only major provider serving texas that does not carry the longhorn network is comcast . the status of negotiations with comcast are not publicly known . 4 carriage agreements edit 2012 edit on october 4 2012 new york based cablevision systems corporation began carrying lhn on its systems in the western united states . its new york city area systems were not included in the deal . 6 two months later on december 12 cox communications announced a comprehensive long term distribution agreement that included adding the longhorn network to its systems in arkansas kansas louisiana and oklahoma . 7 8 on december 31 2012 charter communications announced that it would add lhn as part of a wide range long term carriage deal with espn and the walt disney company . charter also took over cablevision s western systems in the first quarter of 2013 and maintained the rights agreed to by cablevision for lhn . it is available on its systems in arkansas louisiana new mexico texas and virginia . 9 8 2013 edit on august 8 2013 time warner cable announced that it would begin carrying lhn in its texas service areas . 10 2014 edit on march 3 2014 the walt disney company and dish network announced a deal to carry the longhorn network as part of a new long term wide ranging distribution agreement . 11 the channel became available on the satellite provider on may 28 of that year . on december 23 2014 directv announced a long term wide ranging distribution agreement with disney that included the carriage of longhorn network . 12 longhorn network launched on directv on january 21 2015 along with fusion . it became available on regional sports network on the choice package in the southwestern united states and on the sports pack everywhere else . 13 online presence edit although the longhorn network has an internet presence hosted by espn it functions as a tv everywhere service that is unavailable to subscribers unless their cable and internet service provider carries the network with further geographical restrictions ; watchespn enforces the same restrictions in carrying the longhorn network feed on that site . 14 patrick ryan policy counsel open internet at google pointed out that the reach of lhn as of september 2012 was about 10 million potential viewers whereas if it were online it could reach 230 million viewers in the u.s. or as many as 2 billion potential viewers . 14 programming edit regular programming edit 15 16 longhorn extra a weekday broadcast covering news on the university s 20 varsity teams . rewind with charlie strong a monday program featuring analysis from the football coach of the past weekend s game . texas all access a weekly insider show about the longhorns sports teams focusing on the football team during the fall months . game plan with charlie strong a thursday night preview show to the upcoming weekend s football game . texas gameday a two hour pre game show similar in format to espn s college gameday which is broadcast from the site of darrell k royal texas memorial stadium for home games and the austin based network studio for road games . texas gameday final a 90 minute post game show similar in format to espn s college football final on site at darrell k royal texas memorial stadium for home games and the austin based network studio for road games . longhorn legends a roundtable discussion program with longhorns football coach mack brown and a rotating selection of former players . the season 2005 texas longhorns an in depth review of the 2005 longhorns football season during which the team earned its fourth national championship in the university s history . texas greatest games a top 10 countdown of what is considered to be the program s best football games . texas greatest athletes a program covering those who are considered to be the best athletes across all sports that the school has produced . traditions a look into how some of the university s historical sports traditions started . sports edit the first live sports event broadcast on the network aired on the date of its launch the women s volleyball team s 2011 season opener against the pepperdine waves . the first live football game telecast on the network aired on september 3 2011 in which the longhorns played against the rice owls . 17 the longhorn network would expand its sports coverage to include five utsa roadrunners football games to its schedule for sister campus university of texas at san antonio s inaugural football season the first of which aired on september 10 2011 . 18 the majority of the live events are handled by the longhorn network operations department which manages the crew that sets up the equipment used to air the event . over 200 live events were managed by this department during the 2011 2012 school year . in 2015 longhorn network simulcast the featured groups coverage of espn s broadcast of the open championship as it featured longhorns alumni jordan spieth . 19 controversies edit high school football edit from the initial announcement of the longhorn network espn had made it known that it desired to broadcast up to 18 high school football games per season . the idea was a cause for concern among other big 12 schools especially texas a & m due to what that university viewed as possible recruiting violations and was partly responsible for a & m s decision to leave the big 12 for the southeastern conference in 2012 . 20 during an august 1 2011 meeting of all big 12 athletic directors it was decided that the issue of airing high school football games on the network would be postponed for one year allowing time for the ncaa to rule on the matter . 21 on august 11 2011 the ncaa ruled that no school or conference network would be permitted to broadcast high school sports or any other high school programming effectively bringing the issue to a close . 22 23 big 12 conference football edit in addition to a non conference game each season espn desired to place a big 12 conference game on the longhorn network . at the same big 12 meeting that discussed high school football telecasts it was agreed upon that a conference game would be acceptable as long as both schools and the conference office approved the broadcast . 21 it was reported that espn asked texas tech for permission to broadcast the team s november 5 game against the longhorns on the network . espn told the university that the game would most likely not be carried on any of the espn family of networks leaving a broadcast on the lhn as its only option . in return espn promised to televise two non conference football games over the next four seasons televise some other non football programming 5 million cash and help from the network to try to arrange a home and home series against a top bcs conference school . texas tech passed on the offer with the university s chancellor kent hance explaining that i don t want a tech fan to have to give one dime to the longhorn network . espn then contacted oklahoma state about airing games on the network ; that university also refused the invitation to appear on the network . 24 texas athletics eventually announced that the kansas jayhawks had agreed to let its game against the longhorns on october 29 air on lhn the university of kansas s third tier media rights are also managed by lhn co owner img college . the agreement allowed the longhorn network to be the national carrier of the game except in kansas markets where the game was shown on broadcast television . 25 espn revealed plans to broadcast the texas tech texas state game on the longhorn network in 2012 however texas tech threatened to drop the game in favor of an 11 game schedule resulting the game being removed from lhn s schedule . in november 2012 espn syndicated a second feed of a longhorn football home game against iowa state to abc affiliated television stations across iowa including ketv in omaha nebraska which is owned by espn part owner hearst corporation to provide access to the game within that state . a secondary announcing team was used for the iowa state feed . 26 the same was done in september 2013 for a matchup against ole miss throughout the state of mississippi . potential conflict of interest edit concerns have been raised by some fans bloggers and journalists that espn s financial stake in the longhorn network creates a potential conflict of interest . 27 28 29 some fear that espn s involvement in the network will inhibit journalistic integrity as that network has a financial interest in the success of the athletic programs at the university of texas . sports illustrated writer richard deitsch wrote the network s existence ... creates an impossible situation for espn s college football producers and reporters plenty of whom care about reporting . for every story espn does on texas and its opponents they ll be skeptics wondering what the motivation was for the story . 30 additionally some have questioned the stipulation included in the network s founding agreement that gives texas the right to dismiss lhn announcers that do not reflect the quality and reputation of ut . 27 31 an espn spokesperson addressed the situation by stating this is not common in espn agreements because this