Byline: The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The Pac-12 announced Wednesday it was launching its own broadcasting networks.
Commissioner Larry Scott made the announcement while holding a media day in New York City for the second straight year.
The new venture is actually the Pac-12 Networks, plural. There will be a national channel along with six regional offerings: Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Southern California, Arizona and Mountain.
Scott called it 'a truly unique, one-of-a-kind initiative to create exposure that's unprecedented.' The Big Ten showed the value of a conference network when it launched one in 2007, but this is the first to combine national and regional channels.
The Pac-12 partnered with cable companies Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Bright House to distribute the networks but wholly owns them. Once the channels launch in August 2012, they will broadcast about 850 sporting events a year -- 350 nationally and 500 regionally.
Every football and men's basketball game will be televised nationally. The Pac-12 already had a 12-year TV deal worth about $3 billion with Fox and ESPN.
Bill Moos, the Washington State athletic director, said: 'We're still waiting to see what the financial impact would be, but I'm going to guess it's going to be pretty good.'
Moos also said he was hopeful the arrangement might not require the significant startup costs initially feared, adding, 'It may take some time to realize the revenue, but it looks to me like it could be in the near future rather than the far.'
North Carolina fires Davis
Butch Davis had seemingly survived the most dangerous days of the NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct within his North Carolina program.
He kept his job all last season even as embarrassing allegations kept surfacing, from the conduct of his associate head coach to the behavior of players and their tutor. He won supporters by leading a team decimated by suspensions to eight wins and a bowl victory, earning the praise of his bosses along with the assurance he'd be back for a fifth season.
Yet on Wednesday, the school reversed itself and fired Davis, saying the past year of turmoil amid the NCAA probe was doing too much damage to the university's reputation.
In a statement to The News & Observer of Raleigh, Davis said he was 'surprised and saddened' by the change, and said he has done nothing wrong.
Times reporter Bud Withers contributed to this report.
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