Can't make it to the Penn-Villanova game on Saturday night? No need to worry. CN8, the Comcast Network in Philadelphia, will be airing the game live for 7.1 million households along the East Coast to see as a part of its 21-game plan for college football games this season.
Also included as part of that package are the Quakers' game against Bucknell on Oct. 8, the Penn-Yale game on Oct. 22, and a series of regional and Ivy League games featuring teams including Princeton, Brown and Harvard.
CN8 is a multipurpose network that covers 11 major television markets from Maine to Virginia. It has quickly grown into one of the nation's largest regional television networks, covering regional news, entertainment and sports.
Although CN8 extensively covers professional sports, the network realizes that coverage of Penn sports is both necessary and profitable, however he would not give specifics as to the ratings of the events.
"We find that the top level of Ivy League sports has an audience," said Jon Gurevitch, Vice President of CN8 Sports. "If you are going to pursue Ivy League sports, you need to start with Penn sports."
In keeping with this philosophy, CN8 is in the second year of a three-year contract with Penn, promising to broadcast at least 10 Penn sporting events each year.
Along with the three scheduled football games, viewers can expect to see six men's basketball games -- last year CN8 broadcast the games against Temple, Saint Joseph's, both Yale games and the home games against Princeton and Cornell -- and one men's soccer game -- next Tuesday's game against Loyola will be broadcast on tape delay on Oct. 2.
Also a part of this contract are advertising spots for CN8 at Penn and a ticket sales promotional spot for Penn football to be aired on CN8.
It seems clear that this is a win-win situation for Penn and CN8.
Penn football has a strong fan base that expects to provide good ratings for its share of the 21-game package.
"My expectation is that the Penn-Villanova game will be one of the highest rated games of the season," said Gurevitch, a graduate of Wharton with an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Management. "I also see the value for Penn in getting their games on CN8, in part because of the high quality of our productions, the professional quality of our staff, and the breadth of our distribution."
While many of CN8's broadcasts are only regional, the game this Saturday will be aired throughout the East Coast. Not only will this allow many alumni to watch the game, but it also can help get the name of Penn football out to potential recruits.
Although this is clearly becoming a relationship that both Penn and CN8 would like to maintain beyond their three-year contract, there is still one problem for Penn students: Under the current cable provider the University uses, students in Penn dorms do not receive CN8 programming.
In order to watch the game on live TV, a Penn student must buy a different cable provider -- which is impossible in the dorms -- or continue to miss out on the likes of announcers Lou Tilley, Mick Moninghoff, Bruce Casella covering the games.
"Down the road, in one year, two years, this may change," Gurevitch said. "As Comcast grows as a cable company, at some point in the future residents of [the West Philadelphia] area might get the benefit of Comcast Cable."
However, there is still a way, albeit a somewhat less convenient one, for students to see the game: All programming of CN8 can also be seen online at www.cn8.tv.
If CN8 plans to continue their coverage of regional and Ivy League sports, expect to see a lot more of Penn action in years to come.
Quakers Schedule on - Football at VillanovaSaturday, 7:30 p.m. - Men's Soccer vs. Loyola (tape delay from Sept. 27)Oct. 2, noon - Football vs. BucknellOct. 8, 3:30 p.m. - Football vs. YaleOct. 22, 3:30 p.m. - Men's Basketball: Six selected games to be announced at a later date - All games available on CN8 or online at CN8.tv
