The Philadelphia Flyers will begin the 2005-06 hockey season at the Wachovia Center tonight against the New York Rangers. Although most of the nation will be able to watch the game live on their televisions on the Outdoor Life Network, anyone who lives in a Penn dorm will have to go elsewhere.
OLN acquired the national television broadcast rights to the NHL during the league's recent lockout, which canceled the entire 2004-05 season.
Although the Comcast-owned channel is not available on Penn's cable system, OLN is releasing a feed of the Flyers-Rangers game to any cable or satellite system which wants to pick it up and is capable of doing so.
College senior Dave Garson, a student employee of the Penn Video Network who deals with sports programming on Penn's cable system, tried to get the Rangers-Flyers game on the Quest Network, a channel he runs that broadcasts Penn sports events. It is only available on campus, as channel 15 on the the PVN cable system.
Garson won PVN's permission to put OLN's feed on his channel but later found that the network's satellite dishes could not take in the OLN feed.
Garson read an e-mail he received from Information Systems and Computing staff member Chris Cook, who is part of a group that has authority over the PVN channel lineup.
"Unfortunately, we're not set up with the equipment to support" the OLN feed, the e-mail read. "Our receiver for the steerable dish is analog and non-addressable. ... OLN is going to release its encryption to addressable, digital IRD satellite receivers for this promotional program."
Garson said that PVN received many calls and e-mails from hockey fans on campus wanting to see tonight's game, so it is well aware of the demand for the sport and for OLN.
He added, however, that there is a specific procedure that must be followed before a channel can be added to Penn's cable system.
The main stumbling block is that the Programming Advisory Board -- a mix of students, faculty and staff -- must be notified of the demand for a channel.
Garson said that PVN's liaison to that board, Mayumi Hirtzel, is currently away from her office but that he plans to meet with her some time "within the next two weeks."
He added that he has for some time been trying to get Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia added to the lineup.
The lack of CSN and another Comcast-run station, CN8, has been a contentious issue for some time, as both stations have aired Penn sporting events live for several years.
PVN's Web site has a statement about Comcast SportsNet on its "General Questions" page.
"The key factor is that the PVN is a closed-circuit cable system, with no connection to other cable TV franchises," the Web site says. "All of the programming that we receive is acquired via satellite dish. CSN is not currently available by satellite; it is instead passed from one regional franchise to another where the different cable plants intersect. So, presently, we are unable to receive CSN or deliver it to campus."
The statement continues, "While we face significant challenges, we do continue to examine possible solutions, and we look forward to one day featuring Comcast SportsNet in PVN's cable lineup."
Garson interned at CSN this summer, during which time he lobbied both sides to find a resolution. He is still trying, and he remains optimistic.
"As far as I know, from talking to people at PVN, Comcast SportsNet is a possibility on Penn's campus," he said.
He added that students interested in having OLN, CSN or CN8 on the Penn Video Network should e-mail video@isc.upenn.edu to express their opinions.
"Even though you may not get a reply, they are hearing your messages," Garson said, adding that there has been an "outpouring of people who are interested in hockey coverage -- they are not only hearing it from me."
He also said that Quest may do some Flyers coverage of its own, although it will likely not be game broadcasts. Regardless of that, though, Garson said that pressure by students is the best way to get the ball, or puck, moving.
"Once we get to the point where there is an agreement that this is a channel that students want, and that the Residential Advisory Board wants to go with it, then the process moves along fairly quickly," he said.
