Big 12 Network
| Type | Live Syndicated college sports programming service |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | Mainly in central portions of the United States |
| Owner |
ESPN, Inc. (ESPN Events) |
|
Launch date
|
1996 (under ESPN Plus branding) September 6, 2008 (under the Big 12 Network branding) |
| Dissolved | March 15, 2014 |
|
Picture format
|
1080i 16:9 HDTV (since 2008) 480i 4:3 SDTV widescreen (1996–2008; 1996–2010 on some affiliates) |
|
Official website
|
Big 12 Website |
The Big 12 Network (stylized as the Big XII Network) was a syndicated package featuring live broadcasts of College basketball events from the Big 12 Conference that was broadcast under that branding from 2008 until 2014. It was owned and operated by ESPN Plus, the syndication arm of ESPN, Inc., and was mainly shown in areas in the Big 12’s geographical footprint, along with other areas of the United States. Games were shown locally on broadcast stations, regional sports networks, as well as on ESPN Full Court, and WatchESPN.
Beginning in 1996 after ESPN’s consolidation of Creative Sports (which ESPN owned since 1994 ) and OCC Sports (acquired from Ohlmeyer Communication Company), ESPN Plus (also known as ESPN Regional Television) assumed syndication rights to Big 12 Conference men’s basketball games after the Big 8 Conference and the Southwest Conference merged to create the Big 12. Raycom Sports previously had syndication rights to basketball and football games of both those conferences from the 1980s until that syndicator lost the Big 8 in 1993-94, and the Southwest Conference merged with the Big 8 to become the Big 12 Conference in 1996.
Starting with the 2008-2009 season, all Big 12 Conference basketball game broadcasts from ESPN Plus began to be broadcast under the Big 12 Network branding.
After the first 18 years of the conference’s existence, the Big 12 Network ceased operations in 2014 as all rights to Big 12 Basketball moved to the ESPN family of networks (e.g. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews). Several Big 12 basketball games also moved to the Texas Longhorns-oriented Longhorn Network, which is a joint venture between ESPN and the University of Texas at Austin that launched in August 2011. However, CBS Sports does choose to broadcast at least two to three Big 12 games under their NCAA on CBS branding.
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