DirecTV to carry The Mtn.; UNLV to get more exposure

Mountain West Conference fans who subscribe to DirecTV don’t have to worry anymore about dumping their satellite subscription to pick up The Mtn.

Hayne Ellis, marketing and public relations manager of The Mtn., said Thursday “an agreement has been reached in principle” with the satellite company.

“What we are still missing are the signatures from both sides,” said Ellis, who added an official announcement will be made today.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said this was a major step for conference exposure.

“Now people all over the United States will get to see more coverage of UNLV athletics than ever before,” Hamrick said. “It was disappointing viewership was limited because of a lack of satellite distribution.”

Ellis said his understanding was the target start date would be Sept. 1.

After seven years with ESPN, the Mountain West switched to CSTV as its national carrier in 2006 with a seven-year, $82 million deal. It later was changed to 10 years and $120 million with a four-year option at $12 million per year.

The Mountain West, CSTV and Comcast announced in July 2006 it was establishing The Mtn. as a regional network that would cover league sports only.

But the regional network struggled to get on many cable systems that are home to Mountain West teams, including Cox Cable in Las Vegas.

The Mtn. was added to Cox in late December 2006.