ACC Network

Yes I KNOW that it doesn't start until later in August but I would like confirmation that Xfinity Comcast is Going to carry this channel.  Other providers have confirmed that they will carry it.  I would like to know if Xfinity has signed on to have it.

---

@ah1121 wrote:

Yes I KNOW that it doesn't start until later in August but I would like confirmation that Xfinity Comcast is Going to carry this channel.  Other providers have confirmed that they will carry it.  I would like to know if Xfinity has signed on to have it.

---

Comcast (and some other video providers) continue to negotiate with ESPN on contract terms.

Thanks for your patience.

Time to be honest with Comcast subscribers.  10 days until ACC Network launch.  Are you are aren't you going to make a deal with the ACC?  Many subscribers will switch providers if you don't.  This is getting ridiculous and it is not unlike the situation in which Direct TV couldn't, and still hasn't made a deal with the Pac 12 network.  That's been going on for more than 5 years and still no resolution.  Quit leading everyone on and just let us know that no deal will be made with the ACC.  

Please let us know when the ACC Network will be available to Comcast/Xfinity customers.  The ACC Network is a MUST have and would certainly force my household to change providers should the ACC Network not become available to us through Comcast.

Please consider this my customer demand to carry the ACC Network. Failure to carry it will result in my going elsewhere. I do NOT want to do that. So, please make the deal. 

I would like to request that ACC Network be added to the xfinity lineup. Have been trying to find answer to whether it will be available at launch on 8/22

Will Comcast be showing the Acc Network beginning Ausust 22nd? If nort why?

When is Comcast adding the ACC Network?

When is Comcast going to include ACC Network??!!

please do this ASAP!

For those of you complaining that Comcast should be public about the status of its negotiations with ESPN concerning the ACC Network: according to an article in the Roanoke Times, both ESPN and Cox (another major cable company that has not come to a deal concerning the network) have said that they "do not share details of negotiations." It's not just something Comcast does.

An interesting quote from the article:

Sharing article below from the Roanaoke Times in VA  (8/13) that gives some additional background: 

https://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/va_tech/acc-network-still-has-no-deals-with-cox-or-comcast/article_ca0813e1-0d75-5fa7-a4ba-7d4c13ff1177.html

ACC Network still has no deals with Cox or Comcast
Mark Berman, Roanoke Times
8/13/19

The ACC Network will debut next week, but it still remains to be seen just how many area TV viewers will be able to tune in.

The new channel, which is set to launch on Aug. 22, has struck deals with some cable, satellite and streaming companies. But it has yet to make deals to be carried by Cox cable, Comcast cable (Xfinity) or the Dish Network satellite service.

ESPN, which owns the channel, continues to negotiate with cable and satellite providers.

"Negotiations take time, and timing matters here," ESPN senior vice president for college networks Rosalyn Durant said last Thursday on a teleconference. "We are confident that there will be other announcements in the very near future.

"We are having productive conversations with distributors. … Those conversations continue, and will continue through launch and beyond launch."

The channel has agreements with four national providers — the DirecTV satellite service; the Hulu Live TV (as opposed to regular Hulu) streaming service; the PlayStation Vue streaming service; and the YouTube TV (as opposed to regular YouTube) streaming service.

"We are very fortunate … to already have multiple viable options in place for fans to access the network," Durant said. "We do believe that the fans continuing to demand it, and fans' readiness to switch if their home provider doesn't provide it, gets noticed.

"We have four national providers, so fans … will have access on Aug. 22, regardless of where you live, to be with a provider that offers the ACC Network."

Switching providers will be fans' only recourse. They will not be able to turn to ESPN Plus, ESPN.com or the ESPN App.

ACC Network games will be available on the ESPN App and on ESPN.com, but only to customers who already have the ACC Network.

The ACC Network will be available to some area cable customers. The ACC Network has struck a deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative, which includes Shentel.

Shentel marketing vice president Angela Washington said Shentel does plan to add the channel on Aug. 22. She said customers will not see a rate increase in their cable bill "at this time."

Shentel has cable customers in Alleghany, Botetourt, Bedford, Franklin, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe counties, as well as in Covington and Radford.

Durant refused to comment on the status of the negotiations with Cox, Comcast and Dish.

A source familiar with the Comcast negotiations said money is at issue. ESPN is charging providers a fee to carry the ACC Network, so Comcast would have to increase customers' cable bills to pay for it.

Comcast vice president for corporate and financial communications John Demming said Comcast is reviewing ESPN's proposal to carry the ACC Network. He would not give a timetable for Comcast to make a decision.

A Comcast customer who called the company Monday was told by a technical support employee that Comcast is in negotiations and hopes to have a statement in a few days. The employee said many customers have requested the new channel.

The employee implied that the ACC Network and SEC Network might share a channel number in the Comcast lineup, but Demming said such channel-sharing would never happen.

Margaret-Hunter Wade, Cox's director of public affairs for Virginia, said Cox does not share details of negotiations.

"We work hard to keep our customers’ costs at a reasonable price," she said in an email. "So, while we can’t guarantee that the ACC Network will be a part of Cox’s channel lineup, we will make sure our customers are aware of viewing options for their favorite ACC programming."

A Cox customer who called the company Monday was told by a technical support employee that Cox has not informed its employees of any plans to add the ACC Network in the next few months. The employee said a lot of people have called to ask about the channel and that Cox is looking into it.

A Dish Network spokesman declined to comment about the ACC Network.

ACC commissioner John Swofford said last month that he expected some companies to sign up "at the last minute," just before the Aug. 22 launch. He said other companies might sign up before the channel's first football telecast on Aug. 29.

But Swofford also warned last month that it might take as long as three years for some companies to agree to add the channel.

A company might not want to add the ACC Network right now. But whenever a company’s overall “omnibus” deal to carry all Disney-owned channels (such as ESPN and the Disney Channel) expires, Disney/ESPN can simply tell the company it must add the ACC Network as part of a new overall deal.

Durant refused to say last week how many companies seem open to making a deal this month and how many might not do it until their omnibus deals expire in 1-3 years. She also refused to name which companies might hold off for 1-3 years.

"We're going to keep going til we get them all," she said.

ACC Network plans to air 450 live games during the 2019-20 school year, including 40 football games, 150 men's and women's basketball games and many other sports.

Virginia’s first three football games will air on the new channel, as will two of Virginia Tech’s first three football games.

"The conference has been amazing with scheduling strong conference games early in the season to … make a statement around the type of quality you should expect on this network," Durant said. "Regardless of where we are with distribution, you're going to continue to see quality games on the network."

The ACC Network Extra digital platform will carry about 900 live games during the 2019-20 school year — but some area viewers might no longer be able to watch it.

Since debuting in 2016, ACC Network Extra has been available on ESPN.com and on the ESPN App to all customers who get ESPN.

But once the ACC Network debuts, ACC Network Extra will only be available on ESPN.com and on the ESPN App to customers who have the ACC Network.

"Because this is part of the multiplatform approach to ACC Network coverage, it is naturally tied," Durant said. 

A loyal 23 year Comcast cusotmer I hope I do not have to switch cable companies. PLEASE ADD THE ACC NETWORK.

... needs to get with the Comcast Public Relations department and compose a PRESS RELEASE.  TOO many of us are straddling the fence ... waiting on a "Yes" OR "No" from Comcast on whether the ACC Network will be available to subscribers at the launch next week (August 22nd).  

I understand business negotiations require discretion and can NOT be conducted in public.  However, in THIS case, thousands of families (i.e. translation:  PAYING CUSTOMERS!) are waiting, and need to take action to find other providers if Comcast delays further, ... OR says "no".  

Charter / Spectrum announced their participation today.  Friends I've spoken with agree:  We'll leave Comcast TV next Tuesday or Wednesday with no PRESS RELEASE on Comcast's intentions.  I can't leave the internet service ... yet ... because the competition told me that so many are leaving Comcast over this ACC Network issue that their "waiting time" for installs right now is 18 (EIGHTEEN!) DAYS!  So, I'll leave Comcast internet service about 3 weeks later than the TV service ... unless we get positive news by Monday (August 19th).  "NO NEWS" is "BAD NEWS" in this circumstance.  I'd hate to change, but Comcast can't delay further lest they make me risk the launch day and the first football game.  

Hoping for a Comcast PRESS RELEASE.  And ... SOON!