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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Maestas
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/5/08
HM 44
SHORT TITLE Televise Mountain West Conference Games
SB
ANALYST Haug
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Memorial 44 reinforces support for current efforts to have the Mountain West Sports
Network made part of basic cable service and for the network to be offered on satellite television
networks. Further House Memorial 44 request that, should these current efforts not bear fruit,
the appropriate legislative committee investigate and make recommendations to the forty-ninth
legislature for legislation to address the problem . Copies of the memorial would be sent to:
•
the chief executive officers of Comcast Cable and CSTV Networks, Inc;
•
the Commissioners of the Mountain West Conference;
•
the President of the University of New Mexico and
•
the New Mexico Legislative Council Service.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
House Memorial 44 has no financial impact.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The University of New Mexico is a member of the Mountain West Conference.
The Mountain West Conference is on the brink of breaking into the bowl championship series,
which is currently made up of the top six conferences in the nation, including the Big 10, PAC
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House Memorial 44 – Page
2
10, Big 12, Big East, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences.
The Mountain West Conference has an exclusive long-term contract with a network established
by CSTV Networks, Inc., and Comcast Cable, called "the mtn.", short for the Mountain West
Sports Network.
The 2006 announcement of this deal stated that "CSTV will be added to Comcast's digital basic
systems in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
The common understanding of "basic cable" is that all cable subscribers receive certain programs
without extra charges or without being required to buy a premium package.
The Mountain West Sports Network is not part of basic cable service anywhere in New Mexico,
is unavailable via satellite television providers such as DirecTV and DISH Network and is not
even available as an extra cost option outside the larger municipalities in the state.
Cable television companies are granted monopolies by local governments throughout the state,
but they have not been required to offer the Mountain West Sports Network as part of basic cable
service.
As government-endorsed cable television monopolies, these companies should be required to
provide coverage of local news and sports programs as part of their basic service package,
especially if these programs are made otherwise unavailable because of deals made by these
same cable companies.
United States senators from New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado have all expressed
concern about the inability of cable and satellite companies to come to an agreement that will
allow all subscribers in those states access to Mountain West Conference games.
GH/mt