Happenings on the Mtn.

Comments on the first week of coverage on the Mtn...
(I have been impressed by what is happening on the Mtn to change the Problems on the Mountain postings to Happenings on the Mtn.  At least as long as they continue with this improvement.)

Another season of college football has started and with it focus for the Mountain West Conference is placed on the Mountain Television Station.  The upside to this season is that this is the first season that the Mtn is available on DirectTV.  That is a huge accomplishment, and something that should be seen as a huge step forward for the conference.  That move has bought some time for the struggling television station to gain some viewership among their target market, the mountain west conference football fan.  There is little excuse now for a fan wanting to see Mountain West Conference sports not to switch to either Comcast or DirectTV.

The first games that were broadcast this year on the Mtn proved that the station has made some good  changes.  The picture is improved from last season.  In the past watching the games it was hard to see what the score was in the corner, let alone the names on the back of the jerseys.  This year viewers can actually read the graphics, and see more of the players than blurs on the field.  Is the picture perfect?  No, the picture is very primitive compared to other stations analog signals; not to mention the complete difference between the Mtn current picture and a HD broadcast.  The picture quality should be the top priority for the station.  Improving the picture quality should be even more important than getting the station on Dish Network.  It costs money to improve the equipment to make the broadcast better; however, the station should view the move to HD as an investment that will make the station legitimate.

The graphics overall are much better this year, compared to the graphics used in the past.  The news bar at the bottom of the screen is much better.  The station has simplified it, and it seems that it is smaller this season as well. (Although it might just be that it isn't a huge eye sore that it was last year.)  Not having the Mtn logo flying all over the screen after every change of camera was great.  The camera also was focused more on what was going on in the game, then showing random shots of people in the crowd/sideline during the game.  There was also a wider angle given of the field so the fan could see more of what is going on during the game.

One thing that the Mtn needs to improve is to televise every football game in the conference.  There is no excuse for why any football game in the Mountain West Conference shouldn't be televised.  It just involves more planning on the part of the athletic directors, conference commissioner, and powers at the Mtn.  The Mtn is always looking for more content to broadcast, why they would not take advantage of any football games that they would be able to broadcast is mind blowing. Planning seems to be a key problem with the Mtn network/The Mountain West Conference.  Hopefully that is something that they will continue to improve along with the rest of the station.

There has been improvement, and the station looks better now than it has ever looked before.  Yet, there is still a lot that the station has to improve on to become  a successful alternative to ESPN for the Mountain West Conference.  Hopefully the Mtn will continue on this path forward.