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Sports

Oceanic will make UH-BSU available

Ferd Lewis

Oceanic Time Warner Cable has called an audible and said it will make Saturday’s University of Hawaii-Boise State football showdown available to all its digital customers and UH pay-per-view subscribers.

The 9:30 a.m. (Hawaii time) game matches the only teams remaining unbeaten in Western Athletic Conference play. UH is 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the WAC. Second-ranked Boise State is 7-0 and 3-0.

Oceanic said the game will be shown to a potential audience of 238,000 of its 425,000 subscribers on channels 219 and 1219.

Norman Santos, Oceanic vice president, said notice of operative channels will be posted on the system and subscribers will be notified. Affected pay-per-view subscribers are also being informed about rebate options, including donating the roughly $10-$20 return to UH.

The UH-Boise State game was originally scheduled as part of the 16-event pay-per-view package, but under the terms of its contract with the WAC, ESPN announced last week it would pick up the contest and show it on its ESPNU platform.

Because ESPNU was not included in all the Oceanic packages and available to about 42 percent of subscribers here, the cable provider asked ESPN’s permission to simulcast the game so all the previous purchasers could be accommodated. Those requests were turned down, ESPN and Oceanic said yesterday.

So, Santos said, "our first (priority) was to make sure the game gets into the hands of the people who purchased it."

Santos said talks are continuing about whether the game will be available for a replay on Sunday.

UH and its partners could sustain an estimated $250,000 in lost PPV revenue as a result of ESPN picking up the game.

Meanwhile, about 2,000 PPV subscribers who missed out on part or all of the first half of last week’s Idaho game also are due rebates with information scheduled to go out soon, Santos said.

 

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