ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational
subscription-television channel owned and operated by
ESPN Inc.
ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity w ...
Dedicated to coverage of the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...
, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel operates from ESPN's headquarters in
Bristol, Connecticut, though some programming and staff is in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...
.
The network's digital platform, ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), streams on
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
and the ESPN app for ACC Network subscribers, and carries ACC events not broadcast on television.
History
There had been repeated calls for the ACC to establish its own cable channel, similar to those that had or were being established by other
Power Five conferences.
From July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013 (in the midst of
realignment that saw
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Syracuse and
Louisville announce that they would join the ACC,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
leave for the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, and
Notre Dame join the ACC outside of football), the ACC took in less television revenue than the
Pac-12,
SEC and Big Ten conferences. The
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
and
Pac-12 had already launched their own channels, while ESPN and the SEC had announced the
SEC Network would launch in 2014.
SEC Network's first year of operation increased the conference's television revenue by around $100 million.
In discussions with ESPN management, there were uncertainties over whether an ACC channel would be economically viable, due to
cord cutting
In broadcast television, cord-cutting refers to the pattern of viewers, referred to as cord-cutters, cancelling their subscriptions to multichannel television services available over cable or satellite, dropping pay television channels or reduc ...
and changing television viewing habits.
The stability of the ACC itself was also questioned, but was addressed in 2013 by requiring the conference's current teams to grant the ACC control of media rights to all home games through the 2026–2027 season, even if they leave the conference. This policy effectively discourages schools from leaving the ACC, and left the SEC as the only Power Five conference to not have a similar grant requirement.
Eric J. Barron
Eric James Barron (born October 26, 1951) is an American academic administrator who was the 18th president of the Pennsylvania State University from 2014 until 2022. Previously, he was the 14th president of Florida State University and director ...
, president of
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
, stated that the grant would "ensure that the conference will strengthen its position of leadership among Division I athletics", and stated that "we are also very pleased that we will be moving forward on the next phase of developing an ACC network."
On July 21, 2016, at a media event in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...
, ESPN announced a 20-year extension of its contract with the ACC, and that it would launch a cable channel dedicated to the ACC in 2019 known as the ACC Network. The announcement was attended by then-ESPN president
John Skipper
John Skipper is an American television executive, former executive chairman of DAZN Group, and former president of ESPN.
Career Education and early career
Skipper attended Lexington Senior High School in Lexington, North Carolina. He th ...
and ACC commissioner
John Swofford
John Douglas Swofford is an American former college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1980 to 1997 and as the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) fr ...
. Ahead of the television network's launch, ESPN announced that it would begin to stream ACC events beginning in the upcoming 2016 season.
Following the announcement, Skipper defended the decision to go on with launching a linear television network, arguing that sports were the most valuable property on television because they are "
the only thing you have to watch live".
Each ACC school constructed production facilities so they can contribute programming to the channel. Its operations are based out of ESPN's main studios in Bristol, but some programming originates from Charlotte, North Carolina (where SEC Network, and formerly ESPNU, also operate).
In November 2018, it was officially announced that ACCN would launch on August 22, 2019. Opening night programming included the
ESPN Films
ESPN Films, formerly known as ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE), is an American production company which produces and distributes sports films and documentaries. It is owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (wh ...
documentary ''The Class That Saved Coach K'', which chronicled
Mike Krzyzewski's turnaround of the
Duke Blue Devils basketball team in the 1980s.
It aired its first football game on August 29, with the defending national champion
Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...
hosting the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wre ...
.
Programming
ACC Network is expected to carry 1,300 events per-year.
To provide more content for the channel, the ACC agreed to expand its conference schedule in college basketball to 20 games by the 2019–2020 season. ESPN also acquired the secondary ACC rights previously sub-licensed to
Raycom Sports for its syndicated ''
ACC Network'' (the company will continue to be involved as a subcontractee for events that can be carried by the new channel).
Mark Packer and
Wes Durham host the morning show ''Packer and Durham'', simulcast on ACCN and
SiriusXM.
''All ACC'' will serve as the network's general news program, while ''The Huddle'' airs on Friday nights and Saturday mornings during football season.
As a prelude to the linear channel, and as part of ESPN's new rights package, ESPN's digital platform
WatchESPN
WatchESPN was a branding of the Internet television website and mobile application operated by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst ...
began to carry broadcasts of ACC sporting events not on television under the branding ACC Network Extra. ESPN promoted that it would carry over 600 live telecasts per-season.
ACCNX has continued its operations following the launch of the channel, becoming available exclusively to ACC Network subscribers.
Carriage
ESPN stated in June 2017 that it had reached carriage deals for the ACC Network with unknown providers. In October 2017,
Altice USA committed to offering the channel as part of in its latest round of carriage negotiations with Disney. On December 30, 2018, Disney reached a new carriage agreement with
Verizon Fios, which included carriage of the ACC Network. On March 12, 2019, agreement was reached with
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...
to carry the ACC Network on
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
at launch. Live television streaming services
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
,
PlayStation Vue,
YouTube TV, and
TVision Home also signed agreements to carry the channel at launch.
On August 14,
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...
, the largest cable provider in the ACC's heartland of North Carolina, agreed to carry ACCN as part of a new carriage agreement covering all Disney networks (including those acquired from
21st Century Fox
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, fo ...
). On August 29,
Dish Network agreed to carry the network on both Dish satellite TV service and
Sling TV
Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor a ...
streaming service just in time to broadcast the Clemson/Georgia Tech football game. On September 4,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
agreed to carry the network. On September 25,
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...
agreed to carry the network on both
AT&T U-Verse and
AT&T TV Now. Deals were also made with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), and Vivicast to carry the channel at launch on various smaller cable TV systems across the country.
In the ACC Network's first athletic year, ESPN successfully negotiated the network's carriage to 70 million households on all major cable and satellite TV providers, with the sole exception of
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
. The holdout, Comcast, which provides cable television to 19 million households as of Q3 2020, claimed in September 2019 that ESPN was not allowing them to carry the network at a "fair and reasonable cost" to their customers. Following a two-year holdout, ESPN and Comcast eventually came to a deal to carry ACC Network on
Xfinity in November 2021.
[, accessed December 2, 2021]
Personalities
*
Cory Alexander
*
Debbie Antonelli
Debbie Antonelli is a college basketball analyst who works for ESPN, Big Ten Network, CBS, FOX, and Westwood One. She also does WNBA games for ESPN and NBATV, and has been the main play-by-play voice of the Indiana Fever; since its inception, in ...
*
Carlos Boozer
Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last seas ...
*
Dan Bonner
*
Joel Berry II
Joel DeWayne Berry II (born April 1, 1995) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels and led the team to the 2017 national championship. Berry played professionally for tw ...
*''Dalen Cuff''
*''Jordan Cornette''
*
Wes Durham
*
Katie George
*
Mike Gminski
*''Kelly Gramlich''
*
Luke Hancock
Patrick Lucas "Luke" Hancock (born January 30, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player and current financial adviser. He played in six games for Panionios of the Greek Basket League before tearing a muscle in his calf, ending hi ...
*
Malcolm Huckaby
*
Tim Hasselbeck
Timothy Thomas Hasselbeck (born April 6, 1979) is an American sports journalist and former American football quarterback who currently works as an analyst for ESPN. He played eight seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants, Washington Redskins ...
*
EJ Manuel
*
Muffet McGraw
Ann "Muffet" McGraw (born December 5, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach, who served as the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons. She led her team to ...
*
Dave O'Brien
*''Mark Packer''
*
Kelsey Riggs
*
Mark Richt
Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former player, and television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mater, ...
*
Kate Scott
*''KJ Smith''
References
External links
*
{{ESPN
Atlantic Coast Conference
College sports television networks
English-language television stations in the United States
ESPN media outlets
Sports television networks in the United States
College basketball on television in the United States
College football on television
Television channels and stations established in 2019