The Pac-12 Networks have been over-promised and under-delivered since their inception in 2012.
From the start, the Pac-12 Nets have been crippled by the conference's insistence on outright ownership, and an inability to come to a deal with DirecTV.
In this column for the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce notes the Pac-12 Nets are available in fewer than 14 million homes. The Big Ten and SEC Networks are available in approximately 60 million homes.
In addition, the Pac-12 is geographically disadvantaged. During the football season it fills late-night TV slots that bleed into the early mornings in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.