Irish TV streak to end

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame fans will see how the rest of the college football world lives this weekend as they scramble to find where they can watch the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish play at Air Force.

For the first time since 1992, a Notre Dame football game will not be shown by either NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN – a streak of 169 games. The game will be shown on CBS Corp.’s CSTV, a college sports network normally seen in about 15 million homes.

CSTV is offering its programming to cable operators for free this weekend, but not all operators are accepting. Brian Bedol, president and chief executive for CSTV, estimates the game will be available to 30 million to 40 million homes through cable TV, DirecTV or the Dish Network.

For people who live where the game is not available on cable, such as the South Bend area, they can watch the game on their computers on a pay-per-view basis. It costs $14.95 for people who sign up for the game before Saturday and $19.95 for people who sign up Saturday.

John Heisler, Notre Dame’s senior associate athletic director, said he has heard from some upset Irish fans.

“You get a few people who don’t understand how it works,” he said. “Some fans just assume we’re the ones who make all these arrangements for every one of our games.”

Heisler said most people understand the home team controls where the games are broadcast. CSTV has the rights to the game through its contract with the Mountain West Conference, of which Air Force is a member.