The new Pac-12 Enterprises

[M-I-Coug]

How new Pac-12 exec plans to turn Pac-12 Networks into profit source​

Jon Wilner
May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am Updated May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast their final live event later this month and cease to exist as a media distribution company at the end of June. But the engineers, cutting-edge technology and production facility will remain in place under a new executive.

The conference has appointed Michael Molinari the senior vice president for business development and studio operations for Pac-12 Enterprises.

Essentially, he’s the general manager of content production, charged with turning what remains into a source of profit and leverage — everything the Pac-12 Networks were not.

“Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and high level of respect from across the sports broadcasting landscape to lead our new production services business with Pac-12 Enterprises,” Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

More from jon wilner​

“We are excited for his leadership in bringing these offerings to market and helping us realize our vision for this extraordinary facility.”

First question: What are Pac-12 Enterprises?

Simply put, it’s the conference’s media production arm — the guts of the broader operation that was the Pac-12 Networks — and it’s located in a massive office in a business park in San Ramon, Calif.

Molinari knows the facility and the engineers well, having served as the Pac-12 Networks’ lead producer for football and men’s basketball broadcasts for more than a decade. (His previous stops include ESPN and the Big Ten Network.)

Molinari and Gould are planning to take the production services “external” and identify “new and prospective clients to utilize [the] full suite of production capabilities,” according to the conference.

The production facility includes:

• More than 2,000 square feet of “acoustically-tuned stage space and insert studios.”
• Nine broadcast control rooms.
• The infrastructure and connectivity “to produce live events anywhere in the world.”

The facility will produce two buckets of live events for Washington State and Oregon State in the upcoming competition year.

Earlier this week, the “Pac-2” schools announced a media rights agreement with The CW and Fox to broadcast their 13 home football games. Fox has its own production team, but The CW does not. Pac-12 Enterprises will handle production for those 11 games.

The second bucket encompasses everything else.

For the next two years, the Cougars and Beavers will be affiliate members of the West Coast Conference in basketball and other Olympic sports.

The WCC has an exclusive agreement with ESPN+ to broadcast more than 900 live events.

Pac-12 Enterprises will handle the task for the Cougars and Beavers.

But there’s room for more business, and that’s where Molinari comes in.

He’ll attempt to not only find clients — Apple and Amazon, for example, outsource production of their live sports broadcasts — but also turn Pac-12 Enterprises into a piece of leverage for the next round of realignment.

If WSU and OSU decide to rebuild the conference in time for the 2026 football season, they will need a media rights agreement.

That agreement will include a streaming component (ESPN+, Amazon, Apple, etc.), but building on-campus production facilities to meet digital media demands is a costly undertaking.

The Pac-12’s infrastructure would limit the scope of any campus build-out, potentially making the conference more attractive to both new members and new media partners.

It’s bold thinking, for sure, and it might become a lost cause. Nobody knows what options will exist for Washington State and Oregon State in 12 or 18 months.

But they need to be ready, and Pac-12 Enterprises is an important piece of the preparation.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com

 

[Loyal Coug1]

How new Pac-12 exec plans to turn Pac-12 Networks into profit source​

Jon Wilner
May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am Updated May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast their final live event later this month and cease to exist as a media distribution company at the end of June. But the engineers, cutting-edge technology and production facility will remain in place under a new executive.

The conference has appointed Michael Molinari the senior vice president for business development and studio operations for Pac-12 Enterprises.

Essentially, he’s the general manager of content production, charged with turning what remains into a source of profit and leverage — everything the Pac-12 Networks were not.

“Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and high level of respect from across the sports broadcasting landscape to lead our new production services business with Pac-12 Enterprises,” Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

More from jon wilner​

“We are excited for his leadership in bringing these offerings to market and helping us realize our vision for this extraordinary facility.”

First question: What are Pac-12 Enterprises?

Simply put, it’s the conference’s media production arm — the guts of the broader operation that was the Pac-12 Networks — and it’s located in a massive office in a business park in San Ramon, Calif.

Molinari knows the facility and the engineers well, having served as the Pac-12 Networks’ lead producer for football and men’s basketball broadcasts for more than a decade. (His previous stops include ESPN and the Big Ten Network.)

Molinari and Gould are planning to take the production services “external” and identify “new and prospective clients to utilize [the] full suite of production capabilities,” according to the conference.

The production facility includes:

• More than 2,000 square feet of “acoustically-tuned stage space and insert studios.”
• Nine broadcast control rooms.
• The infrastructure and connectivity “to produce live events anywhere in the world.”

The facility will produce two buckets of live events for Washington State and Oregon State in the upcoming competition year.

Earlier this week, the “Pac-2” schools announced a media rights agreement with The CW and Fox to broadcast their 13 home football games. Fox has its own production team, but The CW does not. Pac-12 Enterprises will handle production for those 11 games.

The second bucket encompasses everything else.

For the next two years, the Cougars and Beavers will be affiliate members of the West Coast Conference in basketball and other Olympic sports.

The WCC has an exclusive agreement with ESPN+ to broadcast more than 900 live events.

Pac-12 Enterprises will handle the task for the Cougars and Beavers.

But there’s room for more business, and that’s where Molinari comes in.

He’ll attempt to not only find clients — Apple and Amazon, for example, outsource production of their live sports broadcasts — but also turn Pac-12 Enterprises into a piece of leverage for the next round of realignment.

If WSU and OSU decide to rebuild the conference in time for the 2026 football season, they will need a media rights agreement.

That agreement will include a streaming component (ESPN+, Amazon, Apple, etc.), but building on-campus production facilities to meet digital media demands is a costly undertaking.

The Pac-12’s infrastructure would limit the scope of any campus build-out, potentially making the conference more attractive to both new members and new media partners.

It’s bold thinking, for sure, and it might become a lost cause. Nobody knows what options will exist for Washington State and Oregon State in 12 or 18 months.

But they need to be ready, and Pac-12 Enterprises is an important piece of the preparation.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com

I'll bite. My reaction is OK, we have the infrastructure (sunk costs, eh?), let's see if we can make a go of it.

 

[M-I-Coug]

I wonder if Yogi Roth and Ashley Adamson will be retained? Greg Heister for hoops.

 

[mikalalas]

How new Pac-12 exec plans to turn Pac-12 Networks into profit source​

Jon Wilner
May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am Updated May 16, 2024 at 8:00 am
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast their final live event later this month and cease to exist as a media distribution company at the end of June. But the engineers, cutting-edge technology and production facility will remain in place under a new executive.

The conference has appointed Michael Molinari the senior vice president for business development and studio operations for Pac-12 Enterprises.

Essentially, he’s the general manager of content production, charged with turning what remains into a source of profit and leverage — everything the Pac-12 Networks were not.

“Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and high level of respect from across the sports broadcasting landscape to lead our new production services business with Pac-12 Enterprises,” Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

More from jon wilner​

“We are excited for his leadership in bringing these offerings to market and helping us realize our vision for this extraordinary facility.”

First question: What are Pac-12 Enterprises?

Simply put, it’s the conference’s media production arm — the guts of the broader operation that was the Pac-12 Networks — and it’s located in a massive office in a business park in San Ramon, Calif.

Molinari knows the facility and the engineers well, having served as the Pac-12 Networks’ lead producer for football and men’s basketball broadcasts for more than a decade. (His previous stops include ESPN and the Big Ten Network.)

Molinari and Gould are planning to take the production services “external” and identify “new and prospective clients to utilize [the] full suite of production capabilities,” according to the conference.

The production facility includes:

• More than 2,000 square feet of “acoustically-tuned stage space and insert studios.”
• Nine broadcast control rooms.
• The infrastructure and connectivity “to produce live events anywhere in the world.”

The facility will produce two buckets of live events for Washington State and Oregon State in the upcoming competition year.

Earlier this week, the “Pac-2” schools announced a media rights agreement with The CW and Fox to broadcast their 13 home football games. Fox has its own production team, but The CW does not. Pac-12 Enterprises will handle production for those 11 games.

The second bucket encompasses everything else.

For the next two years, the Cougars and Beavers will be affiliate members of the West Coast Conference in basketball and other Olympic sports.

The WCC has an exclusive agreement with ESPN+ to broadcast more than 900 live events.

Pac-12 Enterprises will handle the task for the Cougars and Beavers.

But there’s room for more business, and that’s where Molinari comes in.

He’ll attempt to not only find clients — Apple and Amazon, for example, outsource production of their live sports broadcasts — but also turn Pac-12 Enterprises into a piece of leverage for the next round of realignment.

If WSU and OSU decide to rebuild the conference in time for the 2026 football season, they will need a media rights agreement.

That agreement will include a streaming component (ESPN+, Amazon, Apple, etc.), but building on-campus production facilities to meet digital media demands is a costly undertaking.

The Pac-12’s infrastructure would limit the scope of any campus build-out, potentially making the conference more attractive to both new members and new media partners.

It’s bold thinking, for sure, and it might become a lost cause. Nobody knows what options will exist for Washington State and Oregon State in 12 or 18 months.

But they need to be ready, and Pac-12 Enterprises is an important piece of the preparation.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com

Am I understanding this right that ESPN+ will be doing the broadcasts for the games between WSU, and the other WCC teams, and that PAC 12 enterprises will be using the PAC 12 Enterprises, PAC 12 network APPARATUS, etc, to do the PRODUCTION, for ESPN+, instead of ESPN+ using its own production APPARATUS, for a price to be paid to PAC 12 Enterprises, PAC 12, WSU, OSU, whatever that price, fee, might be(Maybe, probably cheaper then, for, to ESPN+ to outsource to PAC 12's Production Apparatus, instead of using their own ESPN+ Production Apparatus.

Oh the possibilities, if cards played right!

Teresa Gould, and Michael = MUCH SMARTER, BETTER THEN LARRY SCOTT, ETC!

And way the Hell better use, marketing, etc, of the PAC 12's PAC 12 Enterprises, Production Facility, etc, then Larry Scott's way of just only using the facility to produce PAC 12 Network Games, and not contracting, outsourcing, an or letting Direct TV, Dish, Comcast, ESPN, etc, run the network for the PAC 12, etc.

More super good ideas, etc, like this please!

 

[mikalalas]

Am I understanding this right that ESPN+ will be doing the broadcasts for the games between WSU, and the other WCC teams, and that PAC 12 enterprises will be using the PAC 12 Enterprises, PAC 12 network APPARATUS, etc, to do the PRODUCTION, for ESPN+, instead of ESPN+ using its own production APPARATUS, for a price to be paid to PAC 12 Enterprises, PAC 12, WSU, OSU, whatever that price, fee, might be(Maybe, probably cheaper then, for, to ESPN+ to outsource to PAC 12's Production Apparatus, instead of using their own ESPN+ Production Apparatus.

Oh the possibilities, if cards played right!

Teresa Gould, and Michael = MUCH SMARTER, BETTER THEN LARRY SCOTT, ETC!

And way the Hell better use, marketing, etc, of the PAC 12's PAC 12 Enterprises, Production Facility, etc, then Larry Scott's way of just only using the facility to produce PAC 12 Network Games, and not contracting, outsourcing, an or letting Direct TV, Dish, Comcast, ESPN, etc, run the network for the PAC 12, etc.

More super good ideas, etc, like this please!

My reasoning for thinking what I as asking about:

If PAC 12 Production Facility is doing the game for ALL WSU, OSU games, and IF ESPN+ is doing ALL the games for WCC, even WSU, OSU, then IF the PAC 12 Production facility was not doing the Production for ESPN+, and IF ESPN+ were using it's own ESPN+ Production facility, instead of PAC 12's Production Facility, then the article saying that the PAC 12 Production facility is doing ALL, WSU, OSU games, even ALL the games that between WCC and WSU, OSU, that ESPN+ also doing since those games, WCC games, then that wouldn't be correct, as the PAC 12 Production facility, wouldn't be doing ALL WSU, OSU games, including WCC games that ESPN+ doing, because ESPN+ would be using its own FACILITY, instead of using the PAC 12 Facility.


The article does not directly say it, but if read between the lines, use logic, extrapolate, add 2+2 together CORRECTLY, then that's the factual, logical, extrapolated conclusion, unless what the article is saying is wrong.

But if the article is right, then 2+2, logic, facts, extrapolation, correct interpretation, etc, says that the PAC 12 Production facility is doing the production for ESPN, at, for games between WSU, OSU, PAC 12, PAC 2 and the WCC teams.


Isn't adding 2+2 figuratively, and logic, and extrapolation, and correct factual interpretation, etc, to correctly deduce something like this a wonderful thing!

This is the same way, process, that I, others figure out things, where there is not other sources saying things like "The PAC 12 production facility is going to be doing the games between the PAC 2, and WCC, for ESPN+".

So no need to say things like "Show me a source that says "The PAC 12 production facility is doing the Production for the games between the WCC, and the PAC 2.".


Ah logic, extrapolation, correct factual interpretation, reading comprehension, deduction, figuring things out, etc, is a wonderful thing, process!