is a multimedia network and the first dedicated exclusively to college sports 24 hours a day. It consists of CSTV, a digital television service seen in more than 20 million homes via cable and satellite, and CSTV.com and its network of 215 official college websites.
The network planted its roots in 1999 when Chris Bevilacqua approached co-founders of Classic Sports Network Brian Bedol and Stephen D. Greenberg – at that time, running Fusient Media Ventures, a New York-based sports and media company – came up with the idea for a network featuring all college sports all the time.
In November 2005,
CBS Corporation purchased CSTV for $325 million.
The network launched as the National College Sports Network in June, 2002 and was then renamed College Sports Television (CSTV) in February, 2003. From their headquarters and studio operations at Chelsea Piers in New York City, CSTV debuted directly after the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with a live telecast of a Notre Dame–Connecticut women’s basketball game from the Big East Conference. The debut was also noteworthy as CSTV was the first independent cable channel to appear on nationwide, on the DirecTV satellite system, at launch. In 2006, CSTV was purchased by CBS and became the 24-hour college sports network from CBS Sports. In 2007, a Sports Business Journal poll declared viewers chose CSTV by a 3-to-1 margin over its competitors.
Since airing that first game, CSTV has televised thousands of hours of original programming, features, talk shows and documentaries as well as more women’s sports coverage than any other network. Its regular season and championship event coverage draws from every major collegiate athletic conference and division, in addition to nine NCAA championships. CSTV televises 35 men’s and women’s college sports including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, wrestling and volleyball from every major conference. The network holds multi-media and marketing rights for the Mountain West Conference, the Atlantic 10 Conference, Conference USA, the Big West Conference, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Navy athletics.
CSTV has compiled a roster of broadcasters including basketball analysts Pete Gillen, who led Virginia, Xavier and Providence to the NCAA tournament, and Steve Lappas, the former Manhattan, U-Mass and Villanova coach. On the football side, former NFL players Trev Alberts and Brian Jones provide analysis. Renowned author and college sports insider Brian Curtis, along with Greg Amsinger and Adam Zucker anchor CSTV’s coverage from the studio.
In April 2006, CSTV launched the first annual
Collegiate Nationals , a festival of championships dedicated to crowning champions in a wide variety of collegiate action sports such as snowboarding, wakeboarding, and beach volleyball. More than 1,000 competitors converged on Reno-Tahoe to compete, the largest amount ever for an event of its kind. For its second installment, the Collegiate Nationals is adding sports and other events such as national film and music competitions, as well as a second venue – San Diego.
In Fall 2006, CSTV and Comcast launched the mtn. – the first network dedicated to the coverage of one college conference featuring wall-to-wall coverage of the
Mountain West Conference schools – Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Utah, and Wyoming. However, the mtn. network is not available to most fans in Utah and other areas because it is only carried on cable. DirecTV and Dish Network have not been able to negotiate the rights to show it, and MWC games are no longer carried by any broadcast stations. The relationship with the Mountain West also gave CSTV exclusive online and broadcasting rights to Notre Dame’s game at Air Force on November 11, 2006.
CSTV is available on cable systems across the country, including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Insight, Bright House Networks, Mediacom, Insight, RCN, Advanced Cable and Bresnan. It is also available on DIRECTV's Total Choice Premier Package Channel 610 and DISH Network's America's Top 120 Package Channel 152.
In the fall of 2006, CSTV launched more than 100 broadband channels dedicated to college sports, which feature more than 10,000 live events. The subscription service, CSTV XXL, and its portfolio of broadband channels in its All-Access suite, include coverage of Notre Dame, USC, Kansas, Ohio State and North Carolina. CSTV also offers additional collegiate contests online on a pay-per-view basis.
CSTV is partnered with The Boys & Girls Clubs of America in the establishment of The Fields & Dreams Foundation, dedicated to helping underserved high school students increase achievement through athletics. Co-chaired by former U.S. Senator, Rhodes Scholar and basketball icon Bill Bradley, the Foundation created the first national telethon based around a live football game in raising funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina, as well as SAT Prep courses for communities around the country.
