Longhorn Network (LHN) was an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and was operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications).
The LHN branding was repurposed for a school-run digital platform that will carry similar content, as well as archived original programming from the ESPN-run channel.
[9] Two months later on December 12, Cox Communications announced a comprehensive long-term distribution agreement that included adding the Longhorn Network to its systems in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
[10][11] On December 31, 2012, Charter Communications announced that it would add LHN as part of a wide-range long-term carriage deal with ESPN and The Walt Disney Company.
On December 23, 2014, DirecTV announced a long-term, wide-ranging distribution agreement with Disney that included the carriage of Longhorn Network.
[21] The network closed on June 30, 2024 at 5 p.m. CT, preceded by a marathon of its documentary miniseries 05 (which profiled the national champion 2005 Longhorns football team) and a staff roll of closing credits before going dark, followed by the channel's shutdown notice, which remain on for a few hours before cable services begin broadcasting a slide notifying the network's closure.
[25][26][23] [27][28] The first live sports event broadcast on the network aired on the date of its launch, the women's volleyball team's 2011 season opener against the Pepperdine Waves.
The first live football game telecast on the network aired on September 3, 2011, in which the Longhorns played against the Rice Owls.
[citation needed] From the initial announcement of the Longhorn Network, ESPN had made it known that it desired to broadcast up to 18 high school football games per season.
Texas A&M, due to what that university viewed as possible recruiting violations, cites the LHN as the reason for its decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.
[39] It was reported that ESPN asked Texas Tech for permission to broadcast the team's November 5, 2011, game against the Longhorns on the network.
In November 2012, ESPN syndicated a second feed of a Longhorn football home game against Iowa State to ABC-affiliated television stations across Iowa (including KETV in Omaha, Nebraska, which is owned by ESPN part-owner Hearst Corporation) to provide access to the game within that state.
Mediacom eventually established an online/traditional network with Iowa State in their service area, Cyclones.tv, featuring university programming, along with any live games featuring Texas which are only available through Longhorn Network with Iowa State overlaying their own play-by-play and commentary, or producing their own telecast entirely.
"[48] In 2011 the stipulation included in the network's founding agreement that gives Texas the right to dismiss LHN announcers that do not "reflect the quality and reputation of UT" was questioned.