Pac-12 Media Day: Shorter game length pilot to be expanded and more

News and notes from Pac-12 Media Day include the expansion of the conference’s shorter game length pilot program and Pac-12 Network updates.

The Pac-12 kicked off Pac-12 Media Day in Hollywood on Wednesday with the usual trickle of news nuggets relating to the conference.

Unfortunately for USC football fans with DirecTV and other service providers who don’t carry the Pac-12 Network, there was no update on that front, but the conference did have some other announcements worth noting.

Last year, the Pac-12 launched a pilot program to experiment with lessening game lengths. Half times were shortened from 20 minutes to 15, kickoff times were shifted and commercial formats were restructured in 15 games broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. As a result, game time on average was cut by five minutes and broadcast time went down by eight minutes. There was also a reduction in overlap for games with back-to-back broadcast times.

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This year, the number of games with those adjustments will balloon to 30 and games will no longer be limited to the Pac-12 Network, with ESPN and FOX agreeing to join in the program.

It’s not clear which games will fall under that umbrella or if USC will experience the changes at all in 2018, but it certainly seems the Pac-12 is ready to move forward with the shortened game lengths.

Pac-12 Network programming notes

Beginning in 2018, the Pac-12 Networks’ “The Pregame” will go on the road, airing from each of the 12 Pac-12 campuses throughout the season. It may not be ESPN’s College GameDay, but it’ll try to capture the feel of each school, for what it’s worth.

Utah will be the first to host the road show as they take on Weber State in Week 1. Then, Stanford will host in the lead up to the pivotal tilt with USC. At some point, the Trojans will welcome the show as well, but the full schedule has yet to be released.

Another preexisting Pac-12 program that will undergo some change this year is “The Drive.” In the past, “The Drive” focused on specific teams for the season, but this year it will cover all 12 teams in short-form. The season will include five half-hour episodes with compilations from across the conference.

The Pac-12 Network will also debut “Pac-12 Playlist” with short-form updates on the conference each day.

Larry Scott addresses the conference

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott opened Pac-12 Media Days with an address covering everything from the conference’s bowl record to head trauma.

The former comments garnered the most attention as the commissioner attempted to downplay the 1-8 record for the Pac-12 in last year’s bowl season.

He also doubled-down on the Pac-12’s media rights model, insisting the conference was best served by controlling their media rights rather than cashing in on a deal with ESPN or another network like the SEC or Big Ten.

Though he didn’t directly mention the tragic suicide of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski, he noted the importance of focusing on student-athlete health and well-being, particularly when it comes to mental health and head trauma.

Scott touted the conference’s efforts to fund a “brain trauma task force” and their work on the “largest concussion study in history.”

And while he didn’t lead with general athletics this year (as he had been criticized for in the past), he did take plenty of time to note the overall success of the conference with 12 new national titles from the past year.