Daily Skiff

A contract dispute between the sports channel Versus and the university's TV provider DirecTV will leave campus fans hoping to check out this weekend's football game against BYU with a blank screen.

The game will still be available to watch on campus, but not in individual residence hall rooms. In the meantime, the Frog faithful will have to watch the game at local bars or in the 1873 restaurant in the Brown-Lupton University Union.

This inconvenience may seem minor to some, but it's a shame that the No. 8 team in the nation will have its fan support fractured by the legal red tape of third parties. Both companies are saying they are the victim in the matter, but the real victim is the university fan base.

While it's understandable that the university has no control over the relationships between TV providers and channels, it does have a say in which provider it uses. Disputes between providers and channels are nothing new in broadcasting, but students are entitled to a stable source of programming with the amount of money they pay for room and board each semester.

If there are enough fans on campus watching TCU football on TV, the demand outweighs the penalty of having to break a contract with a provider. The university should consider another TV provider.

When a college campus doesn't even have access to watch its own team, something is wrong.

Multimedia editor Chance Welch for the editorial board.

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