 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United States, worldwide |
| Affiliates | KBYU-TV |
| Headquarters | Provo, Utah, United States |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (HD feed downgraded toletterboxed480i forSDTVs) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Brigham Young University |
| History | |
| Launched | January 1, 2000 (2000-01-01) |
| Links | |
| Webcast | www |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Provo/Salt Lake City area | KBYU-TV 11.1 |
| Pago Pago, American Samoa | K11UU-D 11.4 |
| Phoenix, Arizona | KGRY-LD 28.1 |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | Frndly TV |
BYU TV (stylized asBYUtv) is atelevision channel and free family-friendly streaming service, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part ofBrigham Young University (BYU).[1] The channel, available on most smart TVs or through cable and satellite distributors in theUnited States, produces original series and documentaries, including in the genres of comedy, history, lifestyle, music and drama. BYUtv also regularly broadcasts feature films, nature documentaries, acquired dramas, and religious programs (consistent with the university's sponsoring organization,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).[2][3] Additionally, BYUtv Sports was the primary broadcaster ofBYU Cougars athletics, producing more than 125 live sporting events in 2012 alone.[4] These broadcast rights ended in 2023.[5] The channel has won multiple regionalEmmy Awards,[6] a nationalChildren's and Family Emmy Award,[7] and several of its original series have been praised by national television critics.[8][9][10]
BYUtv broadcasts all of its original content, and most acquired content, worldwide online via its website. BYUtv is also carried throughKBYU-TV, a television station inProvo, Utah, also owned by the university, ensuring HD coverage acrossSalt Lake City and most of Utah. The channel is one of several operated by the university's BYU Broadcasting division, including the world feed BYUtv Global and BYUradio.Several celebrity guests and artists have made special appearances on BYUtv, notablyImagine Dragons andNeon Trees on the seriesAUDIO-FILES;Lea Salonga,Howard Jones,Duncan Sheik andSixpence None the Richer onThe Song That Changed My Life; andShawn Bradley,The Piano Guys, andMates of State onStudio C. Professional athletes includingSteve Young,Ty Detmer, andJimmer Fredette have also appeared on special BYUtv Sports broadcasts.[11][12][13][14]
BYUtv was founded in 2000, and has grown from a "relatively unknown cable channel on a single satellite" to a national provider onDish Network,DirecTV, and over 600 cable systems in the US.[1]
During 2010 and 2011, new BYUtv director of contentScott Swofford commissioned focus groups targeting TV viewers who were at least nominally religious, to see what they liked, disliked and wanted on TV. Swofford summarized the results as, "We want to be entertained. Then we'll stick around for the message." This led to the creation of the pilot forGranite Flats, which became BYUtv's first and flagship original scripted television drama series, and went on to expand the channel's audience, eventually attracting about 500,000 viewers per episode, compared to the previous top-rated show,Love of Quilting, which typically drew under 10,000 viewers.[15]
BYUtv produces shows under several categories: BYU Sports, Campus, Documentary, Faith, Family, Lifestyle, People, and Performing Arts.[16] This includes original series, documentaries, and religious service programs, along with family and faith-based films licensed fromDisney Entertainment Distribution andSony Pictures Television.
Religious programming derives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and operates BYU. Some religious programming airs on Sundays or in the early morning hours on BYUtv:
The channel was the primary home for most telecasts of BYU Cougars athletics, including select home and away games for football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics, men's and women's volleyball and women's soccer. Beginning in 2009, the network also began coveringBYU-Hawaii Seasiders sports, including all conference home games in women's volleyball and men's basketball, as well as select conference home games in women's basketball and additional non-conference home games for men's basketball.
In 2011, BYUtv added theWCCMen's andWomen's Basketball Tournaments to their sports broadcasts. BYUtv produced the first round and quarterfinals of the men's and women's basketball tournaments, which were also broadcast onESPN3.com.[20]
In 2011,ESPN reached a deal to broadcast home games of thenewlyindependentBYU Cougars football team. At least one home game per season would air live on BYUtv, along with reruns on BYUtv of home games broadcast on ESPN's networks.[21] Its coverage also included pre-game and post-game shows, with the pre-game showCountdown to Kickoff hosted by BYU Cougars alumni Alema Harrington,Dave McCann and a rotating panel of analysts:Gary Sheide,Blaine Fowler,David Nixon, Brian Logan, and Jan Jorgensen.[22][23] In 2014, Spencer Linton replaced Harrington on the panel.
Additionally, the network launched a separate website for its sports coverage, Byutvsports.com, in partnership with ESPN andIMG College. The site features news, video and freevideo on demand streaming of recent games.[24] The site folded back into byutv.org in fall 2015.
The channel also produces its own sports shows includingBYU Sports Nation (weekdays, 1 hr),BYU Sports Nation Game Day (formerlyCountdown to Kickoff, preceding each football game),Postgame Show (following each football game),After Further Review (weekly),Inside BYU Football (weekly) and previously carriedBronco Mendenhall's post-gamepress conferences for football games.
With BYU joining theBig 12 in the 2023–24 season, BYU TV no longer carried Cougars sports telecasts, due to a contract withESPN+ to hold the third-tier media rights of all teams in the conference. The telecasts will continue to be produced by BYU staff, and BYU TV will continue to carry studio programming.[5]
BYUtv is available on a variety of streaming platforms and devices, including:
Additionally, BYUtv is available through many cable companies, making it accessible to a wide audience across various platforms.
