Channel 38 to air KU games previously unavailable for non-Spectrum subscribers in KC

Since 2013, four regular-season Kansas men’s basketball games have been exclusively broadcast on Spectrum Sports KC, previously Time Warner SportsChannel, meaning only Spectrum cable subscribers could watch them.

That will change this season.

KMCI-TV, Channel 38 in Kansas City, announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement to simulcast the four Jayhawks games on Spectrum this season (7 p.m. Friday vs. South Dakota State, 7 p.m. Nov. 21 vs. Texas Southern, 7 p.m. Nov. 24 vs. Oakland and 7 p.m. Nov. 28 vs. Toledo), meaning all KU fans in the Kansas City area with an antenna or who get Ch. 38 on their cable or satellite package can watch them.

“The Kansas City area is our biggest market, and we’ve been very happy with what Spectrum has done for us for the past several years, but it had always been a goal of ours to make these telecasts available to more people,” said Jim Marchiony, KU associate athletic director for public affairs.

In addition to the four KU men’s games, four KU women’s games on Spectrum will be simulcast on Ch. 38 (1 p.m. Sunday vs. Yale, 2 p.m. Dec. 3 vs. Arkansas, 2 p.m. Jan. 6 vs. Baylor and 7 p.m. Feb. 10 vs. Oklahoma).

KU Athletics’ third-tier television contract with Spectrum Sports, which was signed in 2013, expires in June 2020. Marchiony said whether the simulcast continues past this season is up to Spectrum and KMCI.

“Spectrum Sports is and has been a great partner for us,” he said. “They’ve responded to our wishes by increasing the viewership of the network. That’s in addition to the 300 hours or so of original KU programming that it does. We’re really happy about this development.”

The KU games on Spectrum Sports KC are also streamed on ESPN3, but are blacked out for users in the KC metro area and Kansas.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Channel 38 to air KU games previously unavailable for non-Spectrum subscribers in KC."