Courtesy Houston Chronicle

(June 25, 2010) After occupying the back burner during the recent college realignment chatter, there’s some movement this week on the TV front for Rice and the University of Houston. And, appropriately enough, both Comcast and Fox Sports Houston each have something to tell and to sell.

The annual Bayou Bucket game between the Owls and Cougars will air Oct. 16 in Houston on Comcast Sports Southwest (Comcast channel 129) as part of Comcast’s package with Conference USA that also airs on Comcast Sports South.

Fox Sports Houston, meanwhile, said Thursday it has signed a multi-year marketing and programming deal with UH that will include production of the school’s weekly Cougar Gameday magazine show. The show will air this fall on Thursdays, Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

FS Houston will send a production crew on the road to UH games for Cougar Gameday, which previously was produced by ISP Sports, which handles marketing and radio for the school, and aired on Comcast Sports Southwest and FS Houston. FS Houston will be the exclusive carrier this season.

The college moves came Thursday as all remains relatively quiet on the main event pitting Fox against Comcast for Astros and Rockets rights. Comcast reportedly is in the midst of an exclusive negotiating period with the teams.

Rockets owner Les Alexander this week refused to comment on the TV talks, citing a confidentiality agreement, and Rockets CEO Tad Brown said he has "nothing to say" on the matter.

"We are always in the process of figuring out what our future is going to be, and right now there is nothing to discuss," Brown said.

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