ACC Network

ACC Network

ACC Network (ACCN) is an American subscription-television channel that is owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Announced on July 21, 2016, it is dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel operates from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, though some programming and staff will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ahead of the television network’s launch and as part of ESPN’s new contract with the conference, ESPN launched the digital platform ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) on WatchESPN in 2016, which streams ACC events not broadcast on television.

ACC Network is expected to carry 1,300 events per-year.[1] To increase the amount of sports content available, the ACC agreed to expand its conference schedule in college basketball to 20 games by the 2019-20 season. ESPN also acquired the secondary ACC rights previously held by Raycom Sports for its syndicated ACC Network (the company will continue to be involved as a subcontractee for events that can be carried by the new channel).[11][1]

Mark Packer and Wes Durham host the morning show Packer and Durham, simulcast on ACCN and SiriusXM.[9] All ACC will serve as the network’s general news program, while The Huddle airs on Friday nights and Saturday mornings during football season.[12]

As a prelude to the linear channel, and as part of ESPN’s new rights package, ESPN’s digital platform WatchESPN began to carry broadcasts of ACC sporting events not on television under the branding ACC Network Extra. ESPN promoted that it would carry over 600 live telecasts per-season.[13][7] ACCNX will continue operations following the launch of the channel, becoming available exclusively to ACC Network subscribers