After two months of discussions, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and UNC-Wilmington reached a multiyear agreement to carry Seahawks' sports, including possibly up to nine men's basketball games this winter.

Under terms of a deal announced Tuesday, the Seahawks will produce five basketball games through Fayetteville-based Robert Warren Mobile Television Productions; other games may be shown on ESPN's Full Court package.

Yet, the network is not readily available to Wilmington-area TV viewers. Without a satellite dish, local subscribers may not be able to see the Seahawks on MASN. Time Warner, the region's main cable outlet, doesn't carry it.

In addition to live basketball, the deal includes airing the Seahawks' quarterly all-sports show, Seahawk Sports Roundup, and The Benny Moss Show.

Joe Browning, an associate athletic director at UNCW, considered the additional exposure beneficial to both the Seahawks and MASN.

"It is a terrific package, and we are thrilled to be carrying the Seahawks as their official network,' MASN spokesman Todd Webster said.

Through multiple cable and satellite providers, MASN reaches about 700,000 households in a seven-state area and Webster expects those figures to climb over the next year.

"That's reaching a lot of folks,' Browning said. "It is a lot of prospective students and student athletes. That kind of exposure is invaluable.'

Webster said MASN has the potential to reach up to 12 million viewers throughout the Eastern seaboard.

"If you combine Baltimore, Washington, Virginia and North Carolina, it is the fourth largest media market in the country,' Webster said. "So the kind of exposure that UNC-Wilmington will have to a huge audience will be helpful for recruiting, marketing and letting people know that it is a terrific school.'

MASN is trying to be added to the Time Warner lineup.

MASN recently filed for arbitration in an effort to make TWC carry its network, but the case is yet to be heard.

The dispute stems from Time Warner's insistence of putting MASN on its digital tier because it claims subscribers aren't interested in the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. MASN has exclusive rights to both teams in Eastern North Carolina.

"We feel like if we put them on the basic tier it would result in nearly all of our customers having to pay for a service, which very few have an interest in,' said Melissa Buscher, Time Warner public affairs manager for the Eastern North Carolina Division. "The bulk of MASN's programming is Orioles and National games.'

In the greater Wilmington area, according to Buscher, 65 percent of Time Warner Cable subscribers are digital.

"We are not blacking them out by any means,' Buscher said. "Without a carriage agreement, we don't have the legal right to air MASN and all the games.'

By declaring no one wants to watch, Webster claims Time Warner Cable has insulted sports fans across the state.

"People do want to watch UNC-Wilmington basketball, they do want to watch ECU football, which we are carrying, and they do want to watch Major League Baseball,' he said "Their calculation is hurting North Carolina sports fans.'

MASN contends it is a full-fledged regional sports network, not just the home of baseball.

MASN intends to televise more than 150 Division I basketball games - the biggest hoops package of any regional sports network, it claims. MASN also announced a partnership with the Big South Conference last week and will televise three East Carolina football games in the fall.

Last year, MASN carried numerous Colonial Athletic Association basketball games, including UNCW, George Mason, Towson and Delaware.

New UNCW athletic director Kelly Mehrtens said in a new release: "We're delighted about this new partnership with MASN. It will allow our alumni and fans throughout North Carolina and the Atlantic region to follow the Seahawks more closely than ever before. It's just a wonderful opportunity to showcase our growing program on a network committed to college basketball."