Two years ago, an official from the Pac-12 Networks told me viewership had increased dramatically as the networks gained marketplace traction. The official cited as an example the ratings for women’s gymnastics, which were up more than 100 percent year-over-year., then asked if I was interested in writing about the development.

My response: “That’s an impressive jump, but from what to what? What are the viewership numbers?”

The official didn’t have that information, I never wrote a story, and that brings us to the fifth installment of the Hotline series on the Pac12Nets:

Is anybody actually watching the Olympic sports broadcasts?

OK, maybe that a bit general, so let me rephrase:

Is there substantive viewership for the Olympic sports that were at the heart of the conference’ decision to create the regional feeds — yes, the very same regional feeds that have contributed to the modest distribution and revenue numbers?

The Pac-12 wanted to showcase its Olympic sports, which are the best in collegiate athletics, and it determined the optimal model had one national and six regional feeds to super-serve local audiences. Get Pac-12 Conference news in your inbox. Sign up for the Pac-12 Hotline newsletter.

Without the emphasis on Olympic sports, which account for the vast majority of the 850 live events that are broadcast annually, the Pac-12 Networks would follow a more traditional, single-feed structure (think: Big Ten Network).

Based on all available evidence, that structure would be spitting out more cash to the campuses than the current enterprise.

So it makes sense to wonder how many people are watching a women’s basketball game or a men’s tennis match or a softball game …

The conference official told me the numbers weren’t available because, at the time, the Pac-12 Networks were inside a four-year window that made viewership data difficult to collect.

Well, that window has long since opened — the networks just turned five — so I went back to the conference this summer while researching my series on the Pac-12 Networks.

The response: By policy, the Pac-12 doesn’t make viewership numbers public.

The conference has no problem promoting the percentage increase in viewers, but it won’t reveal the actual number of viewers.

Let’s just say I disagree with the policy.

In fact, I discussed the subject with commissioner Larry Scott during a recent conversation.

“As policy, we don’t share ratings or financial information,’’ he said, “other than what’s required” (i.e., federal tax returns).

I noted that it was only logical to conclude from the lack of transparency that the viewership totals were low — that if the conference felt the data would be well received, it would surely be in the public domain.

“That’s not the reason we don’t share,’’ Scott said. “We’re delighted with viewership and exposure.”

The Hotline attempted to get the viewership numbers from Nielsen, but the ratings company declined and pointed me to the Pac-12 as the lone source for the information. Related Articles Pac-12 Networks: Media analysts grade the networks (part four of the Pac-12 Hotline series)

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I have also broached the issue with numerous industry sources, and the response is always the same. The Pac-12 doesn’t want the numbers out because the numbers aren’t good.

Based on the feedback — some of the sources were aware of the data on a general level — my best guess is that a few thousand viewers, at most, are watching any given Olympic sport event.

The figure is undoubtedly higher for a major gymnastics, softball, baseball or women’s basketball event. But it’s also undoubtedly lower for everything else.

Which makes you wonder: Is it all worthwhile?

Is the viewership/exposure for Olympics Sports enough to offset what the conference lost (in revenue and distribution) by not sticking to a single national feed with football and men’s basketball at its core?

We’ve already heard from two presidents on the matter, and both are happy with the Pac-12 Networks model and performance. (See link in the related articles box.)

But I’d guess most football and men’s basketball fans — and they account for the overwhelming majority of Pac-12 fans — would happily make the trade to the Big Ten Network model.

Now, it’s important to note that the Pac-12 has company: The Big Ten doesn’t release viewership data, either.

But there is a difference between the two entities, and that difference is everything when it comes to transparency:

The Big Ten Network is designed to showcase football and men’s basketball and therefore maximize revenue and distribution.

The Pac-12 Networks are not designed that way. Olympics sports are the very reason for the current structure, so the viewership numbers have more than a little relevance.

What’s more, the Pac-12 Networks:

*** Strain campus resources with production demands of campus personnel, which oh-by-the-way have other roles — like supporting the coaches and student athletes on an hour-to-hour basis.

*** Ask the Olympic sports to compete at times that are often inconvenient for fans and family hoping to attend — but that help fill out the broadcast schedule on a weekly basis.

Arizona State’s women’s soccer team, for example, played on a Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the middle of August so the Pac-12 Networks could broadcast the match.

There are countless other examples every month.

(We won’t even venture down the path to kickoff and tipoff times for the two revenue sports.)

*** Are a hugely expensive enterprise.

The production costs associated with broadcasting 850 live events are hidden from view on the conference’s annual tax filings (shocking!), but they indisputably limit the cash that could be sent to the campuses for staffing, facilities and student-athlete services.

In other words, the Pac-12 Networks structure designed to provide exposure for Olympic sports is limiting the revenue that could be dedicated to those very same Olympic sports.

Shouldn’t the conference at least share the viewership with the athletic departments?

Of course, that approach would lead to the information becoming available through public records request, and then we would all know how many people are not watching. For more Pac-12 coverage

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Oh, and by the way: The time demands placed on athletic department staffers by the Pac-12 Networks come mostly at public universities.

None of this is to suggest that the Pac-12 Networks should necessarily abandon the regional feeds and philosophy of showcasing Olympic sports — plenty of good comes of it, as we noted in the first installment of this series.

But the conference needs to be transparent. It needs to share its viewership numbers. And if those numbers are as poor as expected, the Pac-12 should stand up and own them.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com

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*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.