ESPN is expected to announce today that it will air the Nov. 10 University of Hawai'i-Fresno State football game although provisions of the agreement will not herald a change in blackout policy by the network, a spokesman said.

It is "a special case," said Michael Humes of ESPN.

While the game will be shown nationally by ESPN, it will be viewable in Hawai'i only through the existing KFVE/Oceanic Time Warner Cable pay-per-view package, parties involved have said.

When ESPN did not select the game in June as part of its contracted Western Athletic Conference package, KFVE included it in its pay-per-view offerings and a Fresno station secured the rights in its area. But when ESPN came back Monday and asked to pick up the game above the five allowable games from one school, UH and Fresno State agreed only if their local rights holders were protected.

UH head coach June Jones has sought to have ESPN black out Hawai'i for games played here, believing that both attendance and UH's pay-per-view package are hurt by the availability of the game. But ESPN has said its policy does not allow for the games to be blacked out. It also refused to black out UH appearances in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, which is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television.

Television industry figures say if ESPN agreed to black out games in Hawai'i, it would set a precedent and open the way for other schools to demand similar terms. Moreover, they say, cable operators in affected areas would be upset over the loss of an attraction.

Under the terms of ESPN's contract with the WAC, there is no provision for blacking out games that fall within the five-game-per-school limit. But precedent for blacking out games beyond the five-game ceiling was established in 2002 when ESPN added a sixth Boise State game and agreed to the Broncos' wishes to have the extra game blacked out in the Boise area to protect the local rights holder. The ESPN-WAC contract has three more years to run, according to officials.

ESPN's growing interest in UH has brought about changes in how UH sells its television rights locally and how fans view Warriors' games, primarily pay-per-view distribution. UH had been receiving $1.2 million from KFVE for local rights but as the number of games lost to ESPN grew, KFVE would only guarantee the school $700,000.

When a new agreement with KFVE was worked out, UH was guaranteed $1.75 million and KFVE received the bulk of pay-per-view sales to help make up the difference. Last year, KFVE earned $1.35 million from pay-per-view sales while Oceanic received $965,000 and UH $410,000.

K5 has done away with free same-night delayed telecasts and now shows them on Sunday mornings.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.