For the 17th consecutive year, operators named ESPN the no. 1 network with the most average perceived value among all networks measured in Beta Research Corp’s annual Cable Operator Evaluation Study. ESPN was also ranked the no. 1 most important network in their cable systems for the 13th straight year – and 16 of the past 17 years – with 97 percent of operators describing the network as “very important” for subscriber retention and acquisition.

The second week of the college lacrosse is underway, with Georgetown facing No. 4 Notre Dame at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 18 (2 p.m. ET, ESPNU). A women’s game between No. 18 Stanford and No. 8 Duke will follow at 5 p.m. on ESPN3 from The Star. A former standout at Georgetown, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch will serve as an analyst and reporter, joining Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra for both games.

Top ranked UConn’s 66-55 milestone 100th-consecutive victory over No. 6 South Carolina on Monday, Feb. 13 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2), delivered a 0.9 overnight rating, marking the highest-rated college basketball game on ESPN2 this season among men’s and women’s telecasts, and the highest-rated women’s college basketball regular-season game since 2010.

ESPN is joining forces with leading online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats to provide fans access to Vivid Seats’ ticket services.

ESPN announced the re-signing of veteran play-by-play commentator Mark Jones in a multi-year agreement. Jones, a 27-year veteran of ESPN, became the voice of the popular NBA Sunday Showcase series on ABC this season.

Today marks the complete nationwide rollout of the ESPN App on AT&T DIRECTV set top boxes, allowing customers to seamlessly switch between all ESPN live and on-demand video to their TVs through a hybrid interface. It is the first time ESPN has made this app-like service combining both linear and streaming content available on set top boxes. The first phase of the launch was announced in Decem

ESPN College GameDay Covered by State Farm heads west to the campus of Arizona, on Saturday, Feb. 25, in advance of the Saturday Primetime presented by AT&T pivotal Pac-12 matchup showcasing No. 6 UCLA at No. 5 Arizona (ESPN, 8:15 p.m. ET).

First-Ever coverage of World Winter Games includes live three-hour Opening Ceremony featuring Parade of Athletes, Special Guests and musical performances from multi-Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz and Grace VanderWaal

Robin Roberts, Kevin Negandhi, Lindsay Czarniak and Dustin Plunkett to host coverage