When I first heard the Big Ten's TV network was struggling to get picked up by several cable vendors including Comcast...I began encouraging our subscribers and website visitors to lobby their cable/satTV suppliers to pick up BTN. Hey more games to watch right?

Well there are two sides to every story and I can see maybe why Comcast and others aren't falling over themselves to sign up under BTN's terms. And maybe the success of BTN hurts we fans in the long run.

I've got links to articles providing the 2 different arguments below but first a comment on why I may be changing my mind...

The negative gist is this. First the Big Ten wants $1.10 to $1.55 per viewer..given not every viewer in the Midwest is a Big Ten fan, this is an expensive request if it is included as part of the normal cable offering. Comcast wants to include it as part of an optional sports package(meaning you pay more at your option to get it).

The second potential negative issue is availability. Many of the games today that are not on ABC nationally or regionally, are picked up via ESPN, ESPN2 or some other derivative. And most of us get those for 'free' meaning it's part of our std cable bill.

Now some or all of these games may get taken by BTN and they either might not be available through all the cable/sat vendors OR they will be available at a premium. Over time more of the decent games could end up on BTN which in turn will raise their prices which in turn makes watching games either harder or more expensive.

Big Ten Network Looking for Help (Chicago Tribune April 17, 2007)
Big Ten Network counting on its fans to be suckers (Chicago Sun Times July 10, 2007)


More on this as the story evolves...share your thoughts

 

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