Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[jlb1705]

Thus the original movie programming, the corny "Who's more now?" campaign, the divulging of "Page 2" to be more jokes related as opposed to an editorial section (how it started).

Page 2 was how I discovered Hunter S. Thompson. It used to be great.

 

[scott91575]

Let me ax you a question.

Does the B10 Network have a large viewership outside the B10 geographical footprint?

I think the B10 Network is on my cable system, but I've never tuned in.

The viewership doesn't really matter, it's the rights fees. Inside the B10 footprint the rights fees are close to $1 per subscriber (which often puts the B10 Network around 2nd or 3rd highest). Outside of the B10 footprint, I believe it's around $0.10 or something really small.

The key to the B10 Network is lots of people were willing to switch providers over it.

As for actual viewers, I can't speak to it. Everything that is reported is always ratings in the B10 footprint. Of course in the end, that is pretty true for all games. That is why ABC/ESPN does mostly regional stuff, otherwise their ratings would be very regional based. Overall, football ratings on the BTN are very close to what is seen on ESPN, which has led to a spike in ad revenue vs. the beginning of the network.

Anyway, back to the original point vs. other conference networks. What saved the BTN in the first year or two was the rights fee. I can see the same thing work for the SEC (assuming they also get a similar amount of games). I am not so sure about the Longhorn Network (mostly due to lack of games), and I honestly think the Pac 10 Network will fail. There just isn't the high enough percentage of the market that would demand having the network like the BTN, and they would not be able to get the rights fees needed to sustain the shaky early years. Oh well, we shall see.

 

[SmoovP]

Page 2 was how I discovered Hunter S. Thompson. It used to be great.

RIP HST.

P2 is a giant bag of suck now though.

Back when Simmons was The Boston Sports Guy, he was outstanding. A real breath of fresh air and a "can't miss" read each week.

He was even still very good when he moved over to ESPN and became The Sports Guy.

It was about the time that they launched P2 that he started believing his own bullshit and started his long decline into suck.

Nowadays, he's completely insufferable.

 

[Muck]

Does the B10 Network have a large viewership outside the B10 geographical footprint?

No idea. I don't think anyone's dug up in & out of region ratings yet.

That being said even if no one outside of the Big Ten footprint watches BTN, if it does well within the region it's still a major hit to ESPN. There are a lot of sports watching households within the Big Ten's area.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

This is very, very simple.

By FAR the biggest hit to ESPN's pocket book is the Ohio State games it has lost; and it's not close.

The best way for ESPN to strike back is to go after Ohio State and only Ohio State. If they go after the whole big ten with anything more than the usual bowl-season talk, they dilute the message. Target OSU specifically and the you get better results.

 

[Jake]

Last fall, the total was 42 million subscribers, with 75 million overall who had access to it.It is part of the standard package on DirecTV, used to be on Dish, but I believe it is optional on Dish and most cable providers outside of the footprint.

I live in Ohio, and BTN is not available on my cable system. To this point, BTN is a joke to me. I had more Big Ten coverage before it.

 

[jwinslow]

I live in Ohio, and BTN is not available on my cable system. To this point, BTN is a joke to me. I had more Big Ten coverage before it.

At this point, to not even offer it as an optional channel is a joke on your cable company's part.

It's like blaming the NFL Network for Time Warner's politics still preventing access to that terrific channel.

 

[Steve19]

For anyone who has ever questioned whether the ESPiN 2004-2005 war against Ohio State was premeditated, this thread should overcome any doubts.

I truly hope that ESPiN gets exactly what's coming to them.

 

[gregorylee]

Anyway, back to the original point vs. other conference networks. What saved the BTN in the first year or two was the[strike] rights fee[/strike] RO♠TEL.

FIFY

 

[DaveyBoy]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, there does seem to have been a significant shift in ESPN bias against OHio STate in late 2004. Obviously the famous Alamo Bowl Game. It all makes pretty good sense. ESPN is a business....Shapiro is a businessman....ESPN couldn't affect our performance on the field but they could affect our sustainability as a National Title contender by influencing opinion against us ultimately hurting recruiting.....ultimately hurting the BigTen's appeal by hurting its premier program.

Fast forward to 2011 and the landscape of CFB broadcasting has changed considerably. Granted, ESPN is still the big fish in the pond, but it is coming off more and more as the big shark in the pond in the eyes of even casual football fans.

The dominoes are falling slowly but falling nonetheless:

1. creation of BTN
2. the success of the BTN and that leading Nebraska to join the BigTen
3. creation of the Pac12 Network (now ABC is hurt badly in Midwest and West)
4. the looming possibility of BigTen expansion to larger East Coast market(s)

From a pure business standpoint, if the BigTen went after and landed Rutgers or Maryland, it would deal a huge blow to ESPN's dominance of the sports landscape. If the BTN had the Balt/DC, Philly, NY, Chicago markets, look out.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

The dominoes are falling slowly but falling nonetheless:

1. creation of BTN
2. the success of the BTN and that leading Nebraska to join the BigTen
3. creation of the Pac12 Network (now ABC is hurt badly in Midwest and West)
4. the looming possibility of BigTen expansion to larger East Coast market(s)

From a pure business standpoint, if the BigTen went after and landed Rutgers or Maryland, it would deal a huge blow to ESPN's dominance of the sports landscape. If the BTN had the Balt/DC, Philly, NY, Chicago markets, look out.

Instead, we went for the all important Omaha market.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

Instead, we went for the all important Omaha market.

Or one of the few truly national fanbases. Spin it however you like.

 

[Mike80]

Or one of the few truly national fanbases. Spin it however you like.

I don't care if ORD's spin gets the death penalty now.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Or one of the few truly national fanbases. Spin it however you like.

Perhaps. For all their "national fanbase" lore (which seems to essentially revolve around a couple of corntards coming home and hanging a "[name your state] for Nebraska" banner inside their stadium), I have yet to see them have any impact on expanding the Big Ten footprint outside of their immediate region. If the corntards were such a national program, then I'd assume that the BTN would start getting that $1/subscriber fee in, let's say, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, the West coast, the East coast, all of which would have been highly likely with the domers or possibly even Texas. Where is it? If Ohio State and Michigan couldn't leverage the BTN into the top tier pricing of those regions' cable providers, then the corn aggies aren't going to be some golden bullet to get it done. Until they do, their "national fanbase" schtick isn't worth [Mark May].

We've added Omaha and (maybe) Kansas City in any meaningful way.

 

[DaveyBoy]

Instead, we went for the all important Omaha market.

now we dominate in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Sioux City as well

seriously, Nebraska doesn't have the national following of ND, but it has been pretty close. If Nebraska were to get really good again (and their trajectory is good right now), there would be a surprisingly strong following on the West Coast as well as in Texas and the Southeast. Nebraska can be huge again.