Big Ten Network (BTN)

[RLC65]

Delaney suggests that cable viewers do/did not choose such offerings as the Food Network, Golf Channel, or ESPN 2, etc. Thing is, those channels are enormously popular with many. I do think the B10 made a serious mistake in judgment in expecting cable companies to include the Network in basic coverages rather than sports tier type coverage.
Where I live, (and I assume mostly elsewhere) a sports tier is carried with digital coverage and one can choose one or a combination of sports tier, movie tier, etc. Digital costs me an additional amount, but the sports tier within digital is not an extra expense above that, (unless one chooses multiple tiers...I do not.)
Personally, I would be perfectly happy to see the Network included in my additional cost digital coverage, or beyond that, I would be happy to pay an additional fee, much like the GamePlan fee was, to see the Network in the context of I want to see it and others may not.

Go Bucks!

 

[Buck94]

Delaney suggests that cable viewers do/did not choose such offerings as the Food Network, Golf Channel, or ESPN 2, etc. Thing is, those channels are enormously popular with many. I do think the B10 made a serious mistake in judgment in expecting cable companies to include the Network in basic coverages rather than sports tier type coverage.

However, since the BTN was able to get DirecTV to agree to provide the channel as part of it's basic package, this will put competitive pressure on the cable providers. Directv can say they give more channels for roughly the same cost as cable. So, it actually helps the BTN.

 

[OSU SPORTS]

Delaney suggests that cable viewers do/did not choose such offerings as the Food Network, Golf Channel, or ESPN 2, etc. Thing is, those channels are enormously popular with many. I do think the B10 made a serious mistake in judgment in expecting cable companies to include the Network in basic coverages rather than sports tier type coverage.
Where I live, (and I assume mostly elsewhere) a sports tier is carried with digital coverage and one can choose one or a combination of sports tier, movie tier, etc. Digital costs me an additional amount, but the sports tier within digital is not an extra expense above that, (unless one chooses multiple tiers...I do not.)
Personally, I would be perfectly happy to see the Network included in my additional cost digital coverage, or beyond that, I would be happy to pay an additional fee, much like the GamePlan fee was, to see the Network in the context of I want to see it and others may not.

Go Bucks!

I would not say that the Golf Channel and Food Network are "enormously popular with many". The point was that the BTN is worthy of being included in the basic cable package. You have to remember that the BTN is a HD 24/7 product. There is no reason for the BTN to settle for anything less than being included on the basic cable package. They have a good business model, a partner who is familiar with the policies and actions of the cable industry and a product that is just as desirable as other basic cable products. It's just like any new business venture, it will have growing pains. IMO, Comcast won't agree in the first year. Comcast is one of the worst run companies in any sector. Time Warner might agree, maybe a 50/50 proposition.

 

[Buck94]

I would not say that the Golf Channel and Food Network are "enormously popular with many". The point was that the BTN is worthy of being included in the basic cable package. You have to remember that the BTN is a HD 24/7 product. There is no reason for the BTN to settle for anything less than being included on the basic cable package. They have a good business model, a partner who is familiar with the policies and actions of the cable industry and a product that is just as desirable as other basic cable products. It's just like any new business venture, it will have growing pains. IMO, Comcast won't agree in the first year. Comcast is one of the worst run companies in any sector. Time Warner might agree, maybe a 50/50 proposition.

Given the fact that I am a Dish customer, I would be curious as to what you think they might do. They have not been very aggressive in their announcements, yet the continue to add HD channels and provide the most national HD channels of any provider. I think Dish will add the BTN at the last possible moment and flip the switch. They are moving all of the Voom channels to MPEG4 in mid-August, which will open up a great deal of bandwidth (Source, DBSTalk.com).

 

[OSU SPORTS]

Given the fact that I am a Dish customer, I would be curious as to what you think they might do. They have not been very aggressive in their announcements, yet the continue to add HD channels and provide the most national HD channels of any provider. I think Dish will add the BTN at the last possible moment and flip the switch. They are moving all of the Voom channels to MPEG4 in mid-August, which will open up a great deal of bandwidth (Source, DBSTalk.com).

Let me say first that I'm not that familiar with the operations of the Dish Network. I feel comfortable giving opinions on Comcast or Directv, as I know about there operating mode. If I was going to speculate on the Dish Network, I would guess they would sign the BTN. The reason being is that they are in direct competition with Directv. I can't see how they can afford to let Directv have another advantage over them. Later this year Directv will launch more satelites. These new sats will boost Directv's HD capacity to the top. They will have the most HD stations anywhere. I would think that the Dish Network would look at signing the BTN as merely the cost of doing business, regardless of the demand.

 

[Buck94]

Let me say first that I'm not that familiar with the operations of the Dish Network. I feel comfortable giving opinions on Comcast or Directv, as I know about there operating mode. If I was going to speculate on the Dish Network, I would guess they would sign the BTN. The reason being is that they are in direct competition with Directv. I can't see how they can afford to let Directv have another advantage over them. Later this year Directv will launch more satelites. These new sats will boost Directv's HD capacity to the top. They will have the most HD stations anywhere. I would think that the Dish Network would look at signing the BTN as merely the cost of doing business, regardless of the demand.

I appreciate your insight. Regarding the new satellites, the latest DirecTV launch was to get capacity to match what Dish already has in place. Once Dish moves the remainder of their programming to MPEG4 they will add even more capacity and they are also planning on adding more satellites. DirecTV might still be playing catch up in terms of bandwidth. Also, Dish just added more channels and will be adding a few more in August and September to maintain their lead in terms of HD programming (# of channels).

Where DirecTV is the clear leader is in sports programming by having exclusivity to NFL Sunday Ticket, but they pay a price in bandwidth to carry this versus new programming.

This is as I understand it from reading the DBSTalk.com site.

 

[OSU SPORTS]

I appreciate your insight. Regarding the new satellites, the latest DirecTV launch was to get capacity to match what Dish already has in place. Once Dish moves the remainder of their programming to MPEG4 they will add even more capacity and they are also planning on adding more satellites. DirecTV might still be playing catch up in terms of bandwidth. Also, Dish just added more channels and will be adding a few more in August and September to maintain their lead in terms of HD programming (# of channels).

Where DirecTV is the clear leader is in sports programming by having exclusivity to NFL Sunday Ticket, but they pay a price in bandwidth to carry this versus new programming.

This is as I understand it from reading the DBSTalk.com site.

That forum is a mess. Make sure your virus protection on your computer is up to date when visiting that place. There is a lot of mis information, on both sides, regarding capacity at both Directv and Dish. Most of the "real" information is proprietary and not easlily verified. I hope it works out for you wtih the BTN.

 

[Buck94]

That forum is a mess. Make sure your virus protection on your computer is up to date when visiting that place. There is a lot of mis information, on both sides, regarding capacity at both Directv and Dish. Most of the "real" information is proprietary and not easlily verified. I hope it works out for you wtih the BTN.

Thank you for the heads up...I didn't realize it was that way, but it should not be surprising. I hope Dish adds BTN as well. It seems to me that we (consumers) are the real winners as long as Dish and D* continue to respond to each other and offer more HD content. I used to be with D*, then switched to Dish. I have no problem switching back to D* again.

 

[OSU SPORTS]

Just to let you know, they are offering some great incentives for new customers at Directv. It might be worth a switch for that reason alone. BTW, I don't work for Directv, in case you wondered.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

From an e-mail I received from the BTN...I know this schedule was posted earlier, but I don't recall all the games in HD:

2007 BTN Football
Schedule
Weeks 1 through 3

WEEK 1 / Saturday, Sept. 1
Noon EDT/11 a.m. CDT
Appalachian State at Michigan (HD)
Youngstown State at Ohio State (HD)
Florida Int'l at Penn State (HD)
Northeastern at Northwestern

8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT
Bowling Green at Minnesota (HD)
Indiana State at Indiana (HD)

WEEK 2 / Saturday, Sept. 8
Noon EDT/11 a.m. CDT
Akron at Ohio State (HD)
Nevada at Northwestern
Bowling Green at Michigan State (HD)
Miami (OH) at Minnesota (HD)
Eastern Illinois at Purdue

7 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. CDT
Western Illinois at Illinois (HD)

8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT
Syracuse at Iowa (HD)

WEEK 3 / Saturday, Sept. 15
Noon EDT/11 a.m. CDT
The Citadel at Wisconsin (HD)
Buffalo at Penn State (HD)
Akron at Indiana (HD)

8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT
Duke at Northwestern (HD)

 

[buckeyeinfla]

i have a question...i live in florida and have been told brighthouse cable will not carry the big ten network...now my question is this....do i still need to buy the college gameplan inorder to see the osu games that are on ABC regional...for example....osu at washington..i will prolly get the ACC down here....in the past...gameplan gave me access to to osu and every other abc game on...is that still going to be the same this year? i know that the espn plus games that were on gameplan are now the big ten network games...but i dont want to buy gameplan if i dont need to...

 

[holybuckeye33]

i have a question...i live in florida and have been told brighthouse cable will not carry the big ten network...now my question is this....do i still need to buy the college gameplan inorder to see the osu games that are on ABC regional...for example....osu at washington..i will prolly get the ACC down here....in the past...gameplan gave me access to to osu and every other abc game on...is that still going to be the same this year? i know that the espn plus games that were on gameplan are now the big ten network games...but i dont want to buy gameplan if i dont need to...

See this link:

Big Ten Conference ABC/ESPN Agreement Fact Sheet :: <blank>

All regional afternoon games on ABC will be aired by ESPN/ESPN2 in outer-markets, making these games nationally available

 

[chille37]

I believe the Washington game is going to be on ESPN. For any other ABC game not being broadcast in your area (I assume there will be at least a few of them) you will need the gameplan package.

EDIT: Reading the link posted by Holybuckeye, it looks like you may not need the gameplan package this year

 

[buckeyeinfla]

well if that is the case then i have no need to order the gameplan if osu will be on espn if the regional abc game is not in my market..

 

[SparkyOSU]

well if that is the case then i have no need to order the gameplan if osu will be on espn if the regional abc game is not in my market..

GP does insure you against low profile games though. Especially in a year (like this year) where we will not be a National Spotlight team (last year GP was useless for me here in Vegas, I saw 10 of the games on ESPN or ABC). You will most likely see more of Florida/Michigan/USC/ type games this year.