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Big Ten Network (BTN)

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Dryden;909838; said:
Having your wife tell you what to do isn't ding worthy, it's part of the package deal.

You're not married, are you? :tongue2:
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True enough Dryden, it is part of the deal. But having your wife tell you that a sacrifice that you've decided to make for the family is not necessary because she wants you to have something that she knows is important to you... that is rare indeed.

And when that something is Ohio State Football... wow

Nevermind the fact that my willingness to make the sacrifice for the family was "rewarded", even though the sacrifice wasn't actually made.
 
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This from Dave Revsine, who is the host of BTN studio show:

DirecTV will carry all Big Ten Network games on the basic tier (no need for the sports package). When multiple games are played at the same time, the "featured game" will be on the main channel (Channel 220). The remaining games will be on "spillover" channels (similar to the ESPN Alternate channels). These spillover games also will be free and on the basic tier.
 
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The president of Comcast Midwest was on the headline news channel this morning for a "local newsmakers" segment ....

He said that "even with 2 teams in IL, 90% of our customers are opposed to adding the network" and babbled about how the Big Ten was trying to "cash in" on customers that don't want the service.

At the bottom of the screen, for the full interview, was a link to the fansfirst website. At the end he said "there are a lot of angry fans that have started a campaign, if you agree with putting this on the sports tier - go to their website (puttingfansfirst)"

Absolutely NO CLUE
 
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Ratboy18;910145; said:
The president of Comcast Midwest was on the headline news channel this morning for a "local newsmakers" segment ....

He said that "even with 2 teams in IL, 90% of our customers are opposed to adding the network" and babbled about how the Big Ten was trying to "cash in" on customers that don't want the service.

At the bottom of the screen, for the full interview, was a link to the fansfirst website. At the end he said "there are a lot of angry fans that have started a campaign, if you agree with putting this on the sports tier - go to their website (puttingfansfirst)"

Absolutely NO CLUE
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LOL A lot of "fans" started the website, that's rich. Comcast pays for the site and their PR firm runs the site. The 90% figure shows how stupid these people think fans are on the topic. Then describing it as "their" website is beyond belief.
 
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Ratboy18;910145; said:
He said that "even with 2 teams in IL, 90% of our customers are opposed to adding the network" and babbled about how the Big Ten was trying to "cash in" on customers that don't want the service.
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It's like watching family members being taken over by Vick's crew. If my combined 2 teams from Illinois averaged about 4 Big Ten wins per season between the 2 of them, I guess I wouldn't be so anxious to watch that either. Keep that much in mind....
 
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I was watching the Reds (yes I have an illness) and saw the commercial where Tress was pimping the BTN. I have to admit that even though I'm a huge fan, him urging me to call my cable company creeped me out a bit. This whole thing just sucks......
 
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Just wondering out loud (the kind of thing that can get you into trouble) if maybe the BTN folks knew what they were getting into when they began to put this package together. I know that they represent schools with lots of money, but are they used to working at the cutthroat level of corporate TV? Compared to TW, BTN is a drop in the bucket and ultimately the folks at BTN have to act like they represent eleven university presidents, not Tony Soprano. Know what I mean?
 
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DirecTV installed and ready to go. It will now take a hurricane or worse for me to miss a game.

So many people are switching down here(not just because of BTN I'm sure) the poor bastard who installed it didn't get here untill nearly 8pm and left at 12:30 this morning.
 
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Oh8ch;908549; said:
(Maybe this has already been discussed in this thread, but my search for News Corp came up empty, so here goes...)

2 + 2 finally came out to 4 this morning after reading the latest Dispatch article on the BTN fiasco. I never quite understood why Direct TV could cut a deal and nobody else seems even close.

Turns out that the parent company of Fox - 49% owner of the BTN - is News Corp. Controlling ownership of Direct TV also rests with News Corp. And News Corp is ultimately controlled by a man who goes by the name of Murdoch.

So, not only is Direct TV more or less just passing money around within the company by subscribing to BTN, but it is in News Corps best interest NOT to broker a deal with TW and other major players until after they have moved their more rabid fan base over to Direct TV.

I wouldn't look for BTN to start negotiating in earnest until after Direct TVs installers can get a day off. And they are only going to get busier come September 2nd when the fan base understands what it really means to get their only look at the this years version of the Buckeyes via a few clips on Sports Center. And there will be darn few clips of OSU - YSU even there.

I was also looking at the numbers for all of this. TW has 600,000 customers in Central Ohio. At $1.10 each per month that is just shy of 8 million dollars per year that the Big Ten wants for four football games and some number of basketball games JUST from the people of central Ohio.

Direct TV is the easy answer. I just don't know if I am willing to mortgage my sole to Rupert just yet. (Not that TW is the second coming of Mother Teresa.)
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cincibuck;910474; said:
Just wondering out loud (the kind of thing that can get you into trouble) if maybe the BTN folks knew what they were getting into when they began to put this package together. I know that they represent schools with lots of money, but are they used to working at the cutthroat level of corporate TV? Compared to TW, BTN is a drop in the bucket and ultimately the folks at BTN have to act like they represent eleven university presidents, not Tony Soprano. Know what I mean?
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I know what you mean cinci, but the above post by Oh8ch explains it all. The folks at BTN aren't representing Tony Soprano, they're representing Rupert Murdoch.

It is clear that BTN is charging more than the cable companies want to pay. Whether they are actually asking for $1.10 per subscriber is only relevant to the extent that someone is lying to the public about the terms being negotiated. If BTN were offering their content for free, the cable companies would carry it. As Winston Churchill would say, this establishes that the dispute is strictly about money.

To reiterate Oh8ch's spot-on analysis; DirecTV airing BTN is just rearranging the money in Murdoch's pockets. BTN charging more than cable companies want to pay is simply Murdoch's means of recruiting more DirecTV customers. At some point, probably right after the season starts, the marginal benefit of more customers will be outweighed by the marginal loss of advertising revenue. Whenever that point is reached, BTN will lower their price and come to an agreement with the remaining hold-outs (cable companies).

To make a long story short: The BTN people knew exactly what they were getting themselves into.



EDIT: Perhaps a vBet is called for. When will Time Warner in Columbus begin to carry the BTN? You can bet the vHouse it will happen before the end of September. (disclaimer: this is coming from one of the vpoorest vpeople on the vplanet)
 
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OSU SPORTS;910522; said:
Comcast never had any intention of bringing the BTN on board, after they were outbid by Fox to be a partner. The entire time they have been bashing the BTN, they have been trying to be in partner in a proposed SEC network.

No Big Ten Network on Comcast for Aug. 30 launch -- Fox Sports Network - MSU Spartans Insider - MLive.com
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I still don't know why BTN is opposed to allowing TW or Comcast to put this on a sports tier. OK, so DirecTV and Dish may not choose that, but why are the cable companies preventing from doing it that way?
 
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matcar;910574; said:
I still don't know why BTN is opposed to allowing TW or Comcast to put this on a sports tier. OK, so DirecTV and Dish may not choose that, but why are the cable companies preventing from doing it that way?
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I don't know if you're old enough to remember the commercials for Roi Tan cigars. They opened with a guy sitting in a luxury sports car, Ivy League cap, Harris tweed sport coat, ascot, driving gloves... any way the point was that he was saving money by smoking Roi Tans and the quote was, "How do you think a man like me got to be a man like me?" Inferring that by taking care of the nickles and dimes, the dollars were all falling the right way... for him.

From the little I know about Murdoch, he's a mean, shrewd, tough as nails sonuvabitch who could give a shit if you ever see an Ohio State football game until he's milked it for all the money he can. The whole industry has really heated up over telephones/cable/internet rights and getting customers on contracts and you have about six major players vying for a shit pot full of money and the right to put their hand in your pocket once a month for the rest of your life. BTN isn't even a pebble in Murdoch's shoe even though it sounds like amputation to you and other Big Ten fans.
 
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