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Big Ten Network (BTN)

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cincibuck;910593; said:
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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Yeah, I get that. And frankly, considering that I JUST MADE the switch from DirecTV to Comcast with full knowledge that I wouldn't get BTN, I'm obviously not feeling the "amputation" that some are.

You're comments are really what I was driving at. There are some here that seem to indicate that Comcast and TW are the villians here. My opinion is that there are no villians and no heroes. We have a new situation created by this new network and Comcast is fighting their fight and BTN is fighting it's fight. The only real positive thing I can say about BTN is that at least they are committed to HDTV. For that, I applaud them. Beyond that, considering that the network is in it's infancy, their pricing structure is immodest - to put it politely.
 
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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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The BTN doesn't want it on a separate tier for several reasons. First, they won't get the maximum penetration of potential viewers. Second, they don't want fans to have to pay additonal fees. The cable companies would have total control of what they could charge. For example, they could charge $10 or more and put it on their sports package. Third, the BTN is an HD station, and that carries a premium value. It's very expensive to set this network up, much more than a conventional network, so revenue is important.

You have to realize that the cable companies will make plenty of money on this deal. A lot of customers now have HD, and certainly will have in the future. That means they will want to see it in HD. The cable companies will gain a lot of revenue from putting these BTN customers on an HD tier, charging for an HD receiver and if you want an HD cable DVR, you will pay a DVR fee(mine is 9.95). I also pay $6.95 for standard digital dvr service, on my cable bill.

I personally don't care if the Murdoch family or Fred Flintstone is a partner of the BTN, the end result is the same. The proceeds from the BTN go back to the member institutions. With a cable company, it goes in their pocket. I have refrained from getting into these back and forth posts about who is more more credible, because it's an emotional issue with fans. The BTN is a long term business venture and it will be around for the long haul.
 
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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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If it's not on the basic package here in Cincinnati, that means customers would have to pay $7 a month to get a digital cable box. You would only be able to watch the game on the TV with the digital cable box. You would also need to subscribe to the Sports Package, another $2.95 (current price) a month. So for the $1.10 the Big Ten Network would charge Time Warner, a customer with just basic cable would have to pay Time Warner $10 a month to have the ability watch the game on one TV.
 
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OSU SPORTS;910627; said:
The BTN doesn't want it on a separate tier for several reasons. First, they won't get the maximum penetration of potential viewers. Second, they don't want fans to have to pay additonal fees. The cable companies would have total control of what they could charge. For example, they could charge $10 or more and put it on their sports package. Third, the BTN is an HD station, and that carries a premium value. It's very expensive to set this network up, much more than a conventional network, so revenue is important.

You have to realize that the cable companies will make plenty of money on this deal. A lot of customers now have HD, and certainly will have in the future. That means they will want to see it in HD. The cable companies will gain a lot of revenue from putting these BTN customers on an HD tier, charging for an HD receiver and if you want an HD cable DVR, you will pay a DVR fee(mine is 9.95). I also pay $6.95 for standard digital dvr service, on my cable bill.

I personally don't care if the Murdoch family or Fred Flintstone is a partner of the BTN, the end result is the same. The proceeds from the BTN go back to the member institutions. With a cable company, it goes in their pocket. I have refrained from getting into these back and forth posts about who is more more credible, because it's an emotional issue with fans. The BTN is a long term business venture and it will be around for the long haul.
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I'm not going to get into it any further either. I agree BTN is in it for the long haul, and they and Murdoch are out there to make money just like the cable companies. Cable companies aren't the good guys, but neither is the opposition in this case. It's just a change in the situation that CFB fans have gotten used to over the past several years.
 
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When I mentioned cable deregualtion, here is another problem for the cable companies. Cable companies spend millions to special interest groups to lobby in their behalf to prevent a la carte programming. This would benefit the consumer and slice the gravy train enjoyed by the cable industry. Consumers could get what programs they wanted and not get stuck with the "bundle" garbage forced upon them by the cable companies.

But now the cable companies have painted themselves in a corner. They are doing the thing they advocate against, forcing the NFL Network and now the BTN into a a la carte situation. They can't have it both ways and now the FCC is starting to notice.

MediaPost Publications - Cable Operators Must Carry Big Ten Or Lose Subs - 08/24/2007
 
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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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I think this is dead on as far as News Com is concerned. The fans big hope is that the Big Ten does have 51% interest in the BTN. That means guys like Gene Smith, Jim Tressel, Gordon Gee and their equivalents at other schools have a voice. Perhaps that is where we the fan should be applying the pressure.
 
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Best Buckeye;909596; said:
I dl sopcast and didn't receive any virus threat. I did this thinking that someway I can webcast the games that I get. The problem is that not everyone can pick up the game url or it loads but won't play. One person got it others didnt. I am working on that. I had no problem watching a game while I was broadcasting it.
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Any progress?
 
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Jax--

Did the guy get up on your roof? I've been looking at my set-up, and I'm thinking they're going to have to put my dish on the roof. Of course, I have an A-frame house from the 1890s....


One other general question... I thought there were rumblings that the first two games might be televised while TW works their negotiations out with BTN. Did I make that up, or is that still a possibility?
 
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suza271;911346; said:
Jax--

Did the guy get up on your roof? I've been looking at my set-up, and I'm thinking they're going to have to put my dish on the roof. Of course, I have an A-frame house from the 1890s....


One other general question... I thought there were rumblings that the first two games might be televised while TW works their negotiations out with BTN. Did I make that up, or is that still a possibility?
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Yes, I have had 3 sat's on 2 diff houses and they have always put them on the roof. I have seen them on poles next to houses and such but they have to be elevated somehow.

No idea on part 2
 
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Received this email from TW this morning. I think it is a fair assessment of the situation:

Dear Time Warner Cable Customer,

Ohio State will soon kick off its football season, and we know many of you will be looking for the opening games. The first two OSU games are scheduled to be carried by the Big Ten Network, a new cable channel that isn?t available on Time Warner Cable yet.

We wanted to let you know that we are negotiating with the Big Ten Network and we have reserved a channel for it in our line-up. We want to reach an agreement that is fair to both you and the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten Network will be carrying football and basketball games previously made available to local broadcasters, along with NCAA-sponsored sports, and 660 hours of non-sports programming from the 11 Big Ten schools.

Here?s where we stand on bringing you this programming:

Time Warner Cable would like to make Big Ten Network programming available to our customers who want it. We know that some of the games are important to a segment of our customers.

Because this programming is so highly priced, we want to make it available as part of a separate sports package to those who want it ? without increasing the cost for everyone. The Big Ten Network will not allow us to deliver the network on these terms because it insists that all customers ? including those uninterested in its programming ? must pay.

The Big Ten Network has said publicly that it wants $1.10 per customer per month for cable companies to bring you Big Ten Network programming in Ohio. At this rate, the Big Ten Network stands to make $237 million each year from cable customers in the Big Ten states alone. Outside the eight-state Big Ten region, Big Ten fans are being asked to pay far less for the same programming ? only 10 cents per month per customer. That means an avid Ohio State fan who happens to live in West Virginia pays only $.10 per month while those of us living in Ohio are being asked to pay $1.10 per month. It?s just not fair.

Only one major video provider has reached an agreement with Big Ten Network, a company that also owns 49% of the Big Ten Network.

At this point, Big Ten Network has announced about half of the football games that they will air in the upcoming season. Of those games, not one involves a Big Ten Conference match-up involving Ohio State. In addition, at most, fans of one university will miss a few football games that ABC and ESPN do not consider key match-ups.

These games used to be available on broadcast or other more widely distributed networks, but the Big Ten withdrew them in order to try to make more money not only from its fans ? but from cable customers who are not fans or even interested in sports. These games were available last year locally without the Big Ten seeking an additional fee from viewers. This year, the Big Ten Conference wants fans to pay not only for access to these local games, but other games that hold little or no local interest.

We sincerely hope this situation can be resolved quickly so that our customers who want to see Ohio State games will be able to view them. In the meantime, you?ll still be able to see the majority of Ohio State?s games on channels you already receive such as ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

For more information, and updates on the negotiations, please check our Web site: Time Warner Cable.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Fraas
President
Time Warner Cable Mid-Ohio Division
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I have come to the strong conclusion that there is a bad guy in all this and it is the BTN. It may be time for the fan base to quit whining to one another and start directing out efforts where it may make a difference.

IMO that is by expressing our concerns directly to the Ohio State University - not the BTN. Right now I am trying to identify the best email address for such a message. The address provided on the Official Site doesn't seem to be targeted towards this sort of issue. I am going to start with the Athletic Ticket Office email, but if anyone has a better address please let me know.
 
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Thanks for the info, oh8ch.

I truly wonder if the boys over at the BTN realize that the Big Ten's popularity is in no small part due to it's having been WIDELY available last year. I imagine it's somewat regional, but when I can watch Illinois v. Indiana on "ESPN plus" (Channel 10) it provides exposure to the conference. Now... well... it's like some private little club. But... it's like paying fees to get you in to Muirfield, but only being allowed to play Raymond Memorial... That is, exclusivity, but for what? Ohio State steamrolling YSU? Indiana matching wits with Upper East Nobody State?

Meanwhile... I can watch all kinds of great SEC matchups this year. In High Def... and for free. Why.... if I was a young football player, I might even be persuaded by the popularity of this brand of football - as compared to the Big Ten's brand... which... of course, I can't even see unless I'm willing to line Murdoch's pockets further. In short.... underexposure, as has been menitoned on this thread before, will hurt recruiting in the long run. Granted, Illinois v. Lower Vermont Technical Institute of Basketweaving doesn't necessarily make the difference, but ... well... I guess if we're going to accept that exposure is a good thing, we need to also realize that exclusivity is a "bad" thing when the conference is concerned.
 
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