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tOSU TV Viewing/ESPN GamePlan?

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A little message I whipped up for the fine folks at ESPNU

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CPD

Tape-delayed gratification

OSU game to be shown later on ONN


Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus- Slip on a pair of earmuffs and pull a blanket over your head Saturday afternoon, and when 11 p.m. rolls around, convince yourself you're watching Ohio State live, not on tape delay.
That will be the best option for Buckeyes fans this week, with the announcement Tuesday that Saturday's noon start with Indiana will be rebroadcast on ONN Saturday night and again at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Tom Griesdorn, the president of the Ohio News Network, said it was the university that sought a secondary home for the game with the live broadcast taking place on ESPNU, which doesn't reach most cable subscribers in the state.
"Ohio State stepped up to the plate to appease the viewing public," Griesdorn said Tuesday night. "It's all about the viewers and sometimes we forget that. Hats off to them for finding a way to please the masses."
The tape-delay scenario is a better choice than expected. Ohio State is adding the live game to its campus cable system, but there was nothing other cable companies could do to add ESPNU on short notice. Fans looked to be out of luck, a rare occurrence with the Buckeyes. This is the first time since the Minnesota game in 1997 that Ohio State isn't playing on a network like ABC or at least a major cable channel like ESPN or ESPN2.
"People have become accustomed to it in recent years," Ohio State football spokesman Steve Snapp said. "They expect every game to be on TV and they want to see it. That's exactly what we want. We want fans to think that way."
This should be the last time Ohio State fans are faced with a weekend without the Buckeyes, assuming the Big Ten Network gets picked up as the conference hopes it will. But that's not a sure thing yet.
The Big Ten's new channel is set to launch in August of next year, and the plan is for the conference football games that previously aired on ESPN Plus or ESPNU to instead be shown on the Big Ten Network. For instance, this year 17 Big Ten games will be on ABC and 23 on ESPN or ESPN2. Those numbers will be virtually identical next year. But this year, 18 games are planned for ESPN Plus and 10 for ESPNU. Next season, 35 football games will air on the Big Ten Network.
Each conference team must appear on the Big Ten Network at least twice. So fans still will have to search for the Buckeyes a bit some Saturdays. The Big Ten Network has already struck a deal with DirecTV, but hasn't yet worked out deals with cable operators. Time Warner, which serves nearly 1 million customers in Northeast Ohio, will need to sign a national contract with the Big Ten Network for Ohio customers to have it as an option on their cable package. That's the same way it works with channels like ESPNU and the NFL Network, two that don't have Time Warner contracts.
Time Warner doesn't negotiate regional deals with channels. It won't sign with the Big Ten Network just for its Midwest markets, where you'd imagine interest would be highest. So Heidi Mock, Time Warner's director of media relations, wasn't making any promises Tuesday. But she said the Northeast Ohio market is the third largest in the Time Warner family, behind only New York and Los Angeles, so the Midwest desires do hold some power.
In the meantime, she said Time Warner has been besieged with calls this week, and as a Buckeye fan herself, she empathized. She said Time Warner did ask ESPN about airing the game live and was rejected.
"I'm tearing up just talking about missing the game," she said. "It's disappointing, it really is."
Putting the game on ESPNU was within the rights of ESPN, which is heavily promoting the game and obviously using the nation's No. 1 team to build interest in a channel that currently reaches only 8 million homes. If the Big Ten is going to build up a new channel, it would rather build its own.
"We all have goals we want to meet and I'm sure they have goals of how many subscribers and all that stuff," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said of ESPNU. "But would I rather it be available for more of our fans? Absolutely."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
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Dispatch

Don?t go nuts: Buckeyes fans have options on Saturday

Wednesday, October 18, 2006


BOB HUNTER
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All of the deafening gnashing of teeth aside, this Ohio State/Indiana/ ESPNU flap doesn?t seem like much of a crisis.
I?ve tried to work myself into a frenzy over Saturday?s live broadcast being available only on ESPNU. I gritted my teeth hard enough to develop cracks in my gums. But then I remembered that 12 years ago only four OSU games were on the tube that season, and my outrage lost some of its steam.
Maybe it?s hard for me to get too worked up about this because I?m going to be at the game myself, but that doesn?t totally explain it. If I had to pick one game to miss every season, it would almost certainly be Indiana. Year in and year out, this is the stinker of Ohio State?s Big Ten schedule. Even though the Hoosiers pulled off an upset of Iowa last week, Saturday?s game should be about as exciting as watching Jim Tressel shave. Maybe these Hoosiers will plant a big "L" on the No. 1 Buckeyes, but there?s a better chance the game will resemble OSU?s 38-7 win over Michigan State last week.
I know many of you live to watch the Buckeyes pulverize weak opponents, and after all these years of watching losing Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals teams, it?s not difficult to sympathize with that cold sentiment. But the fact is, if you feel an almost pathological need to see the OSU-Indiana game, there is nothing stopping you from doing that. This isn?t OSU-Michigan. This is a scalper?s nightmare. There might be enough tickets available outside the stadium to comfortably seat all 360 members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir ? in the same section.
If you?re not willing to pay to see the game, chances are that missing it is probably not as big a crisis as you think it is. Besides, there are plenty of reasonable alternatives:

? Go to a sports bar that has the game on ? Human interaction isn?t in vogue these days, but it might do you good to spend some time with zealots like yourself rather than holed up in your hovel.

? Listen to the radio ? In some ways, kicking back with a brew on the patio and the game on the radio is better than seeing it on TV. You can listen to a game on radio and still do other things ? work on your car, do yardwork, play golf ? that aren?t possible when your eyes are glued to a TV.

? Play with your kid ? This seems like an obvious solution for time-starved parents. It also could be considerably more rewarding than screaming your lungs out for a victory over a team that hasn?t beaten OSU since 1988 and has beaten the Buckeyes only 12 times in 81 meetings.

? Read a book ? OK, I?m going radical on you here. It?s just that this is the perfect opportunity for a little quiet enjoyment and self-improvement. I?m partial to John Steinbeck, but there are plenty of OSU football books on the market. If you simply spent the afternoon reading one of those, you would end the day a moreinformed OSU fan than the poor saps who paid $62 to go to the game.

? Call your cable company and demand that ESPNU be made available ? That?s a joke. That is absolutely the last thing you should do if you?re upset that the game is not on the usual channels. It is doubtless what ESPN hopes for in having exclusive broadcasts on ESPNU that can?t be watched elsewhere, and if you pepper the cable company with "Please gives us ESPNU" phone calls, you?re playing right into the cable giant?s hands.
If you really would like to turn the tables on those moneygrubbers, call or write your cable company ? or better still, ESPN itself ? and explain that you see through this clever marketing ruse and you will never, ever subscribe to ESPNU because of that.
If you do that, you might actually feel better than you would after watching the Buckeyes score that seventh touchdown against Indiana.

Bob Hunter is a sports colum nist for the Dispatch .

[email protected]
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cincibuck;636808; said:
Another reason to hate Notre Dame...

Can you imagine ESPN-ABC/CBS/NBC shutting out any one of the Notre Dame - Army/Navy/Air Force/Coast Guard games?

Tell me this doesn't impact big time on recruiting...
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thats a damn good point..

agreed with that 100 percent
 
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Dryden;636225; said:
The best solution for everyone is go join your local Knights of Columbus chapter. Watch the game there, drink beers for $1.00, and shoot pool or throw darts for free! :biggrin:
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The local K of C chapter has the Notre Dame channel welded on the TV set and will be overrun with Domers who never sniffed the campus.

Try the VFW... we have an auxillary membership plan and your funds support veterans/veterans issues.

Cincibuck
APVNV
 
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Yeah, I have my 1 1/2 year old daughter to myself on saturdays due to my wife working....looks like I'm back to listening to it on the radio, and watching the gamelink on ESPN.

There's no way I can take my babygirl to a bar. I guess the world won't end, and I'm sure I'll be able to cop a capped version of this one (thank you timBUCK2!!!), but it still is a little disappointing. Watching the bucks on Saturday is one of my favorite things to do....

One thing to consider is the boon it is to the local establishments that support buckeye football, and the crowds and money it will generate for those owners is at the very least a positive light on the bucks television snuff.
 
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MorningJournal

Where will you watch the game?

ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writer

10/19/2006

LORAIN -- The decision to keep this week's OSU Buckeyes game off cable and regular television has fans perplexed and outraged -- but the bar owners who put down some cash to get ESPN's full package are grinning.


Saturday's home game at noon versus Indiana will be shown on ESPNU, a channel not carried by cable TV providers in Northeast Ohio. Only subscribers to satellite television can sign up for the channel.

Not all is lost, though, if fans are willing to wait 11 hours to view the game. The game will be shown on tape Saturday at 11 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. Sunday on the Ohio News Network, which is carried by local cable providers.

Several area bars have picked up ESPNU just to show the game live and are expecting large crowds.

''The hype for that national championship is going to be huge,'' said Chris Biechele, owner of Cheers Sports Bar and Grill at the Sandusky Mall. ''I expect standing room only. ... The best thing I ever did was get that College GameDay (package).''

Cheers will be having breakfast and beer specials for the hundreds of fans they're expecting.

Scorchers Casual Eatery and Draft House, 900 Broadway in Lorain, also will show the game and is expecting the place to be packed.

''People were kinda upset,'' said Will Castro, owner of Scorchers. ''They don't understand why it wasn't being shown, being that we're No. 1.''

Castro said he's received several calls from fans. ''We're making sure people know about it,'' Castro said.

Regulars at Scorchers are happy the game will be on, but were prepared to go elsewhere, if necessary.

''Whatever I've got to do,'' said Steve Anadell, 52, of Lorain. ''If I've got to watch it on ONN, I'll watch it on ONN.''

Fans at Scorchers were still not happy about its not being shown on network TV or ESPN or ESPN2.

''I don't understand why it won't be on regular TV,'' said Dana Limbach, 54, of Lorain.

''We're going to have to fight to get a seat'' at the bar, said Del Torres, 41.

Anadell is just happy to be able to root for his team.

''We're fortunate that we've been able to see as many games as we have,'' said Anadell. ''Next year, I'm sure they'll correct this.''

Frank and Ellie's Maple Inn, 37111 Detroit Road, Sheffield Township, faced with the prospect of being Buckeye-less on Saturday, gave in and bought the ESPNU package.

''I guess it's worth it,'' said Bret Root, manager of the bar.

Buffalo Wild Wings, 239 Midway Blvd., Elyria, bought the satellite package earlier this week to watch Bowling Green State University, not expecting the Ohio State game to be restricted.

''Everybody's pretty glad they can see it here,'' said B.J. Ries, assistant general manager. ''I was upset they wouldn't show it to people unless they paid extra.''

The Winking Lizard, 32045 Detroit Road, Avon, and the Church Street Bar and Grill, 300 Church St., Amherst will also be showing the game.

Some bars without ESPNU are left making quick adjustments.

''We figured we'd do a decent business, we'd do a lot of good appetizer business and alcohol business,'' said Jim Andrews, owner of the Jackalope Bar and Rotisserie, 301 Lakeside Ave., Lorain. ''I just found out today it would not be televised. We had to take one person off the floor and one person off the bar because of it.''

Cable carriers are also expressing outrage at the move.

''We are beyond disappointed in this, for our customers in Ohio,'' said Gina Petredis, spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable.

Petredis said the cable company was working to see that all of its customers in the area have ONN to watch the tape-delayed version of the game.

''Here we go again,'' said Ralph Potts, manager of the Oberlin Cable Co-op. ''It's similar to the Cleveland Indians debacle. It's moving a local product to new channels that no one carries.''

Earlier this year, the co-op didn't sign a contract with Sports- Time Ohio, the new Cleveland Indians channel, until after the season started. Oberlin residents were forced to read about the early games in the newspaper unless they were willing to buy a ticket or travel to watch the games.

''Our only hope with this particular game is if there's enough outcry in the Ohio area, they decide to show the game on ABC,'' said Potts. ''I don't see that happening.''

Potts added one reason why Buckeyes fans might hope the oversight isn't fixed -- ''The Oberlin Curse.''

He said local Oberlin residents noticed that the Indians' slide last season began when the Oberlin Cable Co-op started showing Tribe games.
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LINK

ESPNU has Buckeye fans in uproar
BY DONNIE COLLINS
STAFF WRITER

10/19/2006


Top-ranked Ohio State?s game with Indiana will be broadcast live on ESPNU at noon on Saturday. Which is just fine by pretty much everyone around the college football nation.

One problem, though: ESPNU isn?t available to most cable subscribers in Columbus, Ohio.

Outraged Buckeyes rooters caused quite the stink with the university and ESPNU this week, leaving school officials scrambling to devise some plan to appease the angered fan base.

?My daughter, who?s away in college in New York, she?s like, ?What do you mean it?s not going to be on?? ? Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. ?(The fans? disappointment) doesn?t surprise me, because people love watching the Buckeyes.?

The university had to come to a deal with ESPN to allow Ohio News Network to rebroadcast the game late Saturday and again Sunday night for Columbus-area fans without ESPNU or a ticket to Ohio Stadium. Ohio State students are more fortunate. They will be allowed to watch the Buckeyes try to keep their unbeaten season going live thanks to a feed to dorms and other university buildings.

?I certainly understand the preference of our many great fans is to see every Ohio State game live,? Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said in a statement. ?But this provides an excellent alternative.?

Hep?s pep talk

As the old saying goes, it doesn?t hurt to ask.

Giving his best Uncle Sam-style ?We Want You!? pitch to less-than-rabid Indiana football fans, Hoosiers coach Terry Hoeppner demanded 50,000 fans attend the team?s Homecoming game next week against Michigan State.

?The team needs you,? he said. ?Crowds win games.?

Hoeppner is either auditioning for a future as a salesman or, after his team?s stunning win over then-No. 15 Iowa at The Rock last week, a true believer in the effect of the 12th man.

Hoeppner said he noticed the crowd ?getting larger? as the Iowa game went on. He called their support ?inspiring.?

After beating the Hawkeyes and coming from behind to beat Illinois the week before, the Hoosiers ? who haven?t been to a bowl game in more than a decade ? are tied for fourth in the Big Ten.

?I?m soliciting all the help I can get,? Hoeppner said. ?I?m going to personally count them.?

Contact the writer: [email protected]
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Mickey Mouse decision bars Bucks from TV
Ohio State game only on ESPNU, which isn't available in this area
INDIANA AT OHIO STATE? When: Saturday, noon
? Records: IU is 4-3, 2-1 Big Ten; No. 1 OSU is 7-0, 3-0
? Series: OSU leads 64-12-5
? Favorite: OSU by 32
? TV: ESPNU
? Radio: 1470

MORE OSU
? Game 1: OSU 35, N. Illinois 12
? Game 2: OSU 24, Texas 7
? Game 3: OSU 37, Cincinnati 7
? Game 4: OSU 28, Penn St. 6
? Ohio St. vs. Penn St. slideshow.
? Game 5: OSU 38, Iowa 17
? Game 6: OSU 35, BGSU 7
? Game 7: OSU 38, MSU 7
? More OSU stories, schedule
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER


Legions of Ohio State fans are steamed that the undefeated Buckeyes, the No. 1-ranked team in the country all season, won't have their Big Ten game against Indiana this Saturday televised on any major outlet.

The game is available live only on ESPNU, the marginally distributed cable offshoot of ESPN, which is part of the Disney/ABC broadcasting giant.

ESPNU, an all college sports station launched less than two years ago, is not available locally on Buckeye CableSystem, and not available through any area Time-Warner Cable outlets.

"We don't have it. We have been in discussion with ESPN to add it, but at this time it's not a station we have available," said Florence Buchanan, vice president of sales and marketing for Buckeye CablesSystem.

That means Northwest Ohio followers of the Buckeyes have very limited choices.

They can try to locate a ticket for the sold-out game, find a dish owner who subscribes to ESPNU, or watch the game at a sports bar that has ESPNU. The Brew House on Airport Highway, and all area Ralphie's and Fricker's restaurants carry the ESPNU channel.

The Disney Co. owns the television broadcasting rights to Big Ten home games and opted to put the Buckeyes on ESPNU, while the game between Illinois (2-5) and Penn State (4-3) in the same noontime slot will be carried on the much more broadly distributed ESPN2. ABC is televising No. 5 Texas against No. 17 Nebraska at noon, while ESPN carries No. 21 Wisconsin at Purdue.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is not shocked by the uproar, which he said hit home when his daughter attending college in New York called him earlier this week to complain about the lack of a widespread broadcast of the Buckeyes' game.

"It doesn't surprise me, because people love watching the Buckeyes," Tressel said.

"You go to Spartan Stadium, and I don't know what the numbers were, but gosh, it looked to me like a third of the people or better were ours. When you go to Texas, it looked to me like - I don't know where they got those tickets - but there was a whole bunch of scarlet and gray there. So the interest level in Ohio State football is tremendous."

Of the three primary cable outlets in the Columbus/central Ohio market closest to Ohio State, only Insight offers ESPNU, as a premium channel.

An agreement has been reached to show the Ohio State-Indiana game on ONN on a delayed basis, with a replay at 11 p.m. Saturday and at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
 
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