The largely acrimonious negotiations between the Big Ten Network and Comcast Cable pertaining to the cable company carrying the network on their system may be close to handshakes all around. Sports Business Journal announced yesterday in an article that the two entities are close to an agreement to have Comcast carry the Big Ten Network.
In previous posts, here, here, and here, I highlighted some of the issues that have caused the largest cable companies in the Midwest to not carry the Big Ten Network during it's inaugural season. The biggest impediment was the price per subscriber the Big Ten was asking for the cable companies to carry the network. Plus, they were demanding that the network would be available on the basic tier of channels. Cable companies were wanting to put it on either the expanded basic tier or the digital tier of sports channels.
The Big Ten Network said that having on an expanded basic or sports tier would limit the amount of people who have access to the channel. That, in turn, would limit the amount of income the network would receive from advertisers.
After watching a few games on the Big Ten Network this winter, it was apparent that few advertisers were coming on board. Many of the commercials were "info-mercial"-type ads for schlocky products. Later in the season, they did get a couple three national advertisers to come on board, most notably Red Lobster and Esurance.
As the Big Ten Basketball season entered February, it became apparent that the major cable providers in the Midwest were not going to back down to the Big Ten Network's demands. Suddenly, the Big Ten Network was looking at having little leverage with the cable companies after the Thursday and Friday sessions of the Big Ten Tournament coming up this weekend. Other than some track, baseball and softball broadcasts this spring, the network wouldn't have any meaningful programming until next September.
And it appears the Big Ten Network knows that. It appears now that Comcast, the largest cable provider in the Midwest, will be allowed to carry the network on their expanded basic cable. The Big Ten Network has reportedly relaxed their "basic cable only" demands to cable operators.
Through all of this, there's been some cracks in the hard line approach the Big Ten Network, conference school administrators and coaches have been taking since the network debuted last summer. Michigan State Basketball coach Tom Izzo called the Big Ten Network "a P.R. nightmare" last month, saying that it was hurting the sports programs and their fans across the Big Ten region. Izzo, a highly respected coach, was most likely saying what a number of other coaches and administrators were thinking.
Another turn has been the leverage Fox has with the Big Ten Network and cable providers. Fox, which owns 49% of the network, has been in negotiations with the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA to carry their games on Fox Sports Channel. Evidentially, Fox would have an exclusive on showing Pistons and Cavaliers games, effectively freezing out cable competitors AT&T and Echostar from starting up a new sports channel in those markets.
This situation, along with the BTN's relaxing of their hard line stance, has reportedly triggered the pending agreement with Comcast. And the network is hoping that once Comcast falls in line, the other large cable companies in the Midwest - most notably Time Warner, Mediacom and Charter - would follow suit. But reports are that those cable providers are not close to an agreement with the Big Ten Network.
As they say in television land, stay tuned, folks...
So who blinked first on this one?
Posted by: Phinney | March 11, 2008 at 10:02 PM
It's tough to say - In an article in the Chicago Trib I was reading last night, it appears Comcast was the one who made the first concession by removing the "niche programming" label to the BTN. And it appears the BTN has lessoned its fee to under $1.00 a subscriber.
Don't know where this leaves people in Iowa with Mediacom.
Posted by: Will | March 12, 2008 at 10:12 AM