The Big Ten Network Stranglehold May Finally be Released

The Big Ten Network Stranglehold May Finally be Released
Everyone agrees...

It's no longer football season and people have pretty much forgotten about how much they hate the Big Ten Network. However, the need to hate them again in the fall appears to be diminishing as they are close to reaching an agreement with Comcast.  Last football season, the Big Ten Network bought the games against Appalachian State and Northwestern ( maybe more?) from the Comcast broadcasted channels, pissing off everyone who didn't have Direct TV.  I believe they originally held the game against Illinois before it was bought back by ABC due to the game's importance/demand.

Regardless of the past, this is good news for everyone here on campus. There will no longer be students refreshing a yahoo screen or waiting in hour-long lines outside of B-dubs on Saturday mornings. The incorporation of the BTN into Comcast might even provide an opportunity for you to see your friend on the volleyball team play on TV, as the BTN provides a medley of sports at Michigan that no one really cares about. After all, they have to provide filler space when they're not showing the only 3 games of the year that people deliberately watch the channel for.

Long story short, the BTN still sucks. They should have left things the way they were and everyone would have been happy. They will have little to no success in broadcasting baseball games or whatever it is they do in the off-season. The cable bill is going to go up and even though there are a few hotties on the softball team, I can't imagine watching them play for more than 2 minutes the entire season. Maybe if Jennie Finch found a loophole that allowed her back to college and let her transfer to Michigan, I might consider watching the softball team. Otherwise, I don't want to pay for that.
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tradina
Unfortunately, with the University's announcement that they are going to reduce the number of seats (despite promises to the contrary) in the "improved" stadium, we are going to need this now more than ever.


We can only hope that someday soon Mary Sue Coleman will take a job elsewhere and leave our state forever!
Posted 03/11/2008 07:45 AMReply
Anonymous
Yes, because a few hundred less seats makes a difference in a stadium that seats ~107,000. Great analysis. Posted 03/11/2008 08:14 AMReply
Anonymous
If Comcast weren't being such a douchebag, they would have BTN a long time ago. Nowadays, more, more major conferences are launching their own network with SEC being the first. ACC, Pac-10 followed suit. All I have to say about Comcast is **** them. Posted 03/11/2008 09:23 AMReply
Anonymous
i disagree, while its true that comcast doesnt carry BTN (and i believe comcast is the largest cable network provider in michigan), that does not mean that BTN sucks or has made things worse as far as broadcasting michigan and other big ten sports is concerned. I myself like BTN because they provide coverage of big ten sports that is considerably better than other networks, and they give a lot more exposure to sports that normally do not get as much attention as football or basketball (i.e. hockey)... BTN is in my opinion significantly better than any other sports broadcasting company since they provide 24/7 coverage of the only sports teams i care about (that being michigan and its rivals)... perhaps you meant to say that comcast sucks, not BTN (cause lets face it, comcast does suck...) Posted 03/12/2008 09:21 AMReply
Anonymous
I dislike BTN for their quality of programming. The do give me more Michigan info, but their quality of work, at least here in Michigan is pretty bad. Their commentators are definitely second tier.

After saying that, that's not why I blame the lack of a contract between BTN and Comcast. What limited info we see in the media doesn't tell us who in the long run has been at fault. I would not have been opposed to the placing of BTN on a sports package. I think thats where it really should have belonged. I really would have rather avoided this whole mess and have the Big10 sign on with Fox Sports. They already have a national package for basic cable divided into regions so they can control content. If all the leagues created their conference network under one umbrella, I think it would have cleared away any argument as the general station would be placed in all markets, with some more centric than others. I realize this may cause some problems, especially in the Southeast where ACC meets SEC meets BigEast markets, but I'm sure Fox Sports handles this in some half way decent thought out manner.
Posted 03/12/2008 09:29 AMReply

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