Big Ten Blackout Surely this is overstating the deal --- with ESPN, ESPN2 and all the games with ND - that will be on TV, I find this article at least a little bit of an overstatement --- From the August 10, 2007 AP sports wire and the Nashville, TN The Tennessean: The link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBC_BIG_TEN_PREVIEW?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I'm sorry, if the NFL network doesn't qualify as a Basic 70 channel, then the Big Ten network sure as h*** doesn't. I do feel for fans though that won't be able to see their games on TV when they would have in the past.
I would actually rather watch an infomercial about the Ronco Food Dehydrator than watch the Big 10 football!!:geauxtige :geauxtige :geauxtige
Question: WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?! MO' FOOTBALL = MO' BETTER! IDC what it is, if there are people in pads playing with that lovably ugly ball, I'm watching (cougharenaleaguecough). tirk, be glad the newbie posted or I would have come after you!
everyone knows im full of it. im the one watching the idaho/montana battle before the big 10 matchup starts.
The BTN and the cable companies are playing footsies. Delany already has an agreement with DirecTV that calls for their "Total Choice" subscription, which is a premium listing. So demanding the cable companies list the BTN with regular programing is what's called "a negotiating foothold". Delany knows it's going to be listed in a premium cable package when it's all said and done... he's just playing the "what about the little man" angle. When it's over, Big Ten fans will pay a premium to watch our middle of the pack teams play live, plus reruns of Michigan and Ohio State games, women's volleyball, etc., and Delany can say, "I tried to make it FREE". I pay big bucks already to make sure I can see my Hawkeyes. What's a few bucks more? It's either pay or tell my wife we're moving to Des Moines or Iowa City... this is way less expensive than how I'd "pay" the rest of my life.:shock:
Let's see; first maximize your popularity by maximizing access, then try to maximize revenue by restricting access. I think I understand now......
Last time I checked, "Total Choice" was pretty much the smallest package they had. I just re-checked, and it looks like DirecTV has a "Family" package now with only ~40 channels, roughly equivalent to analog cable probably. The next step up in packages is "Total Choice", with ~140 channels. So if the Big Ten Network is going to be part of "Total Choice", that would be the closest equivalent to "basic extended cable" that DirecTV has. I doubt many DirecTV customers consider "Total Choice" to be a premium tier, in other words.
