Comcast, Big Ten Network gridlocked

So much for making nice.\nAfter weeks of negotiations, the Big Ten Network officially announced last Thursday that it will not come to an agreement with the cable provider Comcast in time for the network’s Thursday launch. As a result of this decision, viewers who subscribe to Comcast or Insight, which will become Comcast, will miss out on the network’s opening telecasts, including the IU versus Indiana State game this Saturday.\n“We have said for at least a month that if we can agree that the network belongs on standard basic cable, then we can negotiate everything else, including the price,” said Mike Vest, a media relations manager for the network. \n“They just haven’t negotiated with us at all. They have said ‘sports tier or nothing’ and that’s not really a negotiation process.”\nFrom the beginning, both sides have been unwilling to budge because neither company would like to compromise their terms of agreement. Comcast wants to put the network on a sports tier, making it a subscription-only channel, while Vest said his company essentially won’t settle for anything less than being a part of the standard basic cable package.\nThe Big Ten Network, which has deals with DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse, will broadcast three to five IU football games and 15 to 20 IU men’s basketball games. While negotiations between Comcast and the network are going on, Comcast subscribers will continue to miss games until a deal is reached.\n“It was never our idea to take this programming, which had previously been available to all of our customers for free via channel four, and suddenly start charging for it,” said Mark Apple, vice president of communication and public affairs at Comcast. “The Big Ten came up with that plan all on their own. It really is unfortunate that the games that were always available for free are now going to cost our customers.”\nBecause the Big Ten is only limited to eight states and Comcast doesn’t want to burden its customers with excessive prices, Apple said a sports tier makes the most sense for the network, since it would be similar to the NFL Network or the NBA Network – both of which are already on Comcast’s sports tier.\nVest said the Big Ten fan base is both substantial in number and geographically widespread, especially with the popularity of basketball in Indiana, where he said the network would have no problem getting strong ratings.\nBut Bloomington resident Cliff Madison disagrees. Madison said he owns a satellite dish and will receive the Big Ten Network, but doesn’t believe it will be a great success.\n“I mean, you’re limited to the Big Ten,” Madison said. “(In) California (and on) the East Coast, you’re not going to have those coast viewers watching that package. There’s a huge fan base and there’s die-hard fans, but I don’t know if you have enough.” \nWhile Bloomington residents are affected, so are the off-campus students and greek chapters that subscribe to either Comcast or its subsidiary, Insight. Though he doesn’t attend many of the games himself, senior Chris Holland said he enjoys being able to watch the games at home, and it would be unfortunate to miss any of them while Comcast and the Big Ten Network hammer out a deal.\n“I think it’s terrible because as an IU student you’d like to watch the game on TV, or have the opportunity of (deciding) whether you want to or not,” Holland said. “There isn’t a huge following of the student body as far as participation, going to the (football) games, but it would be nice to be able to watch them on TV.”\nThough the negotiation process between Comcast and the network has turned into a stalemate, the IU Athletics Department is behind the network and believes it will eventually come to an agreement with Comcast, said IU Athletics Department Director of Media Relations JD Campbell. In addition to Saturday’s home football game, the men’s soccer match between IU and UCLA will be broadcast on the network this weekend.\n“We’re confident that this process will reach a conclusion and bring our events to the many fans across the eight-state footprint of the Big Ten Network,” Campbell said. “We definitely would like to see the distribution reach the highest number of people as possible. But we’re confident that the Big Ten Network will be a success.”