My fellow Penn State fans should be on alert.
Big Ten network to carry PSU
I don't know who to mad at in this one. Since Comcast took over from Adelphia they have cut 2 stations from my basic cable. The WE network is no big loss but the elimination of UPN-57 means I don't get the Phillies games on the weekend. I'm listening to it on the radio right now.
But until Comcast comes to an agreement with the Big Ten 3 Penn State football games may be out of reach. Unless you want to pay extra for them.
The burgeoning Big Ten Network, which is slated to launch nationally in August, announced Tuesday it will broadcast the Nittany Lions’ season-opening game against Florida International on Sept. 1, as well as the third game of the campaign, Sept. 15 against Buffalo. Both are scheduled for noon kickoffs at Beaver Stadium.
And a confrence game is also slated for this new channel.
Just after Comcast took over from Adelphia I had 3 cable/ISP outages within 2 weeks. Coincidence? I'm not sure. The NY Times has a rundown.
Comcast is not the only company I don't like. Any monopoly sucks. My battles with the Pennsylvania Water Company are wearing me out. But I will continue.
Eventually the Super Bowl is going to be on pay-tv with commercials.
There is no question on who to be mad at in this dispute: Comcast. Comcast is a terrible cable company. They provide poor service and refuse to carry popular channels such as the Big Ten Network in an effort to boost their profits. There is nothing wrong with this but their public hypocricy of saying they are not carrying the BTN because they are trying to protect consumers is ludicrous. Comcast charges a far higher amount for the Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) that Comcast owns and it places them on expanded basic. The BTN is asking for approximately 50% of what Comcast charges for its RSNs. DirecTV and others have quickly seen the value in this and have agreed to carry the BTN to keep their customers happy. Comcast is refusing because it knows that the BTN is a high-demand channel and Comcast wants to place it on a sports tier so that its customers will upgrade and Comcast can increase its already record profits. I am very glad I switched to DirecTV to save myself from being held hostage to Comcast.
ReplyDeleteIt is Comcast. No matter what the Adelphia management did wrong, they new how to run a cable company.....
ReplyDeleteComcast is outrageous. They have an outright monopoly in most of Eastern Pennsylvania. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. They will cry and moan about carrying the Big Ten Network, as well as ESPNU, because the networks want to be on basic cable and charge too much. In defense to Comcast, if these networks would allow to be added to the digital tier, there would be no issue. I already pay for the digital sports tier and they would be added right in.
ReplyDeleteBut, back to Comcast. If I was unhappy about getting these channels, I could switch to DirecTV, but Comcast's monopoly strikes again, as I would then be unable to get Comcast SportsNet and would miss out on the majority of Phillies and Flyers games.
Going ala carte, like lawmakers propose, would only make things worse. If you aren't going to offer the channels we want now, why would they even bother offering them when people could actually choose if they wanted them or not. It's time to allow multiple cable companies to compete in neighborhoods, and that means the government needs to change.
Until then, our only hope is that some local network will feel sorry for us and carry a simulcast of PSU games on BTN.
You all are on a weird planet. The ill player here is not Comcast but the Big Ten Network. I'm no fan of cable companies either I lost over $75,000 in my 401k on Adelphia stock, but I do know what is fair.
ReplyDeleteThe BTN is charging $1.10 per subscriber when most second tier sports providers charge .30. The Big Ten product is not really even 2nd tier after football.
I'm in State College, we've rarely had outages that were their fault. In fact I can't think of one at all when the power was still on.
I say be strong Comcast and don't cave in.
Correction to comments; The BTN is to blame, they want to charge the "Big Ten Tax" of $13/month to every Comcast cable subscriber in order for Comcast to carry the package, regardless if they want to watch the BTN or not. Fair? hmmm... Comcast is willing to add the BTN to a digital sports entertainment package for only $5/month and only to the subcribers that actually want to watch the BTN. Remember, State College is not the only city that exists on this planet, and when you can't watch tv, take a step outside for a little while, it won't kill you.
ReplyDeleteWE ARE ... COMCAST ... WE ARE ... COMCAST!! Just keep paying the bill and watch what they give you and be thankful for that. Blog comments will never affect a multi-billion dollar company, get real or switch to the crap ass dish.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I like mayonaise on my sub. Sometimes I do not. Maybe tomotoes too. I'm not really sure. I just picked my butt. that was pretty neat. COMCAST RULES!
ReplyDeletethe expectation that comcast should just roll over and take whatever another network provider wants to give them is poor.
ReplyDeletecomcast may be setting records in their profits, perhaps though you should think that there are reasons for those profits. they have a business plan and it works.
ive worked in the communication industry for about 5 yrs now and you cannot base your argument on a company being worthwhile on just your service outages. each company has issues with that.
i say both big ten and comcast share blame on not being able to work out a deal. neither will come to a compromise so do the world a favor and shut up. mwahahaha
BTN is not imposing a "tax" of $13 per month, they are asking Comcast to pay them $13 per year per Comcast subscriber. That is a 1200% difference.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is, the Big Ten Network will BRING VIEWERS to Comcast, and that will only increase as current Big Ten TV deals with ESPN, etc. expire.
Comcast is just hoping that all of us will live without the hundreds of "fifth tier" (Comcast words) Big Ten football and basketball games that won't be broadcast on ESPN or ABC.
See ya, Comcast.
So.. Comcast has the big paper ad about all the sports channels they have.. But i still can't watch the Gophers play Football..
ReplyDeleteWhy do they waste money with these big ads ?
It is not just Comcast. I live in WI and cannot get the Badger Games. Our Service Provider is Time Warner. My Parents on the other side of the State have Charter Communicatons. They also do not get the Badger Games. The State is Crying FOul! The Big Ten Networks wants TIme Warner to pay them more money than any other company. Don't get mad at your service provider. Get Mad at the Big Ten Network!
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