Fox official: No BTN for Comcast to start the season
Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press has the latest update on negotiations between the Big Ten Network and Comcast. Snyder spoke with the president of Fox’s national cable sports network, Bob Thompson. He had bad news for millions of Comcast customers. The Big Ten Network will not be available on Comcast, at least not during the first weekend of the season. Michigan fans will miss their game against Appalachian State and Buckeye fans will miss their opening game against Youngstown State. He didn’t rule out a deal with other carriers including MediaCom, Time Warner, Charter and Dish Network but said that Comcast hasn’t even replied to the Big Ten Network’s last counteroffer made in July.
Thompson said the doomsday scenario applied only to Comcast and not to other unsigned cable providers — including MediaCom, Time Warner, Charter and Dish Network — with whom substantive negotiations continue. Games also will be shown on DirecTV.
But Thompson said time has run out on Comcast, adding that Comcast has not responded to the network’s last counteroffer, made at the end of July.
The Big Ten Network is set to launch Thursday. Meanwhile, both sides continue to try to sway the fans to their side.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune is also reporting the story.
Comcast officials, who were not immediately available for comment, have balked at the BTN requirement that the network be placed on expanded basic cable. Comcast wants to put the network on its digital sports tier and doesn’t want to meet the BTN’s reported asking price of $1.10 per subscriber in the eight-state Big Ten region.
“We have never made a proposal to them at $1.10,” Thompson said in a telephone interview. “It has always been less than that. Other than expanded basic in the footprint, everything else is negotiable. We have gone the extra mile to create opportunities for meaningful negotiation to happen.
“$1.10 is the sticker price for a car.”