Some confusion here.
First, there's a conflation of DMA and cable system.
DMA's cross state lines. Cable systems don't.
So while Fairfield County is in the nyc DMA, the cable companies that serve it operate differently from those in New York, and differently still, from those in New Jersey.
The BTN business model is predicated on footprint states. With Rutgers that will be New Jersey.
If anyone believes for a minute that the BTN, short of paying to be carried by NYC cable systems, will be welcomed in NYC on a basic package, I dunno what to say.
The focus first will be on getting coverage in NJ, and to a lesser extent eastern Penn., including philly.
When negotiations begin with New York systems, this is where the addition of UConn will become necessary.
As far as fairfield county, only silverman and delany know for sure, but I doubt they expect more than a dime a subscriber.
Finally, the potential subs for the state of Connecticut consist of five groups- men's bb, wbb, football, Big Ten alumni, and finally the least sticky casual college sports fan.
It is the first three that could command at a minimum $2 a sub. The BTN gets its footprint fees by withholding content, invariably watching as the home state fans deluge the inboxes of cable companies demanding coverage. That usually works (see iowa, minn, nebraska) and sometimes doesn't (see eastern penn).
A late fall night, no ollie and ten toes, no geno, no football. No UConn available to CT's citizenry. That is the type of demand that gets carriage. Old people, young people, women, the infirmed, rich and poor, will make those calls and write those emails. Of that I have no doubt.
For nyc, no.
For NJ and Rutgers, good luck. Doable (but 9 Rutgers' fb games, and big ten games??!), but doubtful.
