Comcast drops Big Ten Network from some out-of-market areas

[buddy]

I’m curious of the contract details and can’t wait until they are released. If the B1G got what they wanted, that is a huge win for the conference.

Even if they didn’t get what they asked for, it is highly likely they got a decent increase as the previous contract was signed when BTN was brand new over a decade ago and not a proven ratings generator.

Unless the exact same terms were agreed to (highly unlikely), the B1G came out ahead on this. The only question is how much did they come out ahead?

What effect will this have on UConn?

 

[whaler11]

What effect will this have on UConn?

Their fans can watch Rutgers games on Comcast.

 

[buddy]

Thank you!

 

[frankthetank]

I’m curious of the contract details and can’t wait until they are released. If the B1G got what they wanted, that is a huge win for the conference.

Even if they didn’t get what they asked for, it is highly likely they got a decent increase as the previous contract was signed when BTN was brand new over a decade ago and not a proven ratings generator.

Unless the exact same terms were agreed to (highly unlikely), the B1G came out ahead on this. The only question is how much did they come out ahead?

The contract details probably won't ever be made public. However, as I noted previously, it's standard to have a most favored nation clause in basic cable agreements, so BTN (or any other basic cable network) can't offer a better deal to Comcast compared to DirecTV, Dish, et. al or else they automatically have to provide that same price to *all* of the cable providers. As a result, you can generally expect that Comcast's new deal is in line with what the BTN has with everyone else.

That's the whole reason why you see such prolonged carriage disputes in the first place. All of these cable subscriber fee amounts are effectively intertwined with these most favored nation clauses, so when a cable network locks in a certain subscriber price with one provider, it simply cannot offer anything lower than that price to any other provider. This is particularly acute in places where a network that has common ownership with a cable provider essentially self-deals a high subscriber fee price to its sister cable provider company that other providers balk at. (See the then-Time Warner Cable-owned and now-Charter-owned Dodgers network that is going on year 5 of not being on DirecTV. That creates the strange situation where everyone that has the MLB Network *outside* of the LA area actually gets more access to those Dodgers games, which are frequently simulcast on that channel, than the majority of the LA market itself.)

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Sports are unique in that they're live (AKA people actually see the commercials) and exclusive (AKA you can't just wait for episodes to come out on Netflix/Hulu/Prime).

I would assume I'm an oddity here, but I rarely watch sports live. I DVR everything and then give the event a head start before I start watching, usually between 45 minutes and an hour unless it's Liverpool and they only need 20 minutes. I skip commercials, halftimes and any other delays we'd prefer not to watch. Saves lots of time.

 

[Doggie Style]

I would assume I'm an oddity here, but I rarely watch sports live. I DVR everything and then give the event a head start before I start watching, usually between 45 minutes and an hour unless it's Liverpool and they only need 20 minutes. I skip commercials, halftimes and any other delays we'd prefer not to watch. Saves lots of time.

If you have kids... especially those who play travel sports, this is the way to go. There isn’t enough time in the day to watch sports events in their entirety, DVR is now a way of life in my house. Can’t remember the last time I watched a game live.

 

[CL82]

If you have kids... especially those who play travel sports, this is the way to go. There isn’t enough time in the day to watch sports events in their entirety, DVR is now a way of life in my house. Can’t remember the last time I watched a game live.

Makes the game chat a little awkward.