Philadelphia and Chicago - The Big Ten Network and Comcast Corporation agreed on terms June 19 for Big Ten Network programming to be provided to subscribers of Comcast's cable service in time for the 2008 college football season.
Beginning Aug. 15, Comcast will be the first major cable television provider to offer the Big Ten Network, however, customers will initially have to subscribe to the extended basic cable package to have the programming. In Spring 2009, the network may be offered on Comcast's basic tier cable to the states with Big Ten Conference universities.
The Big Ten Network originally sought $1.10 per subscriber from cable providers, but lowered its rate to 70 cents per subscriber to enable a deal with Comcast.
Both sides of the agreement were pleased with the deal that had been in the works even before the launch of the Big Ten Network in August 2007.
"With the Comcast deal now in place, the Big Ten Network will be available to more than two-thirds of all homes in Big Ten country," Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said.
A large amount of the remaining one-third of homes that will not be receiving Big Ten Network programming reside in Iowa, where Comcast is not a cable service provider. However, customers of Comcast in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin need to call the cable provider and ask for extended basic cable service.
Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith expressed hope about The Big Ten Network being available to all fans.
"We are delighted Comcast is the latest entity to carry Big Ten Network programming," he said. "We feel hopeful this development will lead to better negotiations with Time Warner Cable. The partnership with Comcast demonstrates the Big Ten is flexible in trying to provide our fans with high quality programming from the 11 campuses."
The pressure is now on largest cable service provider for Central Ohio, Time Warner Cable, to come to deal with The Big Ten Network. Comcast is the largest competitor to Time Warner Cable in Ohio.
Ben Taylor, a senior in biological sciences and avid Ohio State football fan, was relieved when he heard about the Comcast deal.
"I think it's about time," he said. "This will finally put pressure on Time Warner to get the Big Ten Network on their system. People in Columbus have been upset for almost a year and we have missed games, which is a travesty."
Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable service provider in the country behind Comcast. The Big Ten Network features more than 400 live events and programming in high definition and offers up to 70 hours of original programming from each Big Ten Conference institution.
Bob Strickley can be reached at strickley.3@osu.edu.
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