http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cs-08...0552.story

Should be announced sometimes this week. Big Ten got the channel on expanded basic (ie. not digital) in the Big Ten states, except for Philly which happens to be Comcast's hometown.

Sounds like they got the 70-80 cents per sub that they've been getting in other areas too.

And the SEC might as well just come out and say the SEC network is starting this week. Once this gets announced, you can pretty much annoint the BTN a success if you haven't already (to me, it was when Dish and DirecTV launched it).

The big 10 is taking it to a whole new level.. Any BE people who think Penn state is moving to BE are just nuts. they are raking in the $$$$ where they are..I kind of imagine this will lead the SEC to move sooner rather than later on a SEC network.

For some reason i'm kinda excited to watch some Big 10 Network. blah eff off. Why isn't the NFL Network on Basic Cable. Is this some kind of lame alian conspiracy. Well who cares on Feb 28 we all need the box to watch tv anyways.

And GoodKnightFl is kinda right.

mattsarz Wrote:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cs-08...0552.story



And the SEC might as well just come out and say the SEC network is starting this week.

I doubt the SEC will throw up something (i.e. SEC Channel) this quick for 2008.

If/when the SEC makes an announcement for their own channel, I think it will be for the 2009 or 2010 season...in order to give them plenty of time to negotiate strong contracts and for as many cable companies (2 Sat companies will put them on probably ASAP) as possible.

SEC will probably want almost 12 months of prep time (after approval) prior to launch.

animus Wrote:For some reason i'm kinda excited to watch some Big 10 Network. blah eff off. Why isn't the NFL Network on Basic Cable. Is this some kind of lame alian conspiracy. Well who cares on Feb 28 we all need the box to watch tv anyways.

And GoodKnightFl is kinda right.

its just how it is.. the haves get alot more.. the almost haves get more, and the want to haves get a little more.. even though all move forward.. the dif between each group just grows.

KnightLight Wrote:

mattsarz Wrote:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cs-08...0552.story



And the SEC might as well just come out and say the SEC network is starting this week.

I doubt the SEC will throw up something (i.e. SEC Channel) this quick for 2008.

If/when the SEC makes an announcement for their own channel, I think it will be for the 2009 or 2010 season...in order to give them plenty of time to negotiate strong contracts and for as many cable companies (2 Sat companies will put them on probably ASAP) as possible.

SEC will probably want almost 12 months of prep time (after approval) prior to launch.

I didn't word that right. They might as well announce it now, get it ready for 2009. Fully agree with the prep time thing.

In my opinion this will work out well for the BE because it will open more slots on ESPN and its network for our teams as well as raising the money we will get from them.
Les be realistic I have seen the BTN and its NOT comparable to ESPN and also a lot of the product is minor sports. I think that eventually it will not draw enough to kep it at its current charges. Unless they move their BIG football games there. They wont do that so you will see the market scale back once they see results over the years. The SEC will stand by and watch.
While ESPN is looked upon as a NATIONAL showcase the BTN will look like a regional network and will provide less attention to their terams. How many are going to tune in to BTN unles they are Big10 fans?

goodknightfl Wrote:The big 10 is taking it to a whole new level.. Any BE people who think Penn state is moving to BE are just nuts. they are raking in the $$$$ where they are..I kind of imagine this will lead the SEC to move sooner rather than later on a SEC network.

You are absolutely right. But then again, the Big 10 was able to get this deal done without expanding. They were able to get the type of money that they wanted. They did not need a Syracuse or Rutgers or Nebraska or Mizzu. Looks like the BE maybe safe for now.

Cubanbull Wrote:In my opinion this will work out well for the BE because it will open more slots on ESPN and its network for our teams as well as raising the money we will get from them.
Les be realistic I have seen the BTN and its NOT comparable to ESPN and also a lot of the product is minor sports. I think that eventually it will not draw enough to kep it at its current charges. Unless they move their BIG football games there. They wont do that so you will see the market scale back once they see results over the years. The SEC will stand by and watch.
While ESPN is looked upon as a NATIONAL showcase the BTN will look like a regional network and will provide less attention to their terams. How many are going to tune in to BTN unles they are Big10 fans?

The BTN was never supposed to replace ESPN and it isn't opening up more slots on ESPN for other teams. It was supposed to take the place of the ESPN+ games and its far exceeded that in reach and production values on a national scale.

The Big Ten still has the same 25 games on ESPN/ESPN2 and the same 17 games on ABC that they had pre-BTN.

The conference is getting paid a huge number over 25 years for the rights to 2nd-3rd tier football games & basketball. $112 million a year for those rights average. Last year it was $66 million and the rights increase every year.

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=298560

matt
The problem is that eventually the carriers of BTN and its viewers will realize that is NOT all that is cracked up to be. The BTN is made up mostly of minor sports and other stuff that does NOT bring in viewers. The guy from Comcast was right that the Big10 was selling second rate stuff. You will see that money go down in a few years UNLESS they bring in their bigger games in.

mattsarz Wrote:

Cubanbull Wrote:In my opinion this will work out well for the BE because it will open more slots on ESPN and its network for our teams as well as raising the money we will get from them.
Les be realistic I have seen the BTN and its NOT comparable to ESPN and also a lot of the product is minor sports. I think that eventually it will not draw enough to kep it at its current charges. Unless they move their BIG football games there. They wont do that so you will see the market scale back once they see results over the years. The SEC will stand by and watch.
While ESPN is looked upon as a NATIONAL showcase the BTN will look like a regional network and will provide less attention to their terams. How many are going to tune in to BTN unles they are Big10 fans?

The BTN was never supposed to replace ESPN and it isn't opening up more slots on ESPN for other teams. It was supposed to take the place of the ESPN+ games and its far exceeded that in reach and production values on a national scale.

The Big Ten still has the same 25 games on ESPN/ESPN2 and the same 17 games on ABC that they had pre-BTN.

The conference is getting paid a huge number over 25 years for the rights to 2nd-3rd tier football games & basketball. $112 million a year for those rights average. Last year it was $66 million and the rights increase every year.

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=298560

Bingo!

All it means is more $$$$$$ for Big 10 teams.

Cubanbull Wrote:matt
The problem is that eventually the carriers of BTN and its viewers will realize that is NOT all that is cracked up to be. The BTN is made up mostly of minor sports and other stuff that does NOT bring in viewers. The guy from Comcast was right that the Big10 was selling second rate stuff. You will see that money go down in a few years UNLESS they bring in their bigger games in.

I respectfully disagree.

Nope, the money is guaranteed from FOX. The money isn't going down. I'm not a fan of the Big Eleven by any stretch, but the outcry from folks missing four football games (OSU, including the late season tilt vs. Wisconsin) to nearly the entire schedule (Indiana & Minnesota had nine and eight football games on the BTN, respectively) is big in these states. Remember that these are the flagship schools in these states with fans who are rabid (and sometimes quite overzelous) in their love for their team. Minnesota may be a ****** team, but they are that entire state's team.

Comcast called the content third rate, and by extension called the fans of these teams third rate.

Basketball had every Big Ten home game televised and just about every team had 1/2 their schedule on the BTN. HD for all but one. The Big Ten Tournament had three games on here. The guarantee that at least one football conference game was on there. Hockey from several of the teams playing the sport are moving select games to the network and getting hockey games from Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Michigan schools and OSU is a huge deal.

Cubanbull Wrote:Les be realistic I have seen the BTN and its NOT comparable to ESPN and also a lot of the product is minor sports. I think that eventually it will not draw enough to kep it at its current charges. Unless they move their BIG football games there. They wont do that so you will see the market scale back once they see results over the years. The SEC will stand by and watch.
While ESPN is looked upon as a NATIONAL showcase the BTN will look like a regional network and will provide less attention to their terams. How many are going to tune in to BTN unles they are Big10 fans?

Perhaps. But Fox and the BTN signed a 20 year agreement for a minimum payout of $7.5 million to each school (IIRC). I believe that's also more than the ABC/ESPN/CBS contract. In general, they are also only putting games on the BTN that would have otherwise been on ESPN+. That's an aweful lot of money for showing the 2nd tier FB and BB games + olympic sports. They also have the carrot of the 12th member and conference champsionship game if they need to use it.

I don't think the big ten Network would get a champ game but the big ten would probably favor whoever cuts the best deal with the BTN to get the rights to broadcast such a game. I do suspect a 12th member will happen now, probably pretty soon and that member will either be missori or a big east team...ND,Rutgers,cuse and possibly pitt or even uconn would be in the pool.

mattsarz Wrote:

Cubanbull Wrote:In my opinion this will work out well for the BE because it will open more slots on ESPN and its network for our teams as well as raising the money we will get from them.
Les be realistic I have seen the BTN and its NOT comparable to ESPN and also a lot of the product is minor sports. I think that eventually it will not draw enough to kep it at its current charges. Unless they move their BIG football games there. They wont do that so you will see the market scale back once they see results over the years. The SEC will stand by and watch.
While ESPN is looked upon as a NATIONAL showcase the BTN will look like a regional network and will provide less attention to their terams. How many are going to tune in to BTN unles they are Big10 fans?

The BTN was never supposed to replace ESPN and it isn't opening up more slots on ESPN for other teams. It was supposed to take the place of the ESPN+ games and its far exceeded that in reach and production values on a national scale.

The Big Ten still has the same 25 games on ESPN/ESPN2 and the same 17 games on ABC that they had pre-BTN.

Not initially, no. But down the road, after they have learned what running a sports network is all about? After they have expanded the number of TV households while having both the safety net of the ABC/ESPN deal and their own BTN?

This deal with Comcast gets the BTN, only 1 year old, into 55 million TV households. ESPN2, which is now in its 13th year is in 92 million TV households, which represents over 80% of the total number of TV households.

I'll bet money that both the BTN (and an SEC Network, assuming it gets launched) will be in more TV households than that after the first 10 years of operation - probably around 88% or between ESPN2's 80% and the 96% of TV households ESPN is in.

If that proves to be correct, there really won't be much incentive to still have the middle-man around anymore. I have to believe ABC/ESPN and CBS/CSTV (or whatever they are calling it now) must be aware of this distinct possibility.

Cheers,
Neil

goodknightfl Wrote:The big 10 is taking it to a whole new level.. Any BE people who think Penn state is moving to BE are just nuts. they are raking in the $$$$ where they are...

Unless someone with vision, a plan, and excellent people skills can build a better network and turn a Big Ten strength into a weakness.

But that someone is unlikely to be found.

Cheers,
Neil

All this still doesn't rule out a possible BEast association with Penn State. Who knows what the future holds.

I don't expect them to come back. But it doesn't stop me from wishing.

Cubanbull Wrote:matt
The problem is that eventually the carriers of BTN and its viewers will realize that is NOT all that is cracked up to be. The BTN is made up mostly of minor sports and other stuff that does NOT bring in viewers. The guy from Comcast was right that the Big10 was selling second rate stuff. You will see that money go down in a few years UNLESS they bring in their bigger games in.

I agree--I've had BTN since last fall--probably watched it a total of 6 hours (3.5 hrs included a Syr game). Really don't need to watch Purdue play Minnesota in Softball or a rerun of the 1988 Rose Bowl.

I know where my buddy Matt is coming from though...the market will drive the BTN success...I just don't see it being very popular outside their footprint--the market will ultimately dictate it.

TexanMark Wrote:I agree--I've had BTN since last fall--probably watched it a total of 6 hours (3.5 hrs included a Syr game). Really don't need to watch Purdue play Minnesota in Softball or a rerun of the 1988 Rose Bowl.

You watched that whole Iowa-Syracuse game?

mattsarz Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:I agree--I've had BTN since last fall--probably watched it a total of 6 hours (3.5 hrs included a Syr game). Really don't need to watch Purdue play Minnesota in Softball or a rerun of the 1988 Rose Bowl.

You watched that whole Iowa-Syracuse game?

Yeah you're right I think I turned it off in disgust at the 3 hour mark