Big Ten Network says time has run out for deal with Comcast

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Posted: 8/27/07

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Big Ten Network officials say the new TV network will not be available to Comcast Cable subscribers when it starts broadcasting Aug. 30.

The new network and the cable company have squabbled for months over where viewers would find BTN and how much it would cost them.

The network, co-owned by the Big Ten conference and Fox Cable Networks, said it wants to be a basic cable channel for Comcast subscribers, while Comcast said it wants BTN to be part of a sports-channel package subscribers pay more to see. According to Comcast, the network also wants the cable company to pay it $1.10 per subscriber.

"The fact is that Comcast is unwilling to negotiate with us, and it is now clear that it's highly unlikely any agreement will be achieved prior to launch," said Fox's Bob Thompson in a news release.

Comcast says it is willing to talk, but claims the network is demanding too much.

"I do know that we have talked and that we're willing to talk," said Rich Ruggiero, an Illinois-based Comcast spokesman. "At the end of the day, we do want to offer the network."

Comcast has roughly 5 million subscribers in the eight Big Ten states - Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The largest number, about 1.5 million, are in Illinois, according to Ruggiero, and that figure will grow by about a half million with Comcast's pending acquisition of Insight Communications' cable operations in Illinois.

The Big Ten Network said it plans to show at least two Illinois football games and at least three Northwestern games, including the Wildcats' Sept. 1 opener against Northeastern. Illinois' opener, Sept. 1 against Missouri, will be on ESPN2.

BTN said it also plans to broadcast at least 10 Illini basketball games and more than a dozen of Northwestern's games.

So far, the new network has deals only with DirecTV and a number of smaller regional and local cable operators. But it says negotiations with Dish Network and other major cable companies, such as Time Warner and Charter, are progressing more smoothly than its talks with Comcast.