impressive job by silverman of using so many words without saying anything of any substance.
You know, usually (and I mean a good 99.9% of the time), I am on the sucker end of these deals. This time, I have DirecTV! :) That being said, what a sham job. I can't decide who's worse, though. Is it the BTN who's trying to get every penny from the cable companies or the cable companies who won't suck it up for the benefit of their customers? If/when the BTN is added, I would expect there will be some sort of upcharge from the cable companies. This is why I will never go back to cable.
Bill Martin really sucks. Like Anderson Vaerjao, both really suck.
The rope-climbing question was clearly a joke that flew over the head of the BTN flack.
This is absolute horseshit. I can't believe they have the nerve to start their own "network". What, soon there will be the Pac-10, Big East, SEC networks too? What makes the big 10 so much more amazing than the rest that we loyal fans have to pony up ridiculous money just to watch a damn game?
I emailed my provider (Cablevision in NY) whether BTN will be available, and unsurprisingly, they said "no, but your request has been forwarded bla bla bla". If I cannot watch the games at home like the last few years, then this is worthless. Too bad there's no way that we can reverse these idiots from ruining our weekends.
hubris.
what ever happened to just plain arrogance? or vaingloriousness?
...
what does BM have to do with this?
color me skeptical. from the beginning, based on every other new sports channel (starting way back with espn2), most people get screwed initially. the cables outlets (comcast, TWC, et al) just won't fork over the $$ for an untested/unproven channel. until customers call demanding the channel & saying they would switch to satellite, comcast will sit tight. during this 'limbo' period, people get less coverage b/c the B10 is putting good content on the new channel thus creating demand. the nfl network isn't on basic b/c people see most games on NBC/FOX/CBS/ et al. you have to be a displaced fan of a certain team to NOT get what you want and thus need NFLN.
B10 channel is MUCH worse for us though. as i understand it, it's like this: imagine if the NFLN got rights to Lions-Packers one week and refused to let the local Fox2 broadcast it locally. WOW that would not go over well.
B10N SHOULD BE this: a nationally available digital/satellite network that displaced B10 fans can get their games on WITHOUT removing access to LOCAL markets. in spite of my bias, the channel should NOT be on basic cable. with the espn-B10 agreement, there is no need for such a channel on basic.
my question is this: will espn+ even exist anymore? will they bring us MSU-Ill when ABC has M-Wisc and espn has Iowa-PSU? it seems to me that one of the 2 lower tier games will dissappear into the void that is B10N.
The real nightmare is this: as i see it, it's B10N vs espn/ABC coverage of B10 games. the B10 has had a sweet deal for a decade+ where espn/ABC gives us B10 games at noon, 3 and occasionally primetime. now the conference is taking quality games from espn/ABC inorder to drum up demand and turn B10N into a basic cable channel. will this be the reason for espn to dissolve the noon & 3pm B10 regional coverage down the line? in the words of a great robot, 'we're boned.'
This is DishNetwork's response to my inquiry whether they will carry the Big Ten Network:
"Thank you for your email. We would like to add that channel, to make viewers like you happy, but we do not know if or when this will happen. We will gladly forward your request to our Programming Department for further consideration.
We thank you for your input as we continually review our options in order to provide a compelling lineup for our viewers. Please stay tuned for consumer Charlie Chats that are broadcast monthly on Channel 101 or logon to our website for future programming announcements.
Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email."
we are so boned.
this is some serious grade A bullshit. and if i have to do some bitching, i will be bitching at BTN. comcast sucks, as do most big cable providers, but they're not the bullies here from my perspective.
why would BTN intentionally fuck up such a good thing? i hate this so so so so so so so much.
This is effed-up shiat. I live in SoCal and used to be happy with Gameplan. Pricey. but happy.
Now I have no clue whether DISH will carry BTN. If it carries, I am sure I'll have to shell out more bucks because no one would want to watch BTN at this part of the country.
* Does anyone have a clue whether BTN will be carrying Mich games exclusively? Which games ?
* NBC, look at us. Considering that the team you carry on your network's only claim to relevancy is their home games being on your network.
Or CBS..
"
Wins and championships
* Most wins (860) and highest winning percentage (.745) in NCAA Division I-A football history
* The most conference championships of any college football program in any conference (42)
* The most winning seasons (109)
* The most undefeated seasons in Division 1-A football (25)
* One of only two schools with a winning record against every Division 1-A conference, including independent schools such as Notre Dame.
* Michigan claims 11 national championships, among the most in college football history.
Scoring and schedule
* The largest scoring delta (points for minus points against) in college football history
* The highest all-time strength of schedule rating in college football[2]
Attendance and television
* The highest NCAA home attendance every year since 1974 except 1997
* The largest stadium in the United States (Michigan Stadium, seats roughly 112,000)
* The largest crowd to ever attend an NCAA football game: 112,118 on November 22, 2003, at Michigan Stadium vs. Ohio State
* The longest current streak of over 100,000 in attendance at home (200 games)
* The most televised school in college football history (368 televised games)
Current streaks
* The longest current streak of non-losing seasons (39 seasons; 1967-present)
* The longest current bowl game streak (32 seasons; 1975-present)
* The longest current streak of games in Division 1-A since last being shutout (275 games; last time on October 20, 1984, at Iowa)
* The longest time since playing a (non World War II-era) non-Division-1A opponent (74 years)
Honored pageantry
* The number one sports rivalry: Michigan-Ohio State, according to ESPN's "10 Greatest Sports Rivalries"[3]
* The best helmet in football, according to ESPN's "End of Century" Special
* The best uniform in sports, according to ESPN2's 64 Team Bracket Results[4]
* The only fight song in the Hall of Fame
"
From Wikipedia
relevance*
yah whatever
"why would BTN intentionally fuck up such a good thing?"
Because the idiots at BTN believe that there is a big pot of money out there with BTN's name on it.
I pay enough to Comcast as it is. If UM vs Hot!Hot!Hot! Appalachian State is only available via siphoning more $$ out of my wallet, I'll listen to the game on the radio and do something productive while doing it.
Silverman apparently earned his stripes working in the Iraqi Ministry of Information.
1) EEKS & I aren't into the whole brevity thing.
2) Don, i would consider doing that, but i'm married. see, that would lead to a domino effect: if i did that once, my wife would no long view fall Saturdays as 'off limits.' it would be, "oh, but you were happy last week with the game on the radio in the yard working." etc. ect. I have to make a firm stance even for ASU, otherwise life as I know it on Sats in the fall could be jeopardized. it's a cuban missle crisis-type situation.
eeks, to answer: the selected games on B10N will be decided upon a few weeks prior to each game, i assume. ABC/espn will get 1st & 2nd choice in a given week. then B10N will choose a game to screw us with, i mean, show. so, UM-ND, osu, psu certainly won't be affected b/c they will be 1st choice games. i'd even guess UM-ASU won't be affected as that's a 6-9th choice that will be relegated to espn+ (hopefully). the games i'd worry about are MSU-Iowa, MSU-PSU (if you're into the whole 'ha-ha you're MSU' thing), UM-Iowa, UM-Ill, UM-NW, UM-Minn. maybe even UM-Wisc, depending on the composite B10 schedule, rankings that week and if B10N gets 2nd choice that week.
So I go to school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and might end up not seeing the Michigan-Northwestern game at all this year? This is the worst business idea ever contrieved.
Dan,
There is NO ESPN+ for Big Ten games (conference games or non-conference games where the Big Ten team is playing at home). As far as the whole ESPN+ (ESPN Regional, if you prefer) thing goes - it no longer exists for the Big Ten - period.
Michigan -Illinois has already been picked up by ESPN/2 for a prime time telecast.
Michigan doesn't play Iowa in 2007.
Won't the Athletic Department step in if a game gets relegated to TV hell and folks in the Ann Arbor Area can't even see it?
Also, what is Bill Martin's role in the creation of the Network? Did he have a vote to approve it, have any say, or was the network just created without any AD opinions?
OK, details, details, details. those level of games i meant. thanks.
so. with NO espn+, we get fewer games. no matter what. see, THAT is what everyone should be up in arms about. i liked watching MSU play Ill on the 'ocho.'
if i miss out on any B10 dodgeball tournaments on top of that, i'll be even more pissed. i, like most true fans, enjoy knowing who the guys are before they get drafted into the ADAA.
I don't think there will be fewer games shown in total with the elimination of ESPN+, but rather, more games on the BTN. Once ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 get their games, the rest will be on BTN, beit noon, 3:30, primetime, whatever. Essentially, BTN is replacing ESPN+. Only no one will get it.
The Big Ten Network was created, I assume, by the approval of a vote of the Big Ten Presidents. I am sure that AD's were briefed and weighed in the proposal, if they voted, I have no idea.
I am sure that Bill Martin has opinons on this, but Bill Martin also wants to play 10 conference (football) games and have the Big Ten opt out of the BCS. You don't see the Big Ten following along with those lines of thinking.
Many B10 athletic directors have been quickly spending the "signing bonus" that each institution received for making the deal. Minnesota paid off Monson and Mason. Indiana is using the money to start construction on the north end of Memorial Stadium.
Michigan does not (nor does any Big Ten School) have the power or authority to step in and make "separate media deals" to benefit its fans. To do so would undermine the value of the Big Ten Network as a whole.
All 11 institutions are in this venture together. The "value" of the network is as much the athletic competition the network will broadcast as it is the size of the audience expected to tune in from the major metropolitan areas in the 8 states of the Big Ten, which completely overwhelm any other conference.
I just wrote Bill Martin an e-mail and linked to Brian's entry. He pays attention to these things.
Dan,
I'm married too, but long enough that my wife has long since learned that UM football time can NEVER be interrupted or claimed unless I magnanimously choose to allow it myself. No slippery slope here, thank God. You have my sympathies.
Regardless, it still sounds like this plan will be a net loss for fiscally-conservative UM and Big 10 football fans.
I don't think Bill Martin can do anything about this. I'm not sure why people are suggesting he could. This is the Big Ten Office's baby.
1. Determine azimuth from Korea to Chinese satellite with BTN.
2. Find a new apartment with a window that has access to that azimuth.
3. Buy a dish, dish positioner, motor, LNB, receiver.
4. Hack the receiver to decode BTN encryption.
5. Tell people who live in the US to pony up and order Direct TV.
Seriously, it looks like I'm switching from gameplan online to cstv all-access. Has anyone ever watched a game with that?
You guys should change tactics to subtle threats, rather than sending these obsequious requests for Comcast to give you your football team back. "Please carry the Big Ten Network... It's important to me... blah... blah... Thank you for listening!!!"
As you say, Arky fans wouldn't behave this way, and they'd get results.
Promise to dump your cable box on the local Comcast doorstep the Monday morning after you don't get to watch the App State game on basic cable. Tell them you don't give a rip about the seven variations of the Home Shopping Channel, or your local gadfly berating the township officials at the monthly meeting. Send them photos of Venezuela, for god sakes...
Suggested letter here:
http://smash-mouth.blogspot.com/...05/tv-
gods.html
Regarding the ESPN+ thing... no, they won't have any games. They're done.
Not to shamelessly plug, but I discussed what the Big Ten plans on doing with multiple games at the same time slot here:
http://stadiumandmain.blogspot.c...en-
network.html
tim hardaway hates the B10N.
regarding the comment from UM Student, i hope they have some sort of contingency that allows all campus stations to show BTN for free. that would only be fair and right.
also, saw on mgolicious that dave revsine will be the face of the BTN. not bad, they could've done far worse. still pissed at/about the BTN, though.
"This is the ideal blame situation, when you can blame the thing that is at blame."
pure genius.
Commenting by HaloScan
