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Comcast, Big Ten Network close to deal, report says
Comcast and the Big Ten Network to announce partnership, report says.
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Share on DiggComcast and the Big Ten Network are expected to announce a long-term partnership this week, the Chicago Tribune reported in today's edition. The newspaper cited a source close to the negotiations as saying, "for all intents and purposes, it's done."
A spokesperson for the Big Ten Network told the Star Tribune today that while the long-expected deal between the sides is close, there is nothing to report at this point. “We can not comment on the specifics of the Chicago Tribune story other than to say we remain close to reaching an agreement with Comcast,” Elizabeth Conlisk said. “The deal is not signed, however, and so we will have no further comment until we have a signed agreement.”
An agreement would be good news for many Gophers sports fans who missed several of the school's men's and women's basketball games last season, as well as football and various other sports, because Comcast and the BTN were at odds in negotiations.
Comcast is the largest cable provider in Minnesota with approximately 600,000 subscribers (including western Wisconsin) and serves much of the metropolitan area. The Tribune reports that this agreement means the BTN will be available to 13 million homes in the eight-state footprint that covers the conference, doubling from 6.5 million.
Charter Communications, which has about 300,000 subscribers in Minnesota, and Mediacom, which has 110,000, aren’t believed to be close to deals with the BTN, but network execs are hoping the Comcast announcement will help jump-start those talks. The Big Ten Network has been available on DirecTV and Dish Network and in some cases cable customers have dropped their service in order to get satellite.
The BTN launched last August and it was made clear from the start that the conference wanted distribution on an expanded basic service of the cable operators in the eight-state Big Ten region. The operators, meanwhile, wanted to house it on a digital sports tier, meaning those who wanted it could pay a fee.
The Tribune story says the BTN will get its wish, with only Philadelphia being excluded from expanded basic in the conference’s footprint. However, Comcast eventually will have the right to switch the channel to a “more exclusive digital tier of service in some systems,” according to the Tribune. A source also told the newspaper that the BTN had come down in its per month, per subscriber asking price from $1.10 to 70 to 80 cents.
An agreement between the BTN and Comcast reportedly has been close since March. The two sides made progress beginning last November when they resumed bargaining after breaking off talks for a period. The sides also waged a battle with commericals that stated their positions and served as a means to criticize the other side.
While the University of Minnesota and the other Big Ten schools weren’t on the front line of these negotiations, they certainly are benefiting from the channel’s existence. Each institution is getting $7 million a year as a result of the venture.
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