What day this week will the deal with the Big Ten Network and Comcast be announced?

Question

What day this week will the deal with the Big Ten Network and Comcast be announced?

Answer 1

This was Posted on Tue, Jun. 17, 2008 www.philly.com.

Comcast, Big Ten close on broadcast deal.

Comcast Corp. and the Big Ten Network are very close to a deal that would make the 24-hour college-sports programming available in the eight states with Big Ten schools, including Pennsylvania, sources close to the negotiations say.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, would provide the Big Ten programming on a preview basis on its main channel package, then reposition the network to its more expensive digital tier next spring, after the football and basketball seasons, the sources say.

Customers with enhanced basic service would have to upgrade to digital when the preview ends to keep the Big Ten Network.

Comcast and Big Ten - which ran advertisements critical of each other last fall - compromised in their negotiations. The per-subscriber fee to the Big Ten Network is about 70 cents per customer, sources say. Comcast had said that the Big Ten Network first asked for $1.10 per subscriber. Comcast said last fall that the network belonged on the extra-cost all-sports programming package because it did not have broad appeal for viewers.

Comcast also will have rights to Big Ten content for its video-on-demand service and for its Web site, Comcast. net, as part of the deal under discussion.

Big Ten Network spokeswoman Elizabeth Conlisk said yesterday the network "remains close to reaching a deal with Comcast."

A deal is not signed, she said. www.philly.com

Comcast and Big Ten Network strike deal, Time Warner still negotiating. Friday, June 20, 2008

Time Warner Cable and Fox are in ongoing talks regarding the carriage of the Big Ten Network," said Pam McDonald, a Time Warner spokesperson. "Both sides have shown an interest in continuing progress."

McDonald said the deal with Comcast doesn't change Time Warner's negotiations with the network. "Everyone has different terms and conditions they're willing to compromise on," she said.

The Comcast deal is seen as a major step for the Big Ten Network, which will complete its first broadcast year in late August.

Comcast, with about 5 million customers in seven Big Ten states, is the first major cable operator to strike a deal with the network. The deal, which had been expected for several months, will pay the Big Ten Network 70 cents per month for every Comcast subscriber in the Big Ten states. The network had reportedly been asking for $1.10.

Fox, a majority owner of the network, and the BTN have been asking for placement on expanded basic cable and the $1.10 per-subscribe fee, both of which the major cable companies had resisted.

Depending on the week, the BTN has the second or third choice of Big Ten games to broadcast. It aired Buckeyes games against Youngstown State, Akron, Kent State and Wisconsin last season. www.daytondailynews.com