Make no mistake, Big Ten Network has been quite
successful in getting itself on a number of providers, but to this day, Charter subscribers in the eight-state Big Ten footprint are still missing out. According to a new report, the network is still anxious to get a deal done with Charter, as quite a chunk of Minnesota Gophers fans are currently cheering through Tubby Smith's inaugural season without the ability to view some 17 of the team's games. 'Course, we've no idea if Charter is even close to forking out the coinage required to land a carriage agreement, but at least one side isn't backing down, right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Evan @ Feb 3rd 2008 10:35AM
TWC still does not carry the Big Ten Network. I don't blame them, this network is a total joke and is making people pay to see things that used to be free to watch. The main reason I hate it so much is looking at the ownership 51% Rupert Murdoch.
Brent98 @ Feb 3rd 2008 11:07AM
These regional sports networks get on my nerves, there are way too many of them and they're always on just a handful of providers so most people don't even have access to them. Also the content usually stinks outside of your favorite teams game. So even if you do have access to it, you have to pay a bundle for a crappy sports network that just happens to have your favorite team's games.
In North Carolina the Charlotte Bobcats came in and started their own network and it failed dismally. It was only on Time Warner's digital tier so more than 80% of the state couldn't even watch it, and since the rest of the shows on the network were awful, it wasn't worth it anyway. The network was taken off the air but the Bobcats are still on a time warner only network. Teams need to make their games more accessible not less, people just want to turn the tv on and watch the game, they don't want have to jump through hoops to watch the team on some crappy regional cable network with horrible picture, sound, and programming.
Jeff R @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:31PM
Charter is not a very big player in the twin cities market, comcast is the cable giant. outstate minnesota follows gophers but doesnt have the population and doesnt want to pay for the extra charges. I can tell you that i have Directv now and the hd and sd broadcast are considerably better than FSN Midwest. I dont know whats going on there the picture is grainy and terrrible.
haevolution @ Feb 3rd 2008 11:32PM
The big ten network? What a joke. Who wants to pay extra to watch some crappy college games. These are public institutions which are paid for by tax dollars and should not be extorting money from viewers to watch their games.