Greenandwhite.com: No one budging yet in Big Ten Network-Comcast feud (2)

Greenandwhite.com: No one budging yet in Big Ten Network-Comcast feud

As the saga continues, I caught this blurb:

Both sides have been busy putting out information to discredit each other. Last week, Comcast put out an official release with a list of Big Ten games that will appear on Comcast this season. It included Michigan-Ohio State (an annual ABC telecast) and MSU-Michigan.

There’s one problem: The MSU-Michigan game very well could be on the Big Ten Network.

“Yeah it could, yeah it could,” Espy said, admitting the release was incorrect. “But there’s no guarantee.”

For three weeks of the season, the BTN gets the No. 2 choice of Big Ten games, after ABC picks. On Nov. 3, the obvious No. 1 choice is Wisconsin-Ohio State; MSU-Michigan looks like a solid No. 2.

Silverman acknowledged that as a possibility. He’s hoping it won’t come down to a statewide uproar, though. He said the BTN is set to announce deals this week with several major carriers.

Once those deals become official, will Comcast soften its stance? That seems to be the only prospect left.

“If this is not on Comcast by Nov. 3 … I’ve got to think things are already gonna be … It definitely should be in place,” Silverman said. “I really, really hope so.”

Oh.  My.  God.  If they put the friggin’ MSU-UM football game on the shitty Big Ten Network I might explode.  Actually, I’d more likely just stew about it, write a scathing blog post, maybe email somebody, and then just be all-around mad.  But that’d be about it.  G- D- companies that don’t give a flying f- about the customer.  Comcast is crap.  The money grubbing Big Ten can suck it.  And regardless, good ol’ small time Millennium isn’t even in talks, so it doesn’t help me at all anyway.

I swear, the whole thing is nuts.  It’s like FOX taking American Idol off their public network, making the “American Idol Network”, and then saying cable companies should pay extra for that access.  They’re taking something we got for free before (non-marquee local sports games on the ESPN+ local station) and making us pay for them.  Does anybody honestly think that either way it goes, customers won’t have to pay more?  Even if BTN gets their way, lowers their asking price and Comcast puts it on basic enhanced cable, Comcast sure as hell is going to raise the basic cable rate then.  No cable company on Earth is going to add content or features for free, eating the cost of whatever those features are.

If I had time and money and no hatred for all things satellite, I’d get DirecTV with BTN, and pipe the channel via webcam/streaming video to the greater Internet.  Somebody’s got to have thought of that, right?  Where is it?  Actually, if BTN reall is on just regular basic cable somewhere, it’d be pretty easy I think.  Come on, Internet – information wants to be free!