I am not much of a college football fan, at least not in the way that I have a team that I follow with any regularity. But I try to keep up with U of M and MSU as they are close by. I know there are a bunch of U of M zealots out there who must really be trying to figure out how they are going to watch their Saturday games this year.
The Big 10 Network will be the only way to watch U of M football except for like 2 or 3 games, and those ones ABC is carrying. So far, DirecTV is the only system that has signed on to carry the Big 10 Network as part of their packaging. Dish Network, Comcast, and Charter have basically told the Big 10 Network to get screwed because they want to carried as a expanded tier channel but charge the networks premium rates.
There will probably be chaos in the streets of Ann Arbor, or a ton of people dropping their cable for DirecTV.
I find it pretty hard to believe the rest of the U of M games will be BTN. Most of them are usually on ESPN. Is there something different going on this year?
I thought just the games that ABC/ESPN didn’t pick up would be BTN, like the opener…
find it pretty hard to believe the rest of the U of M games will be BTN. Most of them are usually on ESPN. Is there something different going on this year?
I thought just the games that ABC/ESPN didn’t pick up would be BTN, like the opener…
I don’t know much about what is going on with this. I know that if you go to the BTN website, the only service that is carring it is DirecTV. I also know that with the exception of 2 or 3 games (I know Notre Dame is one) the games (including all of the interconference games) will only be televised on BTN.
So if you want to watch Big 10 football with any regularity it seems you had better get DirecTV. The good news is it will be broadcast in Hi-Def.
**Is ABC still covering some of the games or are they all BTN with a very few exceptions? **
This is my understanding. I think as the realization hits we will either see more news about it OR more pressure brought to bear on the cable companies. Personally I think the BTN has a racket going here, but I am not really affected. I really won’t pay extra to have these games.
same for ohio state. this is total bullshit. i just called direct tv, but i am not sure i want to make the switch.
god damn this pisses me off
I suppose I might feel the same way if they made a Lions Network that was only available on DirecTV. I might opt to switch, I’m not really sure. On the other hand, I doubt there is much of a market for Lions TV. There aren’t enough idiots to make it profitable. But then again, this is Detroit.
**Now can we get DLN going, That would free up my Sunday afternoons **
WAIT A SECOND THERE!!! I thought that we had determined that the Lions play better when you don’t watch the games or something. I may have to come over there and cut your cable!
Look how lame I am…I am coming to the kitchen and checking Slowtwitch on commercial breaks from the Lions vs. Colts preseason game…on a Saturday night. It is a fine line between heaven and hell!
Peyton Manning is picking the Lions secondary apart…YIKES.
YA, we did determine last year the Lions did better when I did not watch — Missed the first two preseason games. But Im watching tonight, while sitting infront of the computer. Wow what a surprise there getting killed, and Bell has hurt himself (Im sure it will at least be a 6 - 8 week injury if not season ending).
Oh, I don’t have a cable, just an antenna in the attic. So the DLN could go to cable, dish or just start not selling out Ford Field, that would take care of half the games.
"I don’t know much about what is going on with this. I know that if you go to the BTN website, the only service that is carring it is DirecTV. I also know that with the exception of 2 or 3 games (I know Notre Dame is one) the games (including all of the interconference games) will only be televised on BTN.
So if you want to watch Big 10 football with any regularity it seems you had better get DirecTV."
Seems like you know a lot about it. When I look at U of M’s schedule, only 3 games have the tv stations listed…the opener (BTN), Oregon (ABC), and ND (ABC). The rest say TBD. Where is it stated that the remaining games will be BTN?
Seems like you know a lot about it. When I look at U of M’s schedule, only 3 games have the tv stations listed…the opener (BTN), Oregon (ABC), and ND (ABC). The rest say TBD. Where is it stated that the remaining games will be BTN?
Our local sports section of the newspaper had an article about how Comcast (the largest cable provider in MI) could not come to terms with the BTN. Most of what I know I learned from that article, and I have pretty much disclosed all of that. I also went to the BTN website to see what other providers were carrying BTN, and so far it seems that only DirecTV has bought that privelege.
To answer your question, I guess part of me is thinking that the BTN is a Big Ten venture. Their product is their football, basketball, hockey and baseball games. They have decided to control the venues in which their games can be broadcast. It would seem that they would be working against themselves if they allowed ABC or ESPN broadcast those games when they are trying to sell them at a premium on their own channel.
Well, after a little bit not enough to be conclusive, I think that the BTN will show all the games, ABC/ESPN still will pick up some of the games, but they only carry the big games for the big schools. So U of M maybe on ABC a lot still, but BTN would guarantee you see all the games.
Well, after a little bit not enough to be conclusive, I think that the BTN will show all the games, ABC/ESPN still will pick up some of the games, but they only carry the big games for the big schools. So U of M maybe on ABC a lot still, but BTN would guarantee you see all the games
Could be, I don’t know. From what I have read it seems that the Big 10 is trying to make their games be more exclusive and they think there is enough demand that they should be able to demand premium rates with the providers. So far, the providers are balking at the retrictions that the BTN is demanding. Honestly, it does not seem that the Big 10 is very concerned at all whether anyone who is not willing to pay the premium can see their games. So I doubt that ABC/ESPN will get the opportunity to buy the rights to air more games than what they have already.
It’s the same here in Wisconsin. I have my high speed internet, cable, and phone service through Charter. Now that the Badgers have established themselves pretty well in football and basketball you pretty much have to be an alumni and have very deep pockets to get tickets. As a kid I used to sit in the endzone at Camp Randall for $1 when the team sucked year after year. Same with hockey. I love watching Badger football and don’t have a lot of time to watch other Big 10 games so the idea of paying for an extra sports tier just to watch one game per week doesn’t appeal to me. Same with basketball. Oh well, at least radio is still free and the Badger play-by-play guys are excellent.
All but 3 football games will be on the BTN and 16 of 19 basketball games will be on BTN here, really sucks.
Oh well, at least radio is still free and the Badger play-by-play guys are excellent.
Same here for the U of M games. Frank Beckman and Jim Brandstatter (also the color analyst for the Lions) do an excellent job calling a game. They are so passionate about Michigan football, it drips through the speakers. I am not a big Michigan fan, but I can listen to those guys on the radio all day without a problem.
spent 2 hours earlier today trying to get the dish installed for saturday. NO dice, can’t install till 9-11. I will miss the first 2 games if I sign up.
This totally blows. Ever since I can remember I could watch the Buckeyes on a saturday afternoon. Now because of greed I can’t.
I’m sorry for your loss. I know this kind of blows. If it is really that big of a deal, I would get the dish and sacrifice 2 weeks. We used to have DirecTV and we liked it. We switched to cable because of the incentives for multiple media (high speed internet+hi-def cable). I have heard some complaints about it with weather, but I think we only had 1 or 2 times ever that we would get a crappy signal.
I used to feel in a similar way when the Lions would get blacked out because they couldn’t get the minimum audience at the Silverdome on Thanksgiving. Of course they would hav to get like 85,000 people there, so there usually were a lot of games that were blacked out. At Ford Field they only have seating for 65,000 so it is much easier for them to get the minimum percentage now.