Container Top
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Search

Events Calendar

EVENT SEARCH:

In This Section


Most Read Stories


Blogs:


Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens

The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook

Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …

Akron Zips:
Akron trounces Howard to reach .500

Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster

Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive

Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad

Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight

All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge

Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?

Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies

See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic

Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED

Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!

Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.

Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall

HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing

Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go

Big Ten football
Big Ten Network, Time Warner Cable talks contentious

By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Saturday, Aug 23, 2008

The rhetoric is heating up in the effort to get the Big Ten Network on Time Warner Cable.

Time Warner on Friday issued a reply from Terry O'Connell, executive vice president of its Midwest region, to a letter written by Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, who said he was disappointed that the cable company hadn't signed a deal with BTN and urged Buckeye fans who want to see the games to sign with other video services.

In the letter, Time Warner's O'Connell offers to supply customers who do not have the necessary equipment with a box to watch individual games on a pay-per-game basis, with the network keeping all of the revenue while it continues negotiating with BTN.

The Big Ten Network called calling that a publicity stunt because all of the BTN's deals require that the channel air first on the expanded basic tier in Big Ten Conference states.

In its deal with No. 1 video service Comcast, the channel can be moved to the digital tier next spring, provided that it can still reach the majority of the customers.

''Time Warner today publicly offered to air Buckeye football games on a pay-per-view basis. Time Warner is well aware that it cannot selectively choose to air a network's programming in lieu of full carriage,'' the network.

The outlook for an agreement looked picture perfect last spring, when Comcast signed its deal, but things look to be more tumultuous than a hurricane right now and aren't likely to get better in time for the Buckeyes' opening game against Youngstown State in a week. BTN will have three of the Buckeyes' first five games this season.

''Time Warner has already had more than 18 months to decide to offer the Big Ten Network to its customers, and in a statement Wednesday said 'we are ready to carry the network,' '' the network said. ''Fine. Then they should carry the network, and at terms comparable to the network's other agreements. Or they should tell their customers they have decided not to. Either way, Buckeye fans deserve to know the truth.''

RELATED STORY CONTENT


George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/.

 

The rhetoric is heating up in the effort to get the Big Ten Network on Time Warner Cable.

Get the full article here.


Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Reprint  Reprint   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story

AddThis Social Bookmark Button















Most Commented Stories