So after dealing with the NFL sending out emails for people to call in to keep the big mean cable company from taking the NFL Network away, we have the Big Ten Network doing the same thing only worse.
A few points for those new to the game:
1. The Big Ten Network is a new channel that is advertising as the place to see all the Big Ten Conference sporting action (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, etc) with the implication of it being the HUGE football and basketball games played in the conference every year.
2. The network is actually showing second and third tier sports you'd never watch unless someone you know is a participant, and even then it'd have to be a close blood relation. The big games people want to see are under contract to the major networks.
3. Big Ten Network wants cable companies to carry the channel on the expanded basic tier in states that have Big Ten schools. That means jacking up the rates across the board for a station carrying handball and table tennis. The cable companies want to have it on a Sports only tier where people who want it can pay for it. Big Ten Network's reaction to that has been "OMG NO WAI" and they demand the most expensive carriage available in order to make big bucks for member schools. Needless to say, no major cable companies are carrying the channel and the only satellite company carrying it is DirecTV since they're part owned by Fox (who owns half of BTN).
So the 11th hour is upon us and so are the scores of asshats demanding that I make the channel available or they're dropping all their services right then and there for DirecTV. I don't have any concrete proof, but I'm about 90% certain that the BTN is doing some astroturfing because there were a lot of people calling in hitting the same talking points in nearly the same order to the point where I thought one guy came through to my phone twice in a row. One guy even told me it was BS when I pointed out that not everyone would appricate their rates going up for a channel they may not want. He was arguing that in this day and age, no one's going to complain over a $1 increase. That one set off more bells than a church in a windstorm. In all the time I've been dealing with the public and working for a cable company, NO ONE EVER made that argument until now. Makes me wish I had a recording of the Price is Right "you lose" music to play for these fake asses.
Pretty much everyone not employed by Fox or the BTN have commented how stupid it is for them to approach cable companies demanding near ESPN level carriage and rates and then having a hissy when they get told to go screw.
Yet still I get calls how my company is evil because somehow not wanting to increase rates across the board makes us part of the grand conspiracy to make you pay for our sports tier. Don't even try to mention how both pro and college sports are setting the groundwork to make you pay for games you used to watch for free on network TV, CLEARLY it's part my company's evil plan to make you spend $6.95/month.
A few points for those new to the game:
1. The Big Ten Network is a new channel that is advertising as the place to see all the Big Ten Conference sporting action (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, etc) with the implication of it being the HUGE football and basketball games played in the conference every year.
2. The network is actually showing second and third tier sports you'd never watch unless someone you know is a participant, and even then it'd have to be a close blood relation. The big games people want to see are under contract to the major networks.
3. Big Ten Network wants cable companies to carry the channel on the expanded basic tier in states that have Big Ten schools. That means jacking up the rates across the board for a station carrying handball and table tennis. The cable companies want to have it on a Sports only tier where people who want it can pay for it. Big Ten Network's reaction to that has been "OMG NO WAI" and they demand the most expensive carriage available in order to make big bucks for member schools. Needless to say, no major cable companies are carrying the channel and the only satellite company carrying it is DirecTV since they're part owned by Fox (who owns half of BTN).
So the 11th hour is upon us and so are the scores of asshats demanding that I make the channel available or they're dropping all their services right then and there for DirecTV. I don't have any concrete proof, but I'm about 90% certain that the BTN is doing some astroturfing because there were a lot of people calling in hitting the same talking points in nearly the same order to the point where I thought one guy came through to my phone twice in a row. One guy even told me it was BS when I pointed out that not everyone would appricate their rates going up for a channel they may not want. He was arguing that in this day and age, no one's going to complain over a $1 increase. That one set off more bells than a church in a windstorm. In all the time I've been dealing with the public and working for a cable company, NO ONE EVER made that argument until now. Makes me wish I had a recording of the Price is Right "you lose" music to play for these fake asses.
Pretty much everyone not employed by Fox or the BTN have commented how stupid it is for them to approach cable companies demanding near ESPN level carriage and rates and then having a hissy when they get told to go screw.
Yet still I get calls how my company is evil because somehow not wanting to increase rates across the board makes us part of the grand conspiracy to make you pay for our sports tier. Don't even try to mention how both pro and college sports are setting the groundwork to make you pay for games you used to watch for free on network TV, CLEARLY it's part my company's evil plan to make you spend $6.95/month.
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