I stumbled across all sorts of interesting things this weekend:
A cool Wikipedia entry on fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature;
The Crux Project's Denyse O'Leary's blog;
A genuinely great Book Club offer at ISI books;
I don't discuss sports much at this blog, but indulge me: The Big Ten Network is obnoxious. May the Big Ten (which I have always supported in many online and bar arguments) stumble on its hubris.
The Michigan game was again not available this last week. This is the fifth time. The first four times, it was because the BTN took it. I don't receive the BTN because the BTN and the hated cable companies are feuding over rates. Although the cable companies are often obnoxious, this time they're right: The BTN is demanding ridiculous rates.
[T]he network has refused to acknowledge what it is: niche programming. Its live programming features leftover, non-marquee matchups in football and basketball along with broadcasts of other sports that, for better or worse, aren't very popular. Combined with the non-live programming, it's far from clear whether there was ever any considerable consumer demand for BTN's offerings, especially considering most football and basketball games were already televised.
Yet instead of asking for a modest per subscriber fee from cable providers, BTN is demanding $1.10 per person in the eight-state Big Ten region (and $.10 elsewhere). The $1.10 figure is higher than that charged by the vast majority of cable networks, including the NFL Network, which asks for $.75 per subscriber. Considering the NFL Network, devoted to the most popular sports league in the country, has failed for over a year to reach an agreement with Charter, it seems awfully hardheaded for BTN to expect a deal at $1.10.
The Big Ten Network says those numbers are inflated (link):
Comcast has said it is the second most expensive network behind ESPN, charging $1.10 per customer nationally.
Delaney disagreed.
"It is not accurate (that this is the second most expensive network)," Delaney said. "The Big Ten Network rates a dollar in the region and about a dime outside the region, which results in a 30-cent rate nationally."
What kind of response is that? A blended national rate of thirty cents? How is that relevant to me, a sports fan in Big Ten country, where the rate is $1.10? In my region, you are apparently charging my cable provider rates second only to ESPN. That's obnoxious. People simply don't want to pay extra money to see softball games and cross country matches.
Big Ten Network: May you choke on your greed.
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