B1G Media Rights / Comcast / Conference Realignment

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#101      
CAIllini
I’ve been pissed at Comcast for years as they only offer BTN in Standard Definition in the Bay Area. There have been other factors keeping me on board (mostly internet speed). Great timing though as AT&T just added 1GB fiber to my area. Install setup for Thursday and I’m already testing out YouTubeTV. Can’t wait till next week when I can give Comcast an earful and finally cancel!!!!

Long overdue...
 
#103      
helppitch
Illini_1979 said:
Shouldn't they move to ala carte and let everyone select their own channels? Doing so would probably result in the demise of the smaller, less-watched channels but I would be OK with that.
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Agreed. Cable can have their basic channels, but why couldn't they charge ala carte for sports channels, BTN, SEC networkm etc? Get Dish, or Directv, they carry the major conferences, plus many channels like NBA, MLB, etc.
 
#104      
Illini_1979
helppitch said:
Agreed. Cable can have their basic channels, but why couldn't they charge ala carte for sports channels, BTN, SEC networkm etc? Get Dish, or Directv, they carry the major conferences, plus many channels like NBA, MLB, etc.
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t this point I am definitely looking at DirecTV Now and YouTube TV. Both are intriguing but, my understanding is that each has one shortcoming...DirecTV Now does not have the cloud DVR that Youtube TV offers and YouTube TV does not have HGTV which the wife requires. The first to rectify their shortcoming gets my $$$.
 
#105      
eMitch
Illini_1979 said:
t this point I am definitely looking at DirecTV Now and YouTube TV. Both are intriguing but, my understanding is that each has one shortcoming...DirecTV Now does not have the cloud DVR that Youtube TV offers and YouTube TV does not have HGTV which the wife requires. The first to rectify their shortcoming gets my $$$.
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Playstation Vue?
 
#107      
Calvin
Second and Chalmers said:
That was very important in 2010 and played into the Nebraska decision, but 4X16 was dead by the time of the Maryland and Rutgers additions. The Big XII signed a grant of rights deal in September 2012 that was the end of that particular alternate universe. It really might have happened if not for the Longhorn Network though, amazing.

Also, give Delany some credit, even if he was misguided, he wasn't reacting to the 4X16 idea, he was one of the main creators of it.
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I don't agree with your version of the prevailing narrative, and I think further, that the negotiation process takes long enough that positioning is a calculated risk --you lead many months ahead of where the average Joe thinks the narrative is when they read the news. That's part of why I give him more credit than most. Not trying to persuade you --you have your own view of it, and that's fine.
 
#108      
Second and Chalmers
Calvin said:
I don't agree with your version of the prevailing narrative, and I think further, that the negotiation process takes long enough that positioning is a calculated risk --you lead many months ahead of where the average Joe thinks the narrative is when they read the news.
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Not sure I understand.
 
#110      
Second and Chalmers
The Galloping Ghost said:
I'm just gonna leave this here:

https://frankthetank.me/2018/05/18/...en-graduates-live-and-conference-realignment/
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The "Tier 1 market" thing is interesting.

In my experience both MSU and especially Michigan have larger fan presences in Chicago than Indiana or Purdue. Football program quality is probably heavily tied into that though.

Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin are the Big Ten schools you're likeliest to see people supporting out at your local bars on a fall Saturday in Chicago. Including us :tsk:
 
#111      
ChiefIllini
Second and Chalmers said:
The "Tier 1 market" thing is interesting.

In my experience both MSU and especially Michigan have larger fan presences in Chicago than Indiana or Purdue. Football program quality is probably heavily tied into that though.

Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin are the Big Ten schools you're likeliest to see people supporting out at your local bars on a fall Saturday in Chicago. Including us :tsk:
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OSU and even Iowa seem to have more love in Chicago than we do
 
#112      
Second and Chalmers
ChiefIllini said:
OSU and even Iowa seem to have more love in Chicago than we do
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The loudest voices in Illini Nation are the ones who have just walked away over the past 11-or-so years. A deafening silence.

Can we ever win them back? I hope so. The guys I went to undergrad with humor me, but just don't really have any interest anymore. Tough to blame them.
 
#115      
CAIllini
Worldly Illini said:
So why would Comcast drop the BigTen Network from areas outside the B1G footprint ? Seems like a money loser.... I know I'm outside it and am po'ed they're dropping it.....
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Seems they're trying to strong-arm BTN leading up to the next round of network carriage negotiations. Poor choice to drop it in the Bay Area though in my opinion as there are a large contingent of BigTen alumni engineers living out here.

I cancelled Comcast earlier this month because of exactly this reason and let them know why. They ended up losing my phone & internet business too after I shopped around and found much better deals.
 
#116      
The Galloping Ghost
FiveStar said:
tldr?
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Oh, I definitely read it. Frank the Tank's posts are always a treat.

It's a pretty great analysis of the link WhiteRhino posted previously and bolsters my claim in this thread that the Big Ten has always had a large representation in the Mid-Atlantic that's only continued to grow.

I also think it pretty solidly rebuffs a lot of claims S&C makes earlier in this thread and found it fascinating that he only latched onto the part about Chicago.

I get that the Big Ten has a certain feeling to some fans and I'm sympathetic to those feelings. Ultimately, though, college sports is a business and the data shows ours is the only conference that's close to a national one. Leaning into that through the network and expanding the conference into areas alums already reside has not only born massive fruit in terms of dollars to the schools, but also been shown to be the correct long-term move.
 
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#117      
Second and Chalmers
The Galloping Ghost said:
Leaning into that through the network and expanding the conference into areas alums already reside has not only born massive fruit in terms of dollars to the schools, but also been shown to be the correct long-term move.
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One of the notes made there was that every Big Ten school has at least a Tier 3 market in LA.

You're Jim Delany. The president of USC walks into your office tomorrow and says "we're in". Do you accept?
 
#118      
The Galloping Ghost
Second and Chalmers said:
One of the notes made there was that every Big Ten school has at least a Tier 3 market in LA.

You're Jim Delany. The president of USC walks into your office tomorrow and says "we're in". Do you accept?
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If I'm Jim Delany, in a heartbeat. Frankly, if any team in the original Pac 8 wants in, you take them. All of their markets, athletics, academics, and fanbases make them no-brainers.

If I'm myself, someone that has zero nostalgia for a bygone era and wants the Big Ten to be inarguably the most powerful conference in the country, just as fast.

But I'm going to guess this is a place we differ.
 
#119      
WhiteRhino
Second and Chalmers said:
One of the notes made there was that every Big Ten school has at least a Tier 3 market in LA.

You're Jim Delany. The president of USC walks into your office tomorrow and says "we're in". Do you accept?
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That is a great question that would take a lot of thought and consideration.

I think if you take USC, you have to add another school to the west like Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas and then split into two divisions for all sports.
 
#123      
Second and Chalmers
The Galloping Ghost said:
But I'm going to guess this is a place we differ.
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Yeah, it just seems to me that you have a view which looks at a conference as a holding company aggregating individual school brands as opposed to a brand unto itself.

Both are true to some extent, but it just seems so clear to me that the historic Big Ten, and SEC, and Pac 10 were more than the sum of their parts as entertainment products.

I say "were" for a reason. If the golden goose is already dead, there's no sense in turning down a drumstick. So on those terms maybe you're right.

But I remain totally certain in my own mind that the classic ten team Big 10 would be at a competitive advantage for the media monetization paradigm of the future.
 
#125      
The Galloping Ghost
Second and Chalmers said:
Yeah, it just seems to me that you have a view which looks at a conference as a holding company aggregating individual school brands as opposed to a brand unto itself.

Both are true to some extent, but it just seems so clear to me that the historic Big Ten, and SEC, and Pac 10 were more than the sum of their parts as entertainment products.

I say "were" for a reason. If the golden goose is already dead, there's no sense in turning down a drumstick. So on those terms maybe you're right.

But I remain totally certain in my own mind that the classic ten team Big 10 would be at a competitive advantage for the media monetization paradigm of the future.
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I think you've pretty much nailed it.

I see a world where Utah and Colorado are in the Pac 12, West Virginia is in the Big 12, Notre Dame and Louisville are in the ACC, Missouri and A&M are in the SEC, and the list goes on. The immediate connotation of every single conference has been called into question through this process and I do think the original conference brands have been forced to evolve. At this point, I think conferences are viewed through wins and losses (which isn't great for us in the major two sports) and school brand recognition (which saves us).

As for whether the classic Big Ten could exist in 2018, I personally think it'd be a big gamble. It's extremely hard to predict the cascade effect on each of the other conferences if we stick to 10. What I do know is the Big 12 and Big East, which were financially weaker than the other conferences and geographically easier to split apart, were ransacked. As an Illinois fan, I would never want to risk it and see where we ended up.
 
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