Comcast and BTN

Sodakred

All-Conference
Jul 31, 2018
3,033
1,204
113
i am sure some fans are very upset that BTN is gradually disappearing from Comcast nationally. I have Directv but almost never watch BTN. I know it benefits our program financially and it has a few of our crappiest football games but I think most of its content is worthless .Tell me what I am missing.
 
Feb 17, 2008
1,938
410
0
i am sure some fans are very upset that BTN is gradually disappearing from Comcast nationally. I have Directv but almost never watch BTN. I know it benefits our program financially and it has a few of our crappiest football games but I think most of its content is worthless .Tell me what I am missing.
Sometimes it is the only way to watch a Husker game.
 

TwinsRRUs_rivals79748

All-Conference
Oct 1, 2011
6,818
4,193
0
Honestly, does anybody here ever watch it except for Husker game days (any sport)?

Almost the only time I ever watch TV is to watch football or the NCAA tournament. Obviously not everybody is like that though, but what type of person would tune into BTN on a regular basis, let alone hundreds of thousands of people?

From a business standpoint, how can anyone disagree with Comcast if they are only getting steady viewers from a channel for 5 months out of the year (and only a couple days out of the week for those months even)?

The bills have to get paid somehow. Companies aren't going to pay out the wazoo if their ads are never seen...

I don't know what I would do if I had no way of watching Husker games on TV... radio works when I absolutely cannot make it to watch a game, but after being spoiled for so many years, it would be difficult to go to only radio for Husker games.
 

Quix0te

Junior
Apr 10, 2018
934
276
0
Honestly, does anybody here ever watch it except for Husker game days (any sport)?

Almost the only time I ever watch TV is to watch football or the NCAA tournament. Obviously not everybody is like that though, but what type of person would tune into BTN on a regular basis, let alone hundreds of thousands of people?

From a business standpoint, how can anyone disagree with Comcast if they are only getting steady viewers from a channel for 5 months out of the year (and only a couple days out of the week for those months even)?

The bills have to get paid somehow. Companies aren't going to pay out the wazoo if their ads are never seen...

I don't know what I would do if I had no way of watching Husker games on TV... radio works when I absolutely cannot make it to watch a game, but after being spoiled for so many years, it would be difficult to go to only radio for Husker games.
Virtually the sole source for B1G ice hockey and about half the conference basketball games. If you prefer ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter, then you're not missing anything.
 

Hedley Lemar

All-American
Jan 28, 2016
5,599
5,447
113
I just switched to Directv cuz I’m not about to miss any games. For years I had to go to sports bars which sucked. GBR baby.
 
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meo1960

Senior
Jan 15, 2003
20,005
849
113
i am sure some fans are very upset that BTN is gradually disappearing from Comcast nationally. I have Directv but almost never watch BTN. I know it benefits our program financially and it has a few of our crappiest football games but I think most of its content is worthless .Tell me what I am missing.
YouTube TV carries BTN, and just about any other channel my Huskers might be televised on, and I'm about to subscribe in 2 weeks! :Cool:
 
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Abn173

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2012
2,355
1,091
93
If you have a SmartTV, of the Samsung variety, you
can subscribe to Hulu and get BTN. No minimum
subscription and cancel whenever. And, restart whenever!
 

SeaOfRed75

All-Conference
Dec 5, 2010
3,219
1,143
113
If you have a SmartTV, of the Samsung variety, you
can subscribe to Hulu and get BTN. No minimum
subscription and cancel whenever. And, restart whenever!
So only Samsung tvs can get Hulu? Uhhhhhhhh.
And to get BTN for LIVE games that would be Hulu LIVE. $40 a month no subscription.
 

schuele

All-American
Apr 17, 2005
21,124
5,734
0
Comcast dropping BTN in states where there is no Big Ten university is the first round of what happens when you add Rutgers and Maryland and try to convince cable companies that they need to pony up big, because your footprint now includes New York City and Washington, D.C. I'm guessing Comcast's response was something like, "We'll just have to deal with the enormous backlash from the dozen(s) - maybe - of Rutgers fans who live there, because we're not going to offer BTN in New York."
 

Sodakred

All-Conference
Jul 31, 2018
3,033
1,204
113
Virtually the sole source for B1G ice hockey and about half the conference basketball games. If you prefer ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter, then you're not missing anything.
Good point. Unfortunately ice and snow depths aren't good down here in Phoenix.
 

mpbrown27

Junior
May 17, 2006
3,333
303
0
Take it for what it's worth, but I work in this industry and from what I've heard, Comcast is dropping BTN in certain markets as a way to gain leverage in their negotiations for a new contract. Let's see what happens once football actually starts.

Yes, BTN is good for televising football games and not much else, but football is huge business.
 
Sep 29, 2001
75,439
12,977
0
Just about the only way I was able to get Husker games here in Florida and Husker volleyball.
Look into a streaming service. There are multiple ways to get BTN these days besides just only a cable subscription (and usually cheaper).

Cable subscriptions are a dying animal - cord cutters revenge for years of being abused. :Cool:
 
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Husker4real_rivals373787

All-Conference
Nov 25, 2017
3,118
1,091
0
Are we really complaining that the BTN doesn’t provide non-stop riveting programming?

The fact that it may be your only option to watch some NU football games should be enough. Then add in the fact that there are other conference football games every weekend. Then add in the fact that a lot of NU hoops games and baseball games are on the network.

Maybe the issue is related to the football season only being 12 weeks long?
 

BHeinDaHuskers

All-American
Oct 12, 2004
27,309
8,667
113
did playstation vue last year. It was ok but they raised the price and it is now just as expensive as cable.

This year I am doing Youtube tv. $40 a month and everything is stored on its servers to watch or rewatch for 6 months or maybe its 3 months....something like that. I am just getting it for football season and I always cancel after the last college game is played.

I have an over the air hd antenna and it works great. Its an indoor hd antenna and it gets like 20 some channels and I live in a very rural part.
 
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meo1960

Senior
Jan 15, 2003
20,005
849
113
Very in terested in the quality. Best line up of channels of all streaming services and a dvr cloud. Let us know how it goes.
You don't have to wait for me to tell you how it goes. They give you a free week to try it out for yourself. :Cool:
 

redwine65

All-Conference
Jun 23, 2010
10,846
2,165
113
If you have a SmartTV, of the Samsung variety, you
can subscribe to Hulu and get BTN. No minimum
subscription and cancel whenever. And, restart whenever!
I got a nivida shield pro and youtube tv (35 a month) because my samsung is a year too old to stream you tube tv. I run it thru century link internet (40 a month)...has big ten and a bunch of sports channels...
I think my nivida shield can mine bitcoin..
 

saluno22

All-Conference
Mar 1, 2006
8,043
2,379
0
Are we really complaining that the BTN doesn’t provide non-stop riveting programming?

The fact that it may be your only option to watch some NU football games should be enough. Then add in the fact that there are other conference football games every weekend. Then add in the fact that a lot of NU hoops games and baseball games are on the network.

Maybe the issue is related to the football season only being 12 weeks long?
Spot on. Same can really be said about ESPN and FS1. There is a concentration of content during specific hours of the day, and they need filler. Offering standalone subscriptions for live and on-demand viewing is the way to go, but they need to maintain a cable presence for several reasons: sports bars and segments of society that stay with the "known quantity" of cable, then by extension ad dollars, legitimacy purposes ("they're on TV" sounds better than "they're on the internet"), and also brand recognition. It's akin to Best Buy and similar companies keeping brick and mortar stores: While many people shop online, there are some that still like to go into the store and look at the items, and some of those will buy in the store while others will buy online (whether through Best Buy or otherwise).

(Disclaimer: I am not being paid by Best Buy to use them as an example.)
 

Sodakred

All-Conference
Jul 31, 2018
3,033
1,204
113
Are we really complaining that the BTN doesn’t provide non-stop riveting programming?
....

Maybe the issue is related to the football season only being 12 weeks long?
Unless BTN attracts more eyeballs it may disappear, at least in states outside the B1G footprint. It's already happening in some Comcast viewing areas, which is why I started the thread. The article I read mentioned fans who said they would retaliate by canceling Comcast. That might be effective if it was heavily watched but if it was heavily watched it wouldn't be deleted.
 

BadgerGrove

All-Conference
Jul 11, 2010
7,530
3,790
98
Comcast blacked out heavily watched YES Network in NYC. I think it says more about Comcast than BTN.

Unless BTN attracts more eyeballs it may disappear, at least in states outside the B1G footprint. It's already happening in some Comcast viewing areas, which is why I started the thread. The article I read mentioned fans who said they would retaliate by canceling Comcast. That might be effective if it was heavily watched but if it was heavily watched it wouldn't be deleted.
 
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studed

All-Conference
Mar 4, 2006
76,479
3,472
113
Take it for what it's worth, but I work in this industry and from what I've heard, Comcast is dropping BTN in certain markets as a way to gain leverage in their negotiations for a new contract. Let's see what happens once football actually starts.

Yes, BTN is good for televising football games and not much else, but football is huge business.
yep this is not the first time comcast has done this. so far every time it has happen btn is back on by the time the first game is played
 
Sep 29, 2001
75,439
12,977
0
Unless BTN attracts more eyeballs it may disappear, at least in states outside the B1G footprint. It's already happening in some Comcast viewing areas, which is why I started the thread. The article I read mentioned fans who said they would retaliate by canceling Comcast. That might be effective if it was heavily watched but if it was heavily watched it wouldn't be deleted.
How is it going to disappear when it is on streaming services? It's just the base cable package subscriptions that are going the way of the dinosaur. Streaming is the future.
 

SoDakHawk

Senior
Sep 14, 2006
249
437
63
did playstation vue last year. It was ok but they raised the price and it is now just as expensive as cable.

This year I am doing Youtube tv. $40 a month and everything is stored on its servers to watch or rewatch for 6 months or maybe its 3 months....something like that. I am just getting it for football season and I always cancel after the last college game is played.

I have an over the air hd antenna and it works great. Its an indoor hd antenna and it gets like 20 some channels and I live in a very rural part.

What brand antennae is it? Been looking at cutting the cord and going with Hulu Live but live in rural SoDak so need an antennae with range.