In a twist echoing the darkest days of the Pac-12’s misguided media strategy, the inaugural games for Washington and Oregon as members of the Big Ten were blacked out locally on a major cable network in the Pacific Northwest.
The Big Ten Network and Comcast failed to resolve a carriage dispute prior to a Saturday doubleheader starting with Oregon’s 4:30 p.m. kickoff against Idaho and concluding with Washington’s opener against Weber State (8 p.m.).
As a result, the games were not available on Comcast in Washington, Oregon or California.
“Despite our efforts, Comcast Xfinity maintains its position as the only distributor that declined to expand with the newest members of the Big Ten Conference,” the Big Ten Network said in a statement issued to the Hotline.
“We regret the impact on our viewers and sincerely appreciate their patience. In the meantime, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington live events will continue to be available on every other distribution partner of the Big Ten Network.”
The question now is whether the impasse will last days, weeks or months.
“I don’t know about months but certainly weeks,” an industry source said Saturday.
The blackout imposed by Fox, which owns the Big Ten Network, came in response to Comcast refusing to move the Big Ten Network to a basic subscription tier along the West Coast once the four schools joined the conference.
Typically, the admission of a school into the Big Ten results in that state becoming part of the Big Ten Network’s core territory and distributors moving the network to a basic tier, which is more expensive than a sports tier. (That cost is passed along to subscribers, whether they want the Big Ten Network or not.)
While other cable companies and satellite carriers agreed to shift the Big Ten Network to a basic tier on the West Coast, Comcast declined.
Seeking leverage, Fox responded by prohibiting Big Ten Network events involving the West Coast schools from appearing on Comcast systems along the West Coast.
(Comcast subscribers who have paid for the Big Ten Network on a sports tier will have access to events involving the other 14 schools.)
Comcast issued a statement on the matter earlier Saturday:
“We’re sensitive to the impact these costs have on our customers and have been in discussions with FOX and the Big Ten Network to find a solution to make certain former Pac-12 games available to the people who want them while not forcing others to pay for content they don’t want to watch.
“We hope to be able to reach a fair agreement with FOX and the Big Ten Network to be able to offer these games to our customers.”
It’s anyone’s guess as to when that agreement will materialize.
The four West Coast teams have only two upcoming games scheduled for the Big Ten Network. Both are next week: Eastern Michigan at Washington and Utah State at USC.
If the company refused to budge for the Huskies’ opener, what could prompt a change in tactics for the second game of the season? UW will have fulfilled its obligation for Big Ten Network appearances (at least two games).
Meanwhile, Comcast is not a primary carrier in Southern California.
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