Comcast dropping Big Ten Network in 'out of market' states
If you’re a Comcast television customer and a fan of a Big Ten school and don’t live in Big Ten Country you may be looking for a new TV provider in the near future.
Comcast is dropping the Big Ten Network from its channel lineup in what it considers to be out-of-market states. The news slipped in on customers’ bills and became widely-known on Thursday. The company then started answering users’ Twitter questions about the change.
Hi, thanks for your inquiry. We are only dropping the Big Ten network for out of market locations, not in states/markets where Big Ten schools are located. Hope this helps. -JR
— ComcastCares (@comcastcares) April 12, 2018
The out-of-market Big Ten Network feed, which was carried on Sports & Entertainment pkg in non-Big Ten states, was dropped in some areas. Big Ten Network in-market feed, available to customers in Big Ten states in the regular channel line-up, will continue to be available.
— ComcastCares (@comcastcares) April 12, 2018
The company then issued a statement through a spokesperson to the Athletic.
Reached out to Comcast media relations regarding this Big Ten Network scrap.
Here is official clarification from the corporate office.
"In-market feed of Big Ten Network is still available – and will continue to be available – to our customers in Big Ten states." pic.twitter.com/q2ncJrbc87
— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) April 12, 2018
“To be clear, the in-market feed of Big Ten Network is still available – and will continue to be available — to our customers in Big Ten states. We are beginning to drop the out-of-market Big Ten Network feed in some areas. We notified customers who had been receiving the Big Ten Network out of market feed about this change.”
Some further clarification from Comcast media relations.
The markets that will continue to receive BTN are Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
States not on this list are considered out-of-market.
— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) April 12, 2018
You’ll notice there are a couple Big Ten states missing from that list. Comcast does not provide service in Nebraska and Iowa according to this map. Comcast has a small area of service in New York north of New York City which has to be jarring to the conference. It added Rutgers and has established offices in New York City to break into the market. Now, for some area customers, the network looks to be unavailable soon.
Here’s what the notice from Comcast looks like if you’re in a Big Ten market. You’ll notice the Big Ten Network is not on this list of changes.
According to this tweet from Comcast, the lineup changes are already happening.
Hi Joe. I apologize for any inconvenience. At this time, BTN has been removed from our line-ups as of April 11th in most regions, while some regions are still under contract until May 10th. You can still watch most live games at https://t.co/zNsVuJ9XxK – Noah
— ComcastCares (@comcastcares) April 12, 2018
We’ve reached out to a Big Ten representative for comment. The network is a primary source of revenue for the conference, which posts the most revenue of any conference in college football. It generates a lot of revenue from BTN via subscriber fees. According to this 2015 report from Ad Age, BTN charged each out-of-market customer $0.44 for the channel.
The network did decide to respond on Twitter Thursday evening, however.
Comcast XFinity has decided unilaterally to drop BTN in many markets. All of their competitors still carry BTN everywhere. We at BTN share your disappointment. Let Comcast know how you feel.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) April 12, 2018
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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