DISH, Big Ten Network still at impasse, could leave Michigan, EMU, MSU football fans in the dark
Eastern Michigan football fans who subscribe to DISH Network may not be able to watch the Eagles’ game at Michigan State on Saturday, and Michigan fans could be in the dark for future games.
DISH and the Big Ten Network have still not come to an agreement over a contract dispute and don't appear to be any closer to reaching a deal than they were when talks fell through last Friday night.
The Big Ten Network was removed from the DISH lineup at the end of the day Friday, after the two sides could not come to a contract agreement. Dish subscribers who tuned into watch Michigan take on Massachusetts on Saturday -- or any other game on the Big Ten Network -- instead were greeted with a message explaining that negotiations had fallen through.
This week, it’s Eastern Michigan football fans who could be left in the dark. The Eagles’ take on No. 21 Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Spartan Stadium and the game will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
A DISH spokesperson declined to provide the number of DISH subscribers in Washtenaw County.
Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis released a statement this week regarding the negotiations, saying he is “frustrated” with the lack of an agreement.
“Michigan State University is supportive of the BTN and its mission to provide coverage of all Big Ten sports to all Big Ten fans,” Hollis said. “It seems reasonable that an agreement between the BTN and Dish is possible, based on arrangements with all of the other major television providers.”
BTN released the following statement this week: “BTN has been working around the clock for weeks to try and reach a deal with DISH. They are now unwilling to sign a contract.”
DISH released the following statement from Dave Schull, senior vice president for programming:
"Big Ten Network was demanding that DISH pay programming fees at least a third higher than any other major distributor. Such an increase would equate to more than DISH pays per subscriber for NFL Network, MLB Network, NBA TV, NHL Network and Golf Channel combined, and would result in unreasonable monthly fees for DISH customers.
“DISH will continue to work diligently around the clock in good-faith negotiations with Fox, part owner of Big Ten Network. We hope they will adopt a more reasonable attitude in regard to the price they want to charge, so we can make that channel available to DISH customers again.”
Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com.
Comments
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 1:59 a.m.
Good grief. I recall when the Big Ten Network started it was a pay for channel the first year, which really stuck in my craw. As much as I like Michigan Football, I am not going to pay to watch it on TV. Currently we have one HD TV and rent the HD box. I can only watch BTN on that TV because of the converting going on. No BTN on tvs with no HD box. With cable, we get a couple hundred channels, most of which we do not want. I have the exact same programming on channel 6 and channel 8 (Charter). Then I run into a dude selling Dish TV at Sams Club. He is from Texas where cable TV is unregulated and you can choose from many providers, not locked into what ever company owns your region. We need that in Michigan, should keep the prices under control.
tim
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 12:55 a.m.
Big 10 network has ruined UM football as far as I'm concerned. If it's not on tv I don't watch-- if I don't watch I lose interest. If people like me lose interest UM has smaller fan base.
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:03 a.m.
Agree. Not at all impressed with BTN. Seems as though a lot of their commentators are coaches who can't get fired anywhere. And I don't see any reason to see Nebraska football games from years ago as classic games. The only thing it is good for is to check progress on other Big 10 games that would other wise not be broadcast on networks. Hope UM keeps getting ABC and ESPN coverage.
JRW
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 12:24 a.m.
All NCAA Div I football games should be aired on network TV, NOT cable TV. It's a complete ripoff to pay huge amounts of money to these cable providers who have taken over the sports programming. Cut your cable service and watch games on your computer. BTN is just one more greedy, overpriced terrible cable channel, totally unnecessary. If the NCAA has any guts it will not schedule any future games on BTN.
Lifetime AA ND Fan
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 9:30 p.m.
And Michigan fans say our NBC contract makes no difference in this day and age...
A2mom65
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 8:56 p.m.
try AT&T Uverse...Love it AND I get BTN with it.
skipfreely
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 6:52 p.m.
Who cares? BTN network stinks, don't really care if I see scrimmage games. All real games air on real networks. Plus, from Dish,I get 200 channels, plus locals, plus free HD for 54 bucks a month. I can't even get my dsl from Comcast that cheap!!!
JRW
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 12:27 a.m.
My friend in Ypsi city had Dish and for 4 months during the spring and summer, because of the leaves on the trees around his house, he received NO signal. Dish refused to move or reinstall the Dish on the roof, which they installed poorly in the first place!! What a joke.
StopCrying
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 4:52 p.m.
Yeah I think BTN just thinks very highly of themselves because they are also in disputes with other providers. Regardless as much as I hate comcast they are the best available. If I see one more hopper commercial I will go berzerk!
xmo
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 1:30 p.m.
Maybe we need "Obama TV Care"? Then everybody would have to have cable TV and we all would get all of the channels!
Mick52
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 2:09 a.m.
Actually I would prefer a republican version where all regulations were dropped and we could have open competition among all companies rather than from whatever provider has your area. We have to subscribe to Charter, had Comcast where we used to live, and between the two I would prefer Comcast. The competition should keep prices lower and improve options.
JRW
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 : 12:33 a.m.
What is needed is real competition for Comcast. There are no other cable providers to compete. ATT does not use fiber optic cable for TV. Dish is a satellite system that is poor and unreliable. Why does Comcast have a lock on the cable TV through fiber optic market? We are all prisoners being held hostage to this overpriced monster company that has no competition. Personally I'm looking at Apple TV in the coming years to offer totally a la carte channels allowing customers to pay for only the channels you want and watch, and not a bunch of junk. It's coming, but Comcast is pushing back hard.
mun
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 1 p.m.
To those who say it's just Dish Network battling Big 10, google Comcast vs Big Ten. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw3B9ooYCB0
kalamityjane
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 12:35 p.m.
As a Dish customer I'd like to say first they aren't really cheap. They're introductory prices are but I'd say all services are comparable. Honestly, a Comcast basic package seems to have more popular channels. Dish "fills the hole" with scrap channels to make it appear you have a lot. I was tricked into Dish by its alluring, seemingly cheap price. It was not long after that I found many channels that I'd consider base cable channels (so I overlooked they weren't there when reviewing the package) weren't included. By then it was too late and I had to wait out my 2 year contract, which is now up and I'm switching to Comcast. Big Ten Network isn 't even in my $65 a month package mind you. Yes, the service goes out if there's a good rain storm, snow storm, etc. Some times in clear weather it would just go out. I'm also on my fourth receiver in just barely over two years. They won't send out a customer service rep (like other providers will), they UPS a new receiver to you which you have to setup yourself and the return the old one (can you say hassle). So while I feel like a competitors advocate slashing the competition I just had to speak my mind on yet more poor customer service from Dish Network!
Jeff Frank
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.
You think them cross-shipping you a new receiver is less hassle than waiting around for the service guy to show up in a 4-hour window? Really? Not super excited by their post-promo pricing, but it's still less than what I was going to pay Comcast once their promo wore off and they weren't willing to work with me on a new deal, and I have more channels, a whole house DVR and the Blockbuster equivalent of Netflix DVD service.
rs
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 11:27 a.m.
This is why I would never even consider DISH; they always seem to find themselves in contract disputes with channel outages way too frequently. Yeah, they are cheap...but you get what you pay for.
Jeff Frank
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 8:55 p.m.
All of the "cable" providers are going through this, so don't worry, you'll experience it soon enough.
D.M.Bierlein
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 11:26 a.m.
What exactly is going on with Dish? A few months ago I was seriously considering using their service but after the AMC mess and now this, that's out of the picture. Looks like they're more interested in being able to crow about low cost, at the expense of providing any value.