ISU Used As Pawn by Fox in Big Ten Network/Mediacom Dispute!

[dustinal]

Maybe this has already been discussed, but wanna know why you can't watch the ISU/Kent State game on TV tonight?

Mediacom | Big Ten | Get The Story

Contact Fox Cable Networks and the Big Ten Network and demand that they quit using Cyclone fans as pawns in their battle for more money!

 

[C.John]

Fox Declares Iowa “Big Ten Country” :no:

 

[CYVADER]

what a crock. it never fails. i remember when i was at school in ames and the freaking homecoming games weren't even televised-IN AMES!!??? why the hell can't IPTV pick it up? to afraid to get some viewers? i can hear the conversation right now- "we better not put that game on tv tonite so that we can rerun the same episode of antique roadshow that we played last nite cuz that'll really get some viewers." this states media coverage blows. garn91 is right.

 

[Cyclone62]

Question: How does FOX dictate what Mediacom puts on their own channel?

 

[SouthCyder]

I'm sure IPTV would love to broadcast Clone games, but IPTV doesn't own the rights to broadcast college football. Honestly, they probably can't afford it. They have to go through the Big XII. Television rights are a tricky business. It's really cutthroat.

While it sucks that we never see our Clones, we don't have much of a choice. Something tells me that within the next few years, we'll be seeing the Cyclones on TV a little bit more...just you wait.

I'll never forget freshman year, the pride I felt when on ABC, there was a #9 right next to Iowa State. Unfortunately OU would take that #9 and our dream season away on that rainy day in Norman...but it still was awesome.

It's going to come again.

 

[Incyte]

Fox owns rights to all B12 games apparently and their permission is required to broadcast games on a free access channel.

 

[SouthCyder]

Fox owns the rights to certain Big XII games whether they televise them or not. As does ESPN/ABC. So that's how they dictate what happens.

 

[jbhtexas]

Question: How does FOX dictate what Mediacom puts on their own channel?

My guess...Fox, somehow through its TV deals with the various conferences, probably has the broadcast rights to the game, and would not grant ISU/Mediacom the rights to broadcast the game on the local cable channel...

 

[clonehenge]

Fox Cable Network Contacts

Just in case anybody wants to give them a piece of their mind...


Primary Press Contact Thomas Tyrer, Senior Vice President
Communications & Cross-Platform Operations for Fox Networks Group
Phone: 310-369-0008
Fax: 310-969-4334
E-Mail: [email protected]

Secondary Contact
Kelsey Martinez, Director
Corporate Communications
Phone: 310-369-0009
Fax: 310-969-4334
E-Mail: [email protected]

 

[jbhtexas]

It also wouldn't hurt to have a Big 12 commish with..ahem...some brass hardware. Make a call to FSN and solve the problem. Most big-time contracts have clauses of some sort where the parties of the contract agree to not do things detrimental to the other party. FSN's decision to keep a Big 12 broadcast off cable certainly doesn't help the Big 12.

Then again, there's also FSN's fiduciary duty to its investors. I'm guessing there would have been some income for FSN by allowing Mediacom to broadcast the ISU game. Business must be good when one can throw away easy revenue for the purpose of bolstering one's position in a urinating contest with a vendor...

 

[PolkCityClone]

I sent them 6 emails, but I doubt it will make up for their greed.

 

[SplitIdentity]

Get over it. Fox did the same thing to Mediacom/ISU that Mediacom did to the BTN/Iowa. Why would Fox help Mediacom be fair to ISU if Mediacom isn't willing to be fair to Iowa?

 

[isu_bub]

Get over it. Fox did the same thing to Mediacom/ISU that Mediacom did to the BTN/Iowa. Why would Fox help Mediacom be fair to ISU if Mediacom isn't willing to be fair to Iowa?

Fair to Iowa, the state? Or fair to UofI? The state of Iowa, which is covered by Mediacom, does not want the BTN. Majority rules.

 

[jbhtexas]

Get over it. Fox did the same thing to Mediacom/ISU that Mediacom did to the BTN/Iowa. Why would Fox help Mediacom be fair to ISU if Mediacom isn't willing to be fair to Iowa?

Let's see...FSN/BTN is trying to shove their niche sports network on to Medicom's primary tier, and force a bunch of people who could care less about the BTN to pay for it. Medicom asks permission of FSN to show one game on a local cable channel.

Yeah, those are identical situations...

Silly Hawkeye...

 

[SplitIdentity]

Let's see...FSN/BTN is trying to shove their niche sports network on to Medicom's primary tier, and force a bunch of people who could care less about the BTN to pay for it. Medicom asks permission of FSN to show one game on a local cable channel.

Yeah, those are identical situations...

Silly Hawkeye...

Actually, they are very similar. Mediacom carries the primary Big12 Station - FSN (it's not the BigTen's fault that the B12 has a bad TV contract), but they are unwilling to carry the BTN.

So, they are willing to carry a station that is primarily good for B12 sports, but aren't willing to carry a station that is for BT sports, and they claim that there isn't a demand for the BTN?

I'm sorry, but it's hypocritical and dumb. If Mediacom doesn't want to carry one of Fox's biggest and newest sports channels, then why should Fox let Mediacom appease their customers by letting them show a game that would make their customers happy?

It's a business, and Mediacom is playing just as dirty.

 

[bellzisu]

Southern... I can count how many times ISU has been on Fox Sports in the last 5 years with one hand.... They mainly covered MN Golden Golpher Sports or Big 12. Its not mainly a ALL BIG 12 network, unlike the Big 10 network.

Seriously, I don't want to pay or watch the Big 10 network. So why don't fans like me have a voice. Just casue 60% of the state wants it, does not mean we should all have to pay...

Silly squawk..

 

[jbhtexas]

Actually, they are very similar.

They aren't similar at all.

Mediacom carries the primary Big12 Station - FSN (it's not the BigTen's fault that the B12 has a bad TV contract), but they are unwilling to carry the BTN.

That's because BTN is exclusively Big Ten programming. Mediacom and every other major cable company in the US know that their customers don't want to pay extra to have a niche sports network shoved down their throats.

FSN, on the other hand, carries a wide variety of sports programming, not just Big 12 programming...which is why these situations aren't similar at all.

So, they are willing to carry a station that is primarily good for B12 sports, but aren't willing to carry a station that is for BT sports, and they claim that there isn't a demand for the BTN?

Let me explain something to you. Mediacom and every other cable company are in business to make money. If there was all this "demand" for BTN, BTN would be on the primary tier. The reason these cable companies don't put BTN on the primary tier is because they know that their customers will object to paying for something they don't want.

If Mediacom doesn't want to carry one of Fox's biggest and newest sports channels

Mediacom would gladly carry BTN if they were able to put it on a sport tier where it belongs...

It's a business, and Mediacom is playing just as dirty.

No dirtier than BTN...

 

[SplitIdentity]

Southern... I can count how many times ISU has been on Fox Sports in the last 5 years with one hand.... They mainly covered MN Golden Golpher Sports or Big 12. Its not mainly a ALL BIG 12 network, unlike the Big 10 network.

Seriously, I don't want to pay or watch the Big 10 network. So why don't fans like me have a voice. Just casue 60% of the state wants it, does not mean we should all have to pay...

Silly squawk..

I'm sorry, the unwillingness to pay a $1.10 for a channel that, as you said, 60% of the state watches when you pay more than $2.00 a month for stations less than 1% of the state watch COMBINED - Oxygen, LTMC, Jewelry Channel, OLN, FSN, etc...

You can't tell me that it makes sense to deny a money-making station like the BTN, yet carry these rating-less stations as mentioned above.

Silly Clone....

 

[Wesley]

The sooner the BTN folds the better. I do not to even want to think of watching Indiana and Purdue play on BTN.

 

[SplitIdentity]

The sooner the BTN folds the better. I do not to even want to think of watching Indiana and Purdue play on BTN.

Do you watch them sell Jewelry? Or how about the wife-beater movies on the Lifetime channel? Talk Sex with Sue on Oxygen anybody?

The cries that "I wouldn't watch it, so nobody else should have the opportunity" just don't hold water with me - if more than half the state would watch it, it should be available. They have at least a dozen of stations where very few people watch them, yet we are still paying for them - they aren't tiered.