MSOs Balking At Big Ten Network’s Lofty License Fee Request
MSOs are “immediately balking” at the $1.10 monthly per sub fee the Big Ten Network
is seeking for carriage on analog, according to John Ourand in this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL. While ESPN gets $3.00 per sub, the fee the Big Ten Net is seeking is
“significantly higher than other channels that have had trouble gaining distribution.”
NFL Network charges around $0.70, and the planned MLB Channel will ask for about
$0.25. The $1.10 fee is “comparable to many [RSNs], but cable operators are loath
to pay it for a channel that has yet to launch and will not feature the best Big
Ten games, which will be on ABC and ESPN.” Also, Fox Cable, which jointly owns
the net along with the Big Ten Conference, has insisted that “every part of the
eight states that make up the Big Ten schools be considered part of the local
market.” For example, Philadelphia is nearly 200 miles from Penn State, but Fox
is “demanding that Comcast put the Big Ten Network on its analog tier in Philadelphia”
at $1.10 per sub. The net is seeking around $0.10 per sub from MSOs outside of
Big Ten markets, and Fox Cable will “accept carriage on cable’s digital platforms”
in those markets. DirecTV — which will carry the channel on its Total Choice
package that has almost 16 million subs — is likely paying “much less than
the rate Fox Cable wants in-market cable operators to pay” since DirecTV has one
national feed that includes the 42 states that do not have Big Ten schools (SBJ,
4/16).
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