The Nebraska football game Saturday against South Dakota State could be the Cornhuskers’ last appearance on pay-per-view television.
And then the days of dishing out dollars to watch the Big Red toy with an overmatched opponent could be over.
All of Nebraska’s Big 12 Conference games are likely to be broadcast nationally or on a regional network. Then in 2011, Nebraska will be in the Big Ten Conference.
And almost no game is too lame for the Big Ten Network. This week’s Big Ten Network line-up includes such instant classics as Austin Peay at Wisconsin, Ball State at Iowa and, in prime time, Northern Illinois at Minnesota.
But not having to pay special per-game fees doesn’t mean viewing the Huskers will be free.
Cable television companies and satellite providers in Nebraska-fan-land could charge extra for the Big Ten Network, or put it in a more expensive tier of channels.
As for next year, NU and the Big Ten Conference are still ironing out the details.
But the Huskers presumably would have the same arrangement as other members of the conference.
“Currently all home (football) games are broadcast either on ABC, ESPN or the Big Ten Network,” said Scott Chipman, a Big Ten Conference spokesman.
There’s a selection process with all of the Big Ten’s television partners. It’s complicated, but basically if ABC or ESPN don’t choose to broadcast games, then the Big Ten Network can show them. It can air multiple games at the same time through regional tiered channels.
So every Big Ten home game is televised at least on the Big Ten Network, something that Iowa Hawkeye fans have become used to since the network was created.
How viewers see Nebraska’s minor games next year, and how much it will cost them, depends on which cable or satellite provider they have and on negotiations between those providers and the Big Ten Network, which is owned by the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks.
“That’s all being negotiated,” said Tucker Carlson, a spokesman for Charter Communications, which serves many communities in central and western Nebraska.
And, of course, the rabbit ear antennas won’t pick up games like Saturday’s. Such titanic clashes as the Cornhuskers vs. the Jackrabbits won’t make it onto ABC or other free networks.
So people who don’t have cable but have that Husker itch every fall Saturday still will have to rely on friends, family and sports bars to scratch it.
A lot of cable customers in Nebraska and Iowa already have the Big Ten Network on one of their tiers. They include customers of Cox Communications, whose area includes Omaha and Council Bluffs; Time Warner Cable, with many cities and towns in southeastern Nebraska, and Charter Communications. It’s also available on DirecTV and Dish Network.
Time Warner added the Big Ten Network to its digital tier earlier this month for no additional charge.
“With no Nebraska content, we just felt this was the place to put it,” said Ann Shrewsbury, vice president of communications for Time Warner Cable in Lincoln.
Will it be the same next year?
“We don’t know,” Shrewsbury said.
Cox offers the Big Ten Network as part of its $5-a-month, 20-plus channel “Sports & Information Pak,” said Karl Bieber, public affairs manager in Omaha. It hasn’t been determined where it will be next year.
Cox subscriber Edith Rosman of Omaha was among the many Husker fans who paid $39.95 for the South Dakota State game. That price is up from $29.95 in recent seasons. Such telecasts generally net the university between $300,000 and $500,000, university officials have said.
Rosman and her husband, Jamie, have bought all the Husker games that have been on pay-per-view. It has been worth it, she said. “I just love watching them play, so I was grateful that they did have it,” Rosman said.
That said, she’s glad Nebraska will be on the Big Ten Network so they won’t have to pay for individual games next year.
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444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com Article pulled from http://www.omaha.com/article/20100925/NEWS01/709259872/1041#per-view-fee-ending-for-big-red
To subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Ann Shrewsbury Vice President of communications has just agreed to Jack your price up. Although she didn’t say it in this article. Why not take the chance to get additional revenue from its customer. haha.
Cox our friend in the digital age, is already charging you. So no worries.
btw I don’t like the Huskers football team, so I don’t care.