OT: BIG 10 TV Deal
Alright, so almost all of us know the Big Ten TV contract is almost up with ESPN(ESECPN). FOX is believed to be a major bidder. Yes, Oakland is still in play for those who were wondering.
I am pulling for a deal with NBC. Their HD quality is second to none, and I believe we all witnessed that during the super bowl. Fox is alright, but screaming Gus Johnson does get a little annoying after awhile. ESPN is still ESPN, but we will see our boys playing on ESPN when their winning the Natty next January.
What say you???
P.S
Don’t kill me over including pictures of THE SHIELD(NFL). It was either NFL or Notre Dame(UGH Gross) .
February 26th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
NBC?
Aren't they in a committed relationship with ND?
February 26th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
Hard to believe the BIG 10 can't beat out Notre Dame.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^
Those emerald color eyes are Photoshopped. Too bad they didn't whiten his nasty grille.
What a toolshed.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
Are you crazy? Don't look straight into them!
February 26th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
Always haunting.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^
Indeed they are, at least for the time being. I believe the deal was around $15 million per year and lasts - thanks to an extension - until 2025, as I recall. After that, who knows, eh? Actually, it is Notre Dame, so after that, who cares? I don't know if NBC would easily give up the 4 million or so viewers they get on average for ND games though.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^
I'm pulling for either NBC or Fox. Any outcome that involves me watching ESPN as little as possible is a win in my books.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 6:06 PM ^
The BTN is a collaboration between the Big Ten Coference (49%) and Fox Entertainment (51%) and the agreement has a duration of 20 years/
So I'd say Fox is heavily involved with the B1G also.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
I know people love to hate on ESPN, but I think they do the best job with college football compared to fox, nbc, btn.
February 26th, 2015 at 7:07 PM ^
Exactly. Gus Johnson calling games would be great, but he brings Charles Davis with him. Ugh. People love to hate on ESPN, but they are centuries ahead of Fox.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^
Gus is great for basketball. But he's a little awkward for football, as if he's not really sure where to channel his excitement . . . "IT'S SECOND AND SEVEN!!"
February 26th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 5:05 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 5:12 PM ^
Dakich gets a pass b/c he became a Michigan homer once Andrew came along.
With all the Duke homers in the media, we could use a Michigan one in the college basketball scene.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^
And that's the only reason. I could not stand him before that. I thought he was just a loud mouth entertainer.
Now of course, he's a witty, insightful analyst.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
Remember that Fox owns 51% of the BTN. Not sure if the deal has been up for negotiation since 2007 but that might motivate Fox to spend big.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
I understand the ESPN hate, their commentary, bias, etc. is terrible. But ESPN is in another league when it comes to streaming and watching on mobile. It is unbelievably annoying that NBC sports live extra doesn't have native chromecast built-in yet (BTN2go desperately needs this too). IMO, I'd prefer ESPN until the other broadcasters can match watchESPN in capability/reliability.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:04 PM ^
Yeah, as someone who cut the cord a couple of years ago, I really appreciate being able to Chromecast any sports on the ABC network family.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:50 PM ^
NBC does seem to have the best quality HD.
I wouldn't mind Fox either but their graphics SUCK. The B1G Network graphics suck too. ESPN has that part down except for that odd experiment they did with the BCS bowls in which the graphic was a mini box in the corner. 
February 26th, 2015 at 6:19 PM ^
February 27th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^
It was clean, compact and still gave you all the information you needed.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^
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February 26th, 2015 at 6:17 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 4:54 PM ^
We don't get ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX on HD on Dish here, and so, please keep the B1G, ESPN!!!!
February 26th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^
I'd like to see the Big 10 get the most money for the conference. I tend to favor NBC or Fox over ESPN, but it doesn't matter that much to me.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:59 PM ^
Unless something has changed recently I disagree that NBC has the best HD. NBC is 1080i whereas ESPN / ABC are 720p. Despite it being a higher number, 720p is much better than 1080i -- especially for fast-paced action / sports.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:02 PM ^
I'll take CBS HD any day over Fox HD, but they're locked into the SEC.
For my money, I'll stick with the ESPN family of networks. But Fox having a huge stake in the BTN has to be a factor here.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
I'm not a fan of the way ESPN handles their "news/reporting" and their conference relationships, but this is where I think staying with ESPN is the best path forward.
ESPN intensified their worship of the SEC following their renewal, as it seemed that the network was trying to increase the value of the contract they had in place.
And regardless of how seemingly transparent ESPN is in favoring the product they present, we should use that to our advantage. The move B1G content on ESPN, the more they will promote the conference.
Additionally, for cord cutters, with ESPN on board the Sling TV plan, I'd like to keep that as a viable option as I work to convince the wife that we don't "need" cable.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^
because they are the most forward thinking w/r/t cord-cutting. I have slingTV right now, and that's not gonna have NBCSN or FOX1 any time soon.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^
Is this for football? Basketball? Both? I'm clueless, but I see references to both sports in this thread.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
Almost all HD looks amazing to me, but I also had a 27" tube TV that people came to MY apartment to watch big games whicle at Umich as it was the biggest TV any of us had...so I am old.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
I don't have cable. Don't even have an antenna right now, but that may have to change (Harbaugh.)
One thing that annoys me is how ESPN has completely taken over ABC sports. It's just weird to watch a football game on ABC & everything is branded ESPN.
Oh, and the whole thing where the national championship game isn't available unless you have cable is complete crap.
February 26th, 2015 at 7:11 PM ^
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February 26th, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 7:11 PM ^
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February 26th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^
I don't want NBC. They take more commercial breaks and the breaks seem to be longer. They do the same "commercial break, kickoff, commercial break" thing for ND that they do for the NFL.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:21 PM ^
Fox would be cool.
ESPN for all its faults is still the best choice
February 26th, 2015 at 9:27 PM ^
I prefer a network that is not a flagship NFL network like Fox and NBC are.
I hate the way both Fox and NBC cover college football . . . as if they are just killing time until the "real" games play on Sunday.
NBC wastes a large chunk of the ND halftimes pimping upcoming NFL games instead of telling us what is going on in the CFB world, and Fox insists on using retread NFL announcers, graphics, even the theme music . . . as if it wasn't worth it to come up with anything just for the CFB opening act.
If you are going to cover CFB, then cover it, and forget about everything else while you are doing it.
Love them or hate them, ESPN covers CFB with their undivided attention . . . from Game Day to noon games, to 3:30 games, to night games, to West Coast night games, to CFB Final, and then CFB-heavy Sports Center highlights after that. They treat it like it matters.
February 27th, 2015 at 4:37 AM ^
Fox and NBC put so little effort into CFB it's not even funny. They put mediocre talent in the booth for those games, and don't even change the introduction song from the NFL to College. I bet ESPN lands the deal.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^
A BigTen day followed by PAC12 at night would be an ideal Saturday. ESPN is too busy knobbing for the SEC now. BigTen is only an afterthought for them.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:31 PM ^
The most important thing to me is to be able to see Michgian first, and B1G games that impact us second.
ABC/ESPN has a lot of outlets that let that happen . . . ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN News, and ESPN360 on line.
I never miss any games now. I would not want to lose that if the Big Ten moves to Fox or NBC. Where would they put all the games?
February 26th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^
I would rather not give money to newscorp but that is another story.
February 26th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 9:19 PM ^
at least in my opinion. Honestly, it's not even close. And I'm talking FOX or Fox Sports 1 there --- BTN (51% FOX owned) is even worse.
I don't really watch ESPN outside actual games, their self-promotion and "yap yap yap yap yap about meaningless stuff" annoys me. But when it comes to the games themselves, they're still the best in my mind. So definitely stay with ESPN/ABC.