Comcast to Drop BTN
I just dropped DirecTV and replaced it with Youtube TV. I'm saving $110 / month and have it has BTN along with every other channel that I watch except the NHL Network. I will say that I spent about 6 hours and 3 trips to Best Buy trying to get it working, but that's probably an indication of my age rather than the actual difficulty of the system. Anyway, I highly recommend Youtube TV.
Where do you live? I would love to give YouTube TV a try, but unfortunately it's not available in all areas. I have PS Vue instead and haven't had many issues with it.
If you don't want to cut your cords, call comcast and tell them you are switching to whatever competitor they may have in your area (I know this is almost an empty threat given the ridiculous regional monopoly cable providers have --- aside -- sent a letter to the FCC about this as well). Tell them you are going to streaming or whatever, UNLESS, they add back BTN. If all of you do this, they will add back BTN.
I can't tell you how many times the treat of leaving comcast has netted me a $30 dollar voucher for this or that. Just complain at them with threats of leaving, and they'll fold.
like this news...sux
Fuck Comcast. But I'm still not paying for BTN :Plus.
I'm a young dude who actually just bought a house last week, and I was wondering what to do for cable and internet. If Comcast is dropping BTN, they're going to be a firm "no".
I know next to nothing about YouTube TV. Would I be able to watch all of our games on it? Michigan sports is pretty much the only thing I watch on TV. I couldn't care less about any other channels and would like to go cheap.
Yes, it has every channel that Michigan plays on.
April 13th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
Whatever happened to cable company's going to ala carte where you can order the channels you want and you don't get stuck with all the Home shopping, news, and other meaningless channels?
All the executives have stock options, which means they're incentivized to short-term profits at the expense of long-term success. And they've decided they can wring more money out of subscribers in the short term by forcing old ladies to pay for ESPN and by forcing you to pay for HSN.
Never mind that because of this business model, the vast majority of consumers are going to switch to streaming in the next 5-10 years; by that point they will have cashed out.
NBC Universal bickering about how much they'll pay?
I get these guys posturing in this sort of dispute. But actually dropping the network doesn't seem like a wise move to me.
Sports fans want their sports. So folk will move away from Comcast while finding another way to get BTN, and those folk likely don't ever come back.
Looks like comcast isn't dropped in the midwest. At least from the context of this convo. I will say that it is impossible to get a coherent answer for them (and this is after a few messages) and it appears they may have outsources their customer support on twitter. EDIT*** JUST KIDDING
....claims it will be back, that they are in negotiations with BTN.
Of course, they've been doing rolling removals since January, so who knows if that's the right story.
At any rate, if you call/chat with them and tell them you're cancelling because they don't have BTN, that may move "negotiations" along a bit.
Luckily my contract with Comcast will expire before football season. They have a few months to fix this or it is back to WoW. Would really prefer to stick with Comcast as WoW is trying to make their service look exactly like Comcast.. its just clunckier with more errors.
Sometimes the cord cutting stuff makes me scratch my head. It seems people are still paying a decent amount of money for it. After paying the cable folk for your high speed internet then paying whichever streaming service you use it seems that you are really only saving 30-50 dollars a month. I guess Im just the market willing to pay 120 instead of 80 for ease of use, DVR, less hassle, more channels etc.
I addressed that above.
If you ever compare the quality of the cable/satellite signal vs internet streaming, your eyes will freak out. It's so much smoother on cable/sat.
You are at the mercy of the uploader, no matter how strong your signal is.
I'm ok with this. My buddy (OSU fan - I'm in WA and end up with an OSU fan as one of my best friends) lets me use his Directv log in to watch BTN.
Wasn't easy at first.
Hey look, I'm at 5000 points! Only took 8-1/2 years.
What an absolutely screw job. I kinda feel bad for the lady that got an ear full, I know she’s not the one fucking customers over.
Yeah comcast looks like it's doing the contract thing (like UVERSE). I am moving and can only get comcast... They want a 2 year deal...
DirecTV Now - $10/month for 3 months
Includes BTN
Not as good as PSVue, but for $10? Works just fine.
As much as I hate Comcast, doesn't this further call into question the wisdom of Delaney's East Coast boondoggle? If the nation's largest cable operator thinks BTN isn't worth it in the heart of the Big Ten's traditional footprint, why would they think it's worth it in a region with lukewarm enthusiasm for college football (let alone mediocre programs like Rutgers and Maryland)?
It's just a negotiating trick. Comcast is based in Philly and that area loves them some PSU.
Also, Maryland's basketball stadium is called the "Comcast Center". It's just negotiations.
However, I hope it actually happens and forces the B1G to offer a subscription plan via their app.
This does seem to be just regional. The Chicago area appears to be safe for now, but like people have stated above, this is most likely a negotiation ploy to speed things up. The same thing happend with HBO last summer in the Chicago area for a hot minute. So in other words, enjoy the nice weather and don't worry about another airing of the BTN Classic Michigan vs Florida bowl game.
2 days ago...will be switching to AT & T b4 foorball season...They Dropped BTN and they Dropped me as well...Stupid decision...Im sure Im not the only one who can switch
I have Cox here in central Oklahoma, and I have BTN, but in order to get it, I need to pay for extra services, and BTN come bundled with the SEC network, PAC 12 network and several other channels / networks I have no desire to watch.
I just called Comcast 888-266-2278, chose the prompt for Add Channels. The rep said she would forward the request keep/add BTN to the powers that be. You will need to have the last four digits of the account holder's SSN. Since the request is for each account, everyone needs to call in on their own.
We live in Commerce Township. She said BTN is slated to be removed May 9 and 10.
Wife did a chat with Comcast for Minneapolis area. They said:
Using X1 voice remote say "YouTube" to launch the app's search engine. Once inside the YouTube app, use the arrow keys on your reote to enter the search box and type in the words "Big Ten Network" and then hit Ok.
Sounds crazy - hope just a negotiating ploy. I pay too much to go through this BS.
for just internet? I've done a little bit of checking around but haven't bothered too much because I'm pretty much limited to Comcast in my area. I would love to just drop them outright and stream off another ISP.
Welp, this makes my cable decision all the more easy to make. Been thinking about dumping this garbage for a while now, this seals it.
They have been correcting earlier explanations/responses on twitter:
The out-of-market Big Ten Network feed, which was carried on the Sports & Entertainment package in non-Big Ten states, was dropped. The Big Ten Network in-market feed, available to customers in Big Ten states in their regular channel line-up, will continue to be available. -MSA
Hi, thanks for your inquiry. We are only dropping the Big Ten network for out of market locations, not in states/markets where Big Ten schools are located. Hope this helps. -JR
— ComcastCares (@comcastcares) April 12, 2018
On a quick glance, I don’t see any service that offers all the channels we need. This sucks.
ESPN
BTN
Fox Sports
Food Network
Cartoon Network
AMC
USA
Nickelodeon