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Comcast drops the BTN network

Limestone_Lion said:
And there goes my money to Comcast. What a load of Shit... I guess its time to cut the cord, finally. Direct TV Now has this (among others), and will be looking into this all... Is there anything to act as a DVR? I know about Tivo, but it seems very expensive
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DirecTV has the genie, which you can use with any of your receivers. I’ve had DirecTV for the last few years and have been very happy with it. People talk about losing reception during storms, but I haven’t seen much of it. You may lose HD channels, but you usually can still go to a low def channel and keep watching.

Last year during the hurricane here in FL, I was watching TV up until the power went out. When the power came back on, my TV was fine, while others in my neighborhood lost their cable signal for several days.
 
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Beachwineguy said:
DirecTV has the genie, which you can use with any of your receivers. I’ve had DirecTV for the last few years and have been very happy with it. People talk about losing reception during storms, but I haven’t seen much of it. You may lose HD channels, but you usually can still go to a low def channel and keep watching.

Last year during the hurricane here in FL, I was watching TV up until the power went out. When the power came back on, my TV was fine, while others in my neighborhood lost their cable signal for several days.
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I meant the internet based streaming service. I plan on checking out both, but thats really good to know. They sent me a letter in the mail stating $35/month for the first year to switch to their service, so I will absolutely check that out
 
I've got Comcast at one place and Spectrum at the other. I have found Spectrum easier to deal with (not easy, easier), cheaper, and we get more channels from Spectrum for a bit for less money for similar levels of service (both include phone, TV and 5G wifi)
 
retsio said:
I just finished a long conversation with Comcast (a big mistake) --

#1 -- As of April 10, Comcast has dropped the BTN channel from all areas outside of the Big Ten footprint
#2 -- As of May 10, Comcast will drop the BTN channel from the Big Ten footprint
#3 -- The BTN channel will not be brought back to the channel lineup.
#4 -- It has been eliminated from all accounts from lack of views.

This is the only information they are making available at this time. I guess NBC does not like FOX.

Unbelievable !
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Whatever the actual real situation is, it's crazy that cable companies would drop live sports channels since it is about the only real draw left for cable over streaming services. If you are okay paying $150-200 for internet and TV and they drop access to a key sports channel, it makes it easy to get a high bandwidth internet contract and get Netflix(<$10/ mos), Amazon Prime($99 a year), and Hulu ($6/ mos) and get the $40/ mos LIVE service from Hulu/PSVue/Youtube to get the sports channels you want in season.
The only thing I miss from having cable is the convenience of simply turning on the TV and hitting a favorite channel/news/music/etc to watch passively while doing something else or for just a few minutes. Selecting a program is now an active choice that requires thought and input. On the plus side, I now watch less TV so I have no regrets.
 
Relayer said:
We switched to Verizon FiOS 10 years ago and haven't looked back.
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Just to let you know ... I thought this was ridiculous of a post. Till I checked my bill. It's on there. Last page.


Xfinity TV Changes Effective May 10, 2018: The Weather


Channel will only be available on Expanded Basic, Family Tier

and new Sports & News tier; Cartoon Network will only be

available on Digital Preferred and new Kids & Family tier; Disney

Channel will only be available on Expanded Basic, Family Tier

and Kids & Family tier; TruTV will only be available on

Expanded Basic; Food Network will only be available on

Expanded Basic, Family Tier and new Entertainment tier.

The following channels will be added to Digital Economy: BBC

America, BBC World News, Bloomberg, Hallmark Movies &

Mysteries and Smithsonian. Big Ten Network and WFN will no

longer be available. WBPH will be added ch 18/HD 1060; TBN

will move from ch 18 to ch 290 and will no longer be available

on ch 1048.

(Third to last line)
 
Comcast sucks.

It appears that Hulu Live TV has added live streaming for my local ABC and Fox affiliate. Makes the choice that much easier.
 
For people looking for a different option. I have Dish and do the Flex Pack programming. Right now I’m only paying 50.00 for TV but don’t get BTN or ESPN. I’ll upgrade for football season and my bill will jump up to around 100.00 for America’s Top 120. Then when football season is over I’ll drop back down to a more bare bones package. Saves me money and I don’t watch sports outside of Penn State and maybe some other college games if it’s a good match-up. Not a huge NFL fan.
 
psualum10 said:
Just to let you know ... I thought this was ridiculous of a post. Till I checked my bill. It's on there. Last page.


Xfinity TV Changes Effective May 10, 2018: The Weather


Channel will only be available on Expanded Basic, Family Tier

and new Sports & News tier; Cartoon Network will only be

available on Digital Preferred and new Kids & Family tier; Disney

Channel will only be available on Expanded Basic, Family Tier

and Kids & Family tier; TruTV will only be available on

Expanded Basic; Food Network will only be available on

Expanded Basic, Family Tier and new Entertainment tier.

The following channels will be added to Digital Economy: BBC

America, BBC World News, Bloomberg, Hallmark Movies &

Mysteries and Smithsonian. Big Ten Network and WFN will no

longer be available. WBPH will be added ch 18/HD 1060; TBN

will move from ch 18 to ch 290 and will no longer be available

on ch 1048.

(Third to last line)
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I live in the Pittsburgh area and my bill has a similar statement regarding changes, but it does not mention the BigTen Network. I have contacted Comcast Customer Service by email and await a reply.

COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS BOARD: I began posting here Tuesday and have been very respectful in my posts. Today I posted twice and now, every time I try I get this message:

BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Error
As a free user, there is a limit to how many messages you can post at once. Please wait a while and try again or pay for a subscription!

Now, I cannot understand this. I have seen trolls come here and post 20 times in an hour. I am not a troll as my posts show. This, however, tells me I am not wanted here so I am gone. I'm not sure anyone will read this since it's an edit of my original post, but it's the only way I can get through. DoWopper out.
 
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Lots of folks gonna miss the Blue White game (though I think it's going to be available at gopsusports.com).
 
MJG-90 said:
Calm down folks. I just discussed with a Comcast sales rep I happen to know quite well. He said, off the record, people in PA "may" see BTN moved to a different tier. But it's not going away. And even the move to a different tier is not a done deal.

I have a close family member high up in the Xfinity world. I'll try to get more info from him in the next few days. I'll provide updates as I get them.
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Vermilion said:
Actually, every six months or so I call Comcast surrounding my "bundled" services (phone, internet, cable t.v.) and they always lower my rate $20-$30 per call when I question the costs of each service. They always seem to have some sort of "special promotion" that allows me to save some money....
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$20-$30 lower every six months? It should be almost free by now!
 
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Nitt1300 said:
I've got Comcast at one place and Spectrum at the other. I have found Spectrum easier to deal with (not easy, easier), cheaper, and we get more channels from Spectrum for a bit for less money for similar levels of service (both include phone, TV and 5G wifi)
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You might be the first person I've heard speak positively about Spectrum since the TWC acquisition. Here in Austin they are gouging the hell out of customers. Their pricing is worse than Time Warner's ever was, and Spectrum has shown no willingness to play the annual pricing renegotiation game that most other cable companies do, leading to me paying full retail prices all the time despite me being a TWC/Spectrum customer for 15+ years. Also they have started messing with channel tiers and put some popular channels on high tiers, forcing customers to get an expensive package just for 1-2 channels. They have dropped Comedy Central completely after arguments over subscriber fees. I'm going to be dropping them as soon as I clear out my DVR backlog, I've had enough. Unfortunately they are the only ISP at my home to over speeds > 50Mpbs so I'm going to have to sacrifice the speeds I had for years, but at this point I'm willing to do it because I'm fed up with them.
 
retsio said:
I just finished a long conversation with Comcast (a big mistake) --

#1 -- As of April 10, Comcast has dropped the BTN channel from all areas outside of the Big Ten footprint
#2 -- As of May 10, Comcast will drop the BTN channel from the Big Ten footprint
#3 -- The BTN channel will not be brought back to the channel lineup.
#4 -- It has been eliminated from all accounts from lack of views.

This is the only information they are making available at this time. I guess NBC does not like FOX.

Unbelievable !
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Does the BTN offer a stand alone streaming channel (for a fee)
 
First, I wouldn't trust Comcast to give you the strait poop so who knows what happened. Low viewership? IDK.

I think we are going to see more of this as people cut the chord and the service providers deal with a shrinking revenue stream. What to cut and what not to cut?

there is always BTN2GO. It is the future...get High Speed internet and stream everything.
 
I wonder if Comcast is doing this as a negotiating ploy with the intent of getting the channel back in lineup prior to the fall.
 
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My wife works for Comcast corporate in Philly and as you can imagine I know a bunch of people who work there who can get info on this situation. I will try to find out what's going on.

It's hard for me to imagine they would drop BTN. It is actually pretty rare they drop channels.
 
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Posted this on another site but ill repeat it here:

I called Comcast back again. I had someone read me word for word from the in office notification that they all received regarding Big Ten Network.

To summarize, because of apps and streaming they're losing viewers. Because there's not enough viewers actually watching it on tv, there is a decision to cut it nationally. It will be cut whether or not the notification is on your bill.

Central Division - January 11th
West Division - April 12th
North/East Division - May 9th - 10th
 
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Agoodnap said:
Here are my hints on keeping cable somewhat under control. Assuming you have a spouse or some other life partner, make sure that any contract is in ONE name only. These companies love new customers and treat existing customers like pariah. So, when your contract is up and you shop around you'll be able to get the latest "new" customer deals from your existing service provider by cancelling your current service and signing up for new service under the other persons name.

Then, assuming you don't need multiple DVR's, get a Roku device for each additional TV. You'll only need need box to rent, and the Roku's cost about $50 each so the payback is usually 2 - 4 months per device depending on the service provider.

If you have a land line through the same service provide you may need to fight to keep the same phone number when changing cancelling service and taking out new service, but it's worth the fight or better yet, get rid of the land line...you don't need it.
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Or avoid all this and just get Direct TV.
 
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The channel guide is specific to your zip code. So sounds like in Fla.BTN is gone completely. In Pa. there is no change at least yet.

You can't buy standalone BTN streaming -- you have to buy it as part of a packge. I think the cheapest streaming plan that includes BTN right now is YouTube TV for $35 (if it's offered in your market). DirecTVnow has BTN as part of its $40 tier as does Hulu for about the same price.

The advantage of buying a streaming package over getting BTN in your cable plan is that there are no contracts and you can subscribe/unsubscribe.

Plus all the streaming services have free trials for a week.

I skated by last year without any BTN at all by just using the free trials.

There aren't that many PSU football games broadcast on BTN any more -- the networks are carrying more of them now that PSU is a top 10 program.

The rare games carried by ESPN/ESPN2 -- now you can subscribe to ESPN's streaming service for $5 a month.

All this is not good for Comcast I think. I'm sure Comcast would prefer a system that lets subscribers choose the channels they want -- but Comcast is bound by contracts with all the TV providers to only sell cable in big bundles.
 
tboyer said:
The channel guide is specific to your zip code. So sounds like in Fla.BTN is gone completely. In Pa. there is no change at least yet.

You can't buy standalone BTN streaming -- you have to buy it as part of a packge. I think the cheapest streaming plan that includes BTN right now is YouTube TV for $35 (if it's offered in your market). DirecTVnow has BTN as part of its $40 tier as does Hulu for about the same price.

The advantage of buying a streaming package over getting BTN in your cable plan is that there are no contracts and you can subscribe/unsubscribe.

Plus all the streaming services have free trials for a week.

I skated by last year without any BTN at all by just using the free trials.

There aren't that many PSU football games broadcast on BTN any more -- the networks are carrying more of them now that PSU is a top 10 program.

The rare games carried by ESPN/ESPN2 -- now you can subscribe to ESPN's streaming service for $5 a month.

All this is not good for Comcast I think. I'm sure Comcast would prefer a system that lets subscribers choose the channels they want -- but Comcast is bound by contracts with all the TV providers to only sell cable in big bundles.
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ESPN just started their own standalone streaming service, so I bet the pressure is on BTN to offer something similar.
 
Are they doing the same to the SEC and PAC 12 networks?

If true, someone needs to ask Delaney how he feels now about adding Maryland and Rutgers.
 
tboyer said:
The channel guide is specific to your zip code. So sounds like in Fla.BTN is gone completely. In Pa. there is no change at least yet.

You can't buy standalone BTN streaming -- you have to buy it as part of a packge. I think the cheapest streaming plan that includes BTN right now is YouTube TV for $35 (if it's offered in your market). DirecTVnow has BTN as part of its $40 tier as does Hulu for about the same price.

The advantage of buying a streaming package over getting BTN in your cable plan is that there are no contracts and you can subscribe/unsubscribe.

Plus all the streaming services have free trials for a week.

I skated by last year without any BTN at all by just using the free trials.

There aren't that many PSU football games broadcast on BTN any more -- the networks are carrying more of them now that PSU is a top 10 program.

The rare games carried by ESPN/ESPN2 -- now you can subscribe to ESPN's streaming service for $5 a month.

All this is not good for Comcast I think. I'm sure Comcast would prefer a system that lets subscribers choose the channels they want -- but Comcast is bound by contracts with all the TV providers to only sell cable in big bundles.
Click to expand...

PlayStation Vue offers the BTN on their 'Core' streaming package (and yes, there is a five day free trial available) for $44.95 a month. You can see their other tiers and channels available here:

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/channels/?emcid=pa-vu-111688
 
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