43
Ohio State, YSU will not be available to all
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
For the Armstrong cable subscribers hoping to stay home to catch tonight’s Ohio State opener, here’s your Marshall plan: FM radio.
For the fourth straight fall, Armstrong will not carry the Big Ten Network, meaning Ohio State and Youngstown State fans across the Valley will need to go elsewhere to watch their favorite teams’ openers.
The No. 2-ranked Buckeyes will open their season at home tonight against Marshall on BTN. The network will also carry Saturday’s YSU opener at Penn State.
When asked Wednesday if there was any chance for a miracle breakthrough in negotiations, BTN spokesperson Elizabeth Conlisk said, “Unfortunately, no.”
Added Armstrong spokesman David Wittman, whose company services much of Mahoning County: “No update on BTN at this time.”
Time Warner Cable, which services much of Trumbull County, does have the network on their basic cable package, as do digital providers such as DISH and DirecTV.
But, fearing increased costs, Armstrong has resisted adding BTN to its basic package, instead offering to put it on a digital tier.
BTN president Mark Silverman said agreeing to Armstrong’s terms would endanger its contracts with other providers. BTN would agree to go to a digital tier if two-thirds of Armstrong’s customers subscribed to the digital tier; currently, fewer than half do.
BTN has agreements with 98 percent of the cable companies in the Big Ten viewing area, including the two biggest, Comcast and Time Warner. WBBG-FM 106.1 will air tonight’s OSU-Marshall game.
Armstrong has completed an agreement with the NFL Network to offer NFL RedZone starting Sept. 12th. NFL RedZone will be available to Armstrong digital customers that have the Value Pack or Extra Pack. Those customers will also have access to a RedZone high definition channel if they are HD customers
Time Warner does not carry NFL Network.