Sources familiar with negotiations said that the Big Ten Network and Time Warner Cable have reached an agreement in principle for carriage of the year-old cable network in time for this weekend’s Ohio State Buckeyes season opener against Youngstown State Saturday.
The deal calls for Time Warner to carry the channel on expanded basic on all of its systems in the eight-states where Big Ten schools operate. As recently as Friday, it looked as if an agreement wouldn’t be reached in time to broadcast the game.
‘’We have a handshake deal with Fox (the Big Ten Network’s partner) that will ensure that Time Warner customers will be able to watch the game this weekend,’’ said Bill Jasso, Time Warner’s vice president for government affairs and media relations. ‘’And ware are confident that we’ll reach a deal for carriage shortly.’’
BTN and Time Warner have been locked in a battle over the station since the network began. When Comcast, the nation’s top video provider reached a deal last spring, an agreement with Time Warner seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
That’s not been the case and in recent days negotiations had grown a bit contentious with both sides taking their respective cases to the media. In fact, Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith sent an open letter to Buckeyes fans advising them to switch video providers.
No details of the deal were available.