Sources: Comcast, Big Ten Netwrok ready to call a truce
Comcast and the Big Ten Network are prepared to put nearly two years of bitter negotiations aside to announce a long-term partnership, the Tribune has learned. "For all intents and purposes, it's done," one source close to the negotiations said Sunday. Technically, it's not done. But sources expect the deal will be completed and unveiled this week. The deal will nearly double the number of homes that can access the BTN, from 30 million to 55 million. In the eight-state Big Ten footprint, the number will surge from 6.5 million to about 13 million. That still leaves out about 5.5 million homes in the Midwest, but officials hope the Comcast deal will provide a framework for negotiations with prominent cable carriers Time Warner, Mediacom and Charter. The deal will be a boon to all parties, not to mention Chicago and its 1.8 million Comcast subscribers.
-- Chicago Tribune
Only two years later. Thanks, a-holes!
