I had been looking forward to enjoying the Big Ten Network even before I moved to Champaign. In hindsight, I guess it was a mistake to assume that the Insight would carry the Big Ten Network, considering that a Big Ten university is the very lifeblood of its coverage area.

On a side note, I find it odd that Insight would refuse to carry the Big Ten Network even though its chief satellite rival, DirecTV, has signed on. That doesn’t strike me as being great business sense. If the cable provider’s goal in all of this is to lose customers to satellite, they are on a fast track to success.

It is possible that Insight may want to carry BTN, but simply may not want to offer it as part of their expanded basic package, which means it will be a premium channel charging an additional fee to customers who want it.

I don’t have an extra $10.00 a month to shell out for a channel that should be included as part of my basic cable service, and I would bet that most of my fellow U of I students don’t either.

Another element to ponder is why Insight has agreed to carry BTN in areas of Indiana and Ohio, but not here, in a Big Ten university town, no less. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they have no cable competitor here? Hmmm …

Insight has really dropped the ball (no pun intended). What’s more, the company doesn’t seem thrilled about continuing negotiations with Big Ten officials, according to a letter to the University community from Athletic Director Ron Guenther.

The silver lining in all of this is that BTN officials don’t seem to be letting up on the negotiations.

Abram Book

Graduate student