I know, I know, you heard rumblings that a deal could be close all of last season. Meanwhile, you grew tired of the posturing from both sides and got a dish or switched to RCN because you wanted to see Eric Gordon and D.J. White from the comfort of your living room instead of a bar stool. I don’t blame you.

According to a report late last night by Teddy Greinstein of The Chicago Tribune, a deal between Comcast and the Big Ten Network should be announced this week:

Comcast, which had been losing customers to DirecTV, the Dish Network and RCN Cable, will have video-on-demand features that will allow customers to access their favorite team’s greatest games and replays of condensed, “snap-to-snap” games, according to sources.

The BTN completed the deal without caving on its central demand: that the channel be placed on expanded basic, rather than a sports tier, in the eight-state footprint. Only Philadelphia will be excluded.

So not only will Comcast carry the Big Ten Network, they’re going to have some on-demand features and condensed games for your viewing pleasure. Probably not enough to get you to climb up on your roof and take down the dish, but for those of you still left in the dark due to this fiasco, this is good news. Better late than never, right?

In a partnership that will no doubt lead to decades of Big Ten athletic domination over lesser conference specimens (right), the Big Ten Network and Comcast appear to have reached a deal. According to the Sports Business Journal, Comcast will launch the network on expanded basic throughout most of the Big Ten area, while in some areas, like Philadelphia, the channel will be available on digital basic.

While it looks like Comcast is getting the win — after all, the Big Ten Network’s original pitch was that it deserved to be alongside ESPN and Comcast Sports Net as basic programming for everyone — the bottom line is that IU fans will be able to see games they’ve missed this year. That’s no doubt a good thing, even if you’re stuck paying for 12 or 14 extra channels you’ll never use once.

Those of you stuck in a Comcast-only market, I’m sure you’re eager to get your greasy paws on the BTN. Little do you know that all you’ll really be getting, besides the games, is a mess of boring production, blue graphics, Shon Morris, Dave Revsine, Tim Dolan, Big Ten’s Greatest Games (a feature not nearly as interesting as its name) and various women’s competitions. So, you know, get hyped.

I’ve recently solved my Big Ten Network and HDTV absences, and I’m looking forward to enjoying tonight’s game in the blue-green glow of my living room for the first time. But what of you who still can’t get the Big Ten Network on your local cable? Comcast and Insight are still no closer to dealing with the BTN than a month ago, and thousands of viewers are thus left packing bars or switching to to dish services, same as before.

I bring this up not to rub it in your face — I would never do that! — but to point out that someone in power cares too. A story in today’s Star notes that state representative Scott Reske plans to introduce legislation which might force cable companies to accept arbitration somewhere down the line:

“People are frustrated because they don’t have input on their programming,” Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton said. “There needs to be some way of arbitrating this. That’s what I’m proposing — not to dictate anything, but to resolve this. People are demanding it.”

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said he’s sympathetic with fans who are missing games but disagrees with government intervention. Long said he wants to “let the free market operate.”
“It will benefit consumers more than if we try to control everything,” Long said.

Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, who teaches telecommunications policy at Indiana University, is skeptical about the legislature’s power in this situation.

“All these issues are basically under the purview of congress and the FCC,” Pierce said. “As much as legislators would like their constituents to know we care, the fact is we don’t have power to do much about it.”

While a nice thought, Reske’s proposed legislation is not only sort of feckless in and of itself — If you don’t do what we say, we’ll … um … make you keeping talking to each other? Yeah! — but the legislature likely has little power in this arena anyway.

So Reske scores a few cheap political points of the “I feel your pain” vein, while a majority of viewers remain left in the same predicament as before: Dish Network, DirecTV, a milieu of regional cable networks, or no IU basketball. Choose wisely, ITH-ers: your dollars are your votes. Milton Friedman would be proud.

Big Ten men’s basketball media day is tomorrow afternoon in Chicago, so until then, I’ve got the following to hold you over…

- Everyone’s favorite cable provider, Comcast, announced yesterday that their third quarter earnings went straight into the toilet. If you’ve been forced to switch to a satellite provider due to Comcast’s reluctance to include the Big Ten Network on their basic package, you’re probably not feeling the least bit sorry for them. For those behind on the times, E had a nice take on the whole ordeal a couple months back. {Comcast Must Die}

- The Hoosiers held their open practice yesterday and as usual, the Hoosier Scoop was right on top of it. For those of you who went, I’m interested in hearing what you took away from watching line drills. {The Hoosier Scoop}

- Lance Stephenson, the uber-talented 2009 guard from Brooklyn, NY, is visiting Kansas this weekend. {The Topeka Capital-Journal}

- Speaking of Stephenson, those of you in the Southern Indiana area will have a chance to check him out December 7 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Stephenson and his Lincoln high teammates will play destroy Louisville St. Xavier in the All-American Shootout. {C-J Recruiting Blog}

- CBS Sports announced their schedule for the upcoming hoops season and IU will be featured six times. Kentucky and Ohio State lead the way with seven games each. {TV Week}

- And finally (a few days old, but better late than never, right?), the Big Ten Network has announced their studio hosts for hoops and our old friend Gene Keady is joining the fray. Is it possible that he’ll look worse than Lou Holtz in HD? {Big Ten Network}

Via FanHouse comes Brian Cook’s tale of inexplicable stupidity in the war between Comcast Cable and the Big Ten Network for the hearts of minds of Big Ten fans everywhere. Whatever genius PR firm Comcast currrently employs decided to get down to the nitty and do some astroturf marketing … and any fan will have a brain will see right through it. The sample message, from Michigan State’s Scout.com equivalent:

I’m a big fan of State sports so I went to the Big 10 Network’s kick-off party in East Lansing last week. Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delaney was there telling everybody how great this new TV package is going to be for college football and b-ball fans. WHAT A CROCK! Delaney is like the emperor who wore no clothes…the BTC has already sold its best games to ABC and ESPN. How delusional is Delaney and these other Big 10 greedmongers who want to charge us for the games we’d be able to see on our local cable station? If you want to learn more about the Big 10’s big time rip off, I found a web site that explains a lot… www.puttingfansfirst.org

VICTORY FOR MSU!!!

Riiiiiiight. This would be obvious just for its blatant threadjacking potential, but what really takes the cake is that these posts are all coming from brand new posters. They’ve popped up on Northwestern and Michigan’s Rivals sites, too. It’s so obvious, so poorly constructed as some marketer’s idea of a Big Ten message board troll, it’s an insult to Big Ten message board trolls everywhere.

Which brings us all back to the BTN vs. Cable debate in the first place, one on which I’m slowly beginning to side with the Big Ten Network. In a place like Chicago, or Indianapolis, or Detroit, the Big Ten Network has just as much of a right to be tacked on to basic cable the Food Network, or Home and Garden, or the Travel Channel, or any number of other small-share cable stations that raise our basic price every year. East Coast networks? Put it on a sports tier, or make people subscribe to DirecTV. But it might be time for Comcast’s midwest affiliates to shape up and give the BTN a spot on its basic system, and end the pissing contest already. Or banish Rachel Ray forever. It’s Comcast’s choice.