Ohio State Takes on Time Warner

Of all the places one might have thought the Big Ten Network would have trouble gaining a deal with cable companies, Ohio would have been way down the list.

This is Buckeye country, after all—a state where Ohio State is more beloved (and rightfully so) than either the Cleveland Browns or the Cincinnati Bengals. Ohio State game days in Ohio are true events.

Which is why it’s so surprising that the Big Ten has yet to be able to strike a carriage deal with Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable carrier in Ohio. Negotiations aren’t going well, and there seems to be little confidence among Big Ten officials that any agreement will be reached before the start of the season next week.

And so, this week, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith took the drastic—but, in my opinion, completely justified—step of sending a mass email to Ohio State fans, encouraging them to drop Time Warner in favor of the other providers that are offering the Big Ten Network.

Smith’s savvy move made waves throughout Big Ten country, and also seemed to shock Time Warner, which quickly issued a statement saying that negotiations were actually moving along just fine and that the company was ready to carry the Big Ten Network.

So the question now is simple: What, exactly, will come of Smith’s clever maneuver?

It’s hard to say. But clearly, Smith has put some serious heat on Time Warner. Otherwise, the company wouldn’t have moved so quickly to respond.

Here’s my take: Ohio football fans love Ohio State football. They love it more than pretty much anything else. And so they want access to the Buckeye games on the Big Ten Network.

They want that access now.

Which is why I think Time Warner will either give in soon, and make the Big Ten Network available in Ohio, or lose a whole lot of customers.

And if that happens, the company will have nobody to blame but itself.