I am standing with the cable companies on this (the only time I am on their side). Both the NFL Network and The Big Ten Network want everyone subscribing to basic cable to pay $1.50 a month, and thgat isnt fair to many non sports fans. If they insist on being in the basic tier they should charge 25 cents per subscriber to the cable co, who can offset that with ads. They want $1.50, go on a sports tier where those who want it will pay for it.
The Big 10 network had 1 Badger game that I wanted to see, but I'm not paying $18 a year for that one game. There are enough games on Espn, FSN, ABC etc. Big 10 basketball? No thanks.