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August 21, 2007

Comcast Rolls Out The Astroturf

We all know that sports leagues don't want anything bad said about them on television. And the TV channels that broadcast the games usually oblige -- witness the aborted question about Bud Selig to Barry Bonds during the MLB All-Star Game. But leagues are beginning to start their own channels -- NBA TV, NFL Network, Major Indoor Soccer League TV -- and the colleges are getting into it, too.

As such, the Big Ten Network has been in a public "feud" with local media giant Comcast for the past few months. The BTN wants its channel to be a basic cable channel, because I really need to see Ohio State indoor track (which they probably won't show anyway). Comcast doesn't want to put the Big Ten Network on basic cable, because the company is interested in keeping costs down for its customers. (I don't even need to put "Ha ha, just kidding!" after that last sentence.)

Comcast, as such, apparently hired a media company to astroturf lobby for it. Posts similar to this one started showing up on messageboards about Big Ten schools from posters who had just registered:

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!!!

Unsurprisingly, and since this almost exact wording showed up on several different websites, people eventually figured out the posts were coming from the IP address of Martin Waymire Advocacy Communications, which probably was just doing it out of the goodness of its heart and not because Comcast paid them or anything.

I would, however, not recommend hiring Martin Waymore Advocacy Communications. Hell, I'd do a better job for half the cost.

Comcast Posing as Big Ten Fans in Anti-BTN Astroturfing Campaign [AOL Fanhouse via Deadspin]

Posted by D-Mac on August 21, 2007 01:00 PM
Posted to Astroturfing , Comcast , Football

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There is no such thing as Major Indoor Soccer League TV. Now the MISL sells their broadcast rights to Versus but it did'nt change it's name to Major Indoor Soccer League TV as part of the deal. The #1 league MLS sells it's rights to HDNet, ESPN, Univision and Fox Soccer Channel but doesn't have it's own network called Major League Soccer TV.

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August 21, 2007

Comcast Rolls Out The Astroturf

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