As we've talked about before, Comcast is being stupid heads about how they've decided to distribute the Pac-12 Network. Basically, you get the network if you're within the local West Coast regions on your regular tier (although the national network appears to be SD everywhere); it goes up a tier if you're in the state but out of the regions, and then it gets shown in some national tiers.
Emphasis on some.
These current markets are still in the dark with regards to Comcast: Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Memphis. That also includes all the states in which those cities are situated. There still remains no real concrete answer as to why Washington D.C. and Chicago (two of the biggest markets in the country with heavy populations of Pac-12 alums) were denied the channel.
We have no answer from Comcast, but we do have something better: Posturing! Comcast's rationalization for this is so old-school and so hideous.
Just stating the facts. 100% coverage in the PAC12 school territories and 2/3rds national coverage is certainly a bit better performance than some other video service providers.
Awesome. So, basically, their calculus is two-thirds is better than zero. Good thing they didn't figure out 1/3rds is better than zero and cut off the entire out-of-market areas.
As a Comcast customer, I'm already dreading how exactly they're going to roll out online streaming tomorrow. Can't wait for it to only be available to play on Real Player.