There's only three days left until the Big Ten Network's scheduled launch, but Centre County's Comcast subscribers remain stuck listening to bickering officials and trying to find a place to watch Penn State's season opener Saturday.

Comcast supplies cable television to most of the Centre Region and is continuing to work toward a deal with Big Ten Network officials that would allow it to carry the network, said Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander.

However, it appears unlikely that Comcast will be carrying the network when it launches Thursday. Fox Cable Networks, a co-owner of the Big Ten Network, released a statement Friday predicting it would not reach an agreement with Comcast Communications before the launch.

"The fact is that Comcast is unwilling to negotiate with us, and it is now clear that it's highly unlikely any agreement will be achieved prior to launch," said Bob Thompson, president of Fox National Cable Sports Networks, in a statement. "Anyone who lives in an area serviced by Comcast who wants to make sure they don't miss a game had better make alternative plans."
Some State College and Lewisburg football fans received welcome news last week when D&E

Communications announced its subscribers would have access to the network. Its customers can access the network on Channel 68 as part of D&E Communications' expanded cable package, according to a statement released through Penn State.

It's unclear, though, how many off-campus students in State College D&E Communications serves. Garth Sprecher, a D&E spokesman, said he was unable to release any customer count data.

Comcast wants to make the Big Ten Network available to its customers as a part of its Sports Entertainment Pack, Alexander said. That way, he said, customers could choose to subscribe to the package if they were interested and not force Comcast to levy an additional fee.

Alexander also pointed out that the majority of Big Ten games are already carried on networks provided by Comcast -- such as ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

But a war of words continues to rage between the network and the cable provider.

"We're greatly disappointed," Fox's Thompson said in Friday's statement. "For many weeks now, representatives of Big Ten Network have said that our initial asking price is negotiable, but Comcast operatives continue to portray our position on this as intractable, which is false."

In response to the controversy, Roger Williams, Penn State's alumni association executive director, sent an e-mail message to 179,000 alumni to express support for the network.
"The alumni association is a huge advocate of the Big Ten Network," Williams said.

The message informed alumni about the situation revolving the network and also encouraged them to call their local cable provider to advocate the network, Williams said.

The Penn State football team's season opener against Florida International will be broadcast Saturday on the Big Ten Network, along with its Sept. 15 game against Buffalo. Another, yet-to-be determined, game will also be broadcast on the network, according to Penn State.

Most residence hall students will have access to the network, and it will be available in housing lounges and common areas, according to Penn State. Several sports bars and hotels in and around State College also plan to have the network available, according to a statement released last week by Penn State.