By Associated Press and Pantagraph staff

This should be a banner year for the Big Ten Conference. The problem is few may get a chance to see it. The Big Ten’s new television network is struggling to reach agreements with the biggest cable providers in the Midwest, and the clock is ticking on the Sept. 1 openers.

Like many major cable providers, Insight Communications, which serves the Bloomington-Normal market, is no closer to reaching a deal with the conference than it was a month ago.

Negotiations between the fledgling network and the cable providers still are ongoing, but “we’re at the same impasse that we were before,” said Insight spokesman John Niebur.

Niebur said Insight is prepared to allow the Sept. 1 launch date pass without a deal.

“We have to be able to do that,” he said. “We have to watch out for our business, and I don’t think there’s a major cable operator in the country that has given in to their demands.”

If the Big Ten Network is included in an expanded cable package, the monthly cost would increase by about $1 a month for all cable subscribers.

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