As negotiations continue between cable companies and the Big Ten Network, a bipartisan group of legislators want to introduce a bill to help out football fans around the state.
State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, and state Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, said in a statement that they intend to introduce a piece of legislation which would create an independent arbiter"" to select proposals between networks and cable companies, allowing viewers access to programs they want.
""We're not picking sides between the cable companies and the sports networks,"" Rhoades said in a statement. ""We are simply establishing a fair way to end these disputes so that our constituents are no longer shut out of programming they should have access to.""
Cable companies have previously stated that a deal has not been reached because adding the BTN would increase costs to cable subscribers overall, even those who do not want the network. BTN has stated it has reached agreements with other providers like satellite and is willing to achieve a deal.
