The much-publicized Big Ten Network (BTN) is scheduled to debut next month. Don't expect to see it on any of the cable outlets in the Pittsburgh region.

The conference is pushing hard to find a place on basic cable systems, which are the lowest priced, throughout its geographical boundaries but it's meeting with stiff resistance. The problem, according to industry experts, is the asking price is too high.

Industry giant Comcast, which has 5.7 million customers in eight states with Big Ten schools, has rejected the BTN, which is asking $1.10 per month per customer for programming that will be mostly minor sports with a handful of second-rate football games. Most or all of that price will be passed along to subscribers.

Locally, only ESPN and FSN Pittsburgh charge more on the basic cable package and both offer significantly better and more programming.

The cable industry might be more willing to listen to the BTN if it were willing to accept a place on a higher tier, where customers who didn't want to pay the price could opt out without losing their basic package.

In a press release, Comcast ripped the Big Ten Network's attempt to strong-arm its way into the basic cable package.

"Indiana basketball fans don't want to watch Iowa volleyball, but the Big Ten wants everyone to pay for their new network," Comcast said in the release.

Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen, in a letter to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, said his company would like to carry the network but not if it meant sticking customers with "a burdensome Big Ten tax."

David Whitman, the director of cable marketing for Armstrong, the region's second-leading provider, said, "We realize that a portion of our customer base is very interested in Big Ten athletics and we'll continue to negotiate with the Big Ten Network for a reasonable deal."

For such a deal to materialize, the BTN will have to be willing to make major concessions.

As presented by the conference, the BTN sounds enticing: 35 football games, 105 men's basketball games, a nightly studio show, more than 170 Olympic sporting events.

But a look inside the package is disappointing. Two of the three Penn State football games to be carried, for example, are against Florida International and Buffalo. A third is likely to be Indiana.

The Big Ten is in a long-term deal with ABC and ESPN and those networks get first call on the vast majority of conference football games.

Glory days

If your best baseball memories stretch back to the most recent time the Pirates were winners, you don't want to miss the FSN spotlight series on the 1990, '91 and '92 Pirates. The three shows ran on consecutive nights last week. They all run again tomorrow for 90 minutes beginning at 8 p.m. Even if you don't remember those special days, it's well worth the watch.

Narrator Rob King has done a superlative job in capturing the fun and the flavor of those teams, all of which won division titles but lost in the National League Championship Series.

It's all there -- from heartwarming to heartbreaking -- from Jim Leyland chewing out Barry Bonds in spring training to Andy Van Slyke sitting dejectedly in center field after the Atlanta Braves won Game 7 of the 1992 LCS in the bottom of the ninth.

King interviewed many of the key components of that likely never-to-be replicated run -- Leyland, Van Slyke, Bob Walk, Jay Bell, Doug Drabek, Stan Belinda and Lloyd McClendon, along with Bobby Cox and John Smoltz of the Braves.

In a rare bit of footage, Bonds and Van Slyke -- two guys who definitely did not like each other -- are seen running off the field, smiling and laughing, with first Van Slyke's arm around Bonds' shoulder and then the two players slapping palms.

It's terrific TV.

All-Star ratings

Ratings for the All-Star Game were a mixed bag for Fox. The ratings were down 9.7 percent from last year and were the second lowest since the network began carrying the game in 1997.

On the plus side, the game gave Fox the highest-rated night of prime time on any network since the "American Idol" finale May 23.

Of particular note, especially to those who consider baseball a dying sport, the 12.5 million viewers the game averaged was roughly the same as the combined audiences of the Pro Bowl and the NBA and NHL all-star games.

The game was a dud in Pittsburgh, where it drew a 6.2 rating share, down from 22.9 last season when the game was at PNC Park.