Whew!

Your Iowa State-Iowa weekend won’t be ruined by the big bad Mediacom.

On Aug. 28 the Big Ten Network finally reached a deal with Mediacom that brings the network, and the this weekend’s game, to an estimated 75 percent of the state.

Here we go again, right? Now Mediacom has another excuse to jack up the cost of cable? Wrong. We’re getting it at no additional cost.

But before you go hailing Mediacom for being so generous, take a few and thank the Big Ten Network for fighting to include the network in Mediacom’s most-owned, expanded, basic service package.

The Big Ten Network could have bowed out and been included in a sports tier that would have forced Mediacom subscribers to pay more to watch Big Ten games, thus stopping Iowa State fans from watching the game. But they didn’t.

Sure, if they hadn’t created the network, then we wouldn’t be in this situation. But now sports fans, in particular Hawkeye fans, get to see all Iowa games, and other Big Ten games. Cyclones fans, the news for you is good, too. Basketball is at Iowa, making it eligible for the network, and a variety of women’s Big Ten events are broadcast as well.

This is a good step for Mediacom, and we appreciate the deal. Too bad we still can’t watch football games on Thursday night.

Maybe the NFL Network is next?