Big Ten Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Big Ten Network | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | August 30, 2007 |
| Owned by | Big Ten (51%) Newscorp (49%) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Slogan | This is Big Ten Country |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Website | BigTenNetwork.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 220 SD 220 HD (overflow 218, 219, 221, 223) |
| Dish Network | Channel 439 (overflow 440-443) |
| Cable | |
| Available on Midwestern cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
The Big Ten Network is a television network in the United States launched on August 30, 2007. The network is a joint project of the Big Ten Conference, a collegiate athletic conference, and Fox Cable Networks and is a national channel devoted to Big Ten athletic and academic programs. It is headquartered in the former Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog building at 600 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago, Illinois.[1] The Big Ten Network represents a 20-year partnership between the Big Ten and Newscorp. The Big Ten Network is majority-owned (51%) by the Big Ten Conference, with Fox holding a minority interest (49%).[2] Fox will handle the administration and daily operations of the channel. The conference officially announced the formation of the network on June 21, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Programming
Mark Silverman is the first president of the network. He was formerly a general manager and senior vice president of ABC Cable Networks Group.[3] Leon Schweir is the Big Ten Network's Executive Producer/Vice President of Production. He previously had spent 26 years working at Madison Square Garden Networks in New York City.[4]
The network is planned to broadcast 35+ football games per season (including at least two per conference team), with 41 football games being broadcast on the network in 2007. For men's basketball, there will be at least 105 regular-season games and three Big Ten Tournament games, with 135 games being broadcast on the network in 2007. For women's basketball, there will be at least 55 regular-season games and nine Big Ten Tournament games. Also planned are 170 Olympic sporting events per year as well as 660 hours per year of institutional programming and coverage from the conference's vast library of historic sporting events, including bowl games. The network has a commitment to "event equality", reporting an intention to produce and distribute an equal number of men's and women's events by year three.[5] Substantially all of its live events will be produced in High-Definition television (HDTV). The Big Ten Network claims it will produce more original High-Definition programming than any new network in television history.[6]
The Big Ten Network is available nationally for those who have access to satellite television. DirecTV carries the network on its basic Choice package. Dish Network carries the network on its basic America's Top 100 plus package within the eight state Big Ten region. Outside the Big Ten region, Dish offers the network on its Multi-Sport Pack. Despite the network's success with satellite and most smaller cable providers, several major cable companies such as Charter, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have yet to reach an agreement to broadcast the channel. The reported subscriber rates requested by the Big Ten Network is just under $1.00 per subscriber per month within the eight-state Big Ten region and carriage on an expanded basic tier. Outside the eight-state Big Ten region, the network is reportedly asking for $0.10 per subscriber per month and carriage on a digital basic tier. Currently, several major cable companies have declined to carry the network on their basic tier as the Big Ten requests, which has led to a situation akin to those of the NFL Network and broadband network ESPN360 where fans will miss many live games because their cable provider does not carry the Big Ten Network.
[edit] Commentators
[edit] Studio
[edit] Football
- Hosts
- Dave Revsine[7]
- Mike Hall
- Rick Pizzo
- Ann Kreiter
- Analysts
[edit] Basketball
- Hosts
- Analysts
- Gene Keady
- Jimmy Jackson
- Tim Doyle
[edit] Pairings
- Football
- Thom Brennaman/Charles Davis
- Wayne Larrivee/Chris Martin
- Mark Neely/Glen Mason
- Roger Twibell/Mike Tomczak
- Jim Kelly/Rich Baldinger
- Scott Graham/Derrick Walker
- Ron Thulin/Butler By'not'e
- Basketball
- Play-By-Play
- Dick Bremer
- Mike Crispino
- Matt Devlin
- Tom Hamilton
- Jim Kelly
- Wayne Larrivee
- Larry Morgan
- Mark Neely
- Dave Revsine
- Brent Stover
- Roger Twibell
- Rich Waltz
- Color Commentator
- Kenny Battle
- Bob Donewald
- Tim Doyle
- Jim Dulcher
- Bob Ford
- Bill Hosket, Jr.
- James Jackson
- Gene Keady
- Greg Kelser
- John Laskowski
- Mac McCausland
- Tim McCormick
- Wayne Morgan
- Shon Morris
- Rich Zvosec
[edit] Other Personnel
On June 14, 2007, Kevin Weiberg, commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, announced that he planned to join the network in July, leaving his post as commissioner. He will be the network's vice-president of university planning and development, reporting directly to Silverman.[8]
[edit] Program milestones
- First program: Big Ten Tonight, August 30, 2007 at 8 p.m. ET
- First live games: Four regional college football telecasts on September 1 at noon ET, including Appalachian State's historic upset win over Michigan
- First women's sports event: Syracuse at Michigan State, soccer, September 2
- First men's non-revenue sports event: UCLA at Indiana, soccer, September 2
[edit] Notable Games
- November 17th, 2007: Indiana vs. Purdue (Football). A last second field goal propels Indiana to their first bowl game in 13 years for their late coach Terry Hoeppner.
[edit] Regular shows
- Big Ten Tonight: A thirty- minute or hour-long nightly show similar to SportsCenter. Revsine and Hall take turns as anchor; Rick Pizzo joined Hall on September 2
- Big Ten Friday Tailgate: Two-hour preview and analysis show on Friday nights. Also features two young reporters broadcasting from campus sites
- Big Ten Extra Points: Highlights of the weekend's football games
- Coaches Q&A: Excerpts from the week's press conferences
- The Big Ten's Greatest Games: Classic game footage
- The Big Ten Women's Show: Covers women's sports throughout the conference
- Various magazine shows, some hosted by head coaches
[edit] Rebroadcast
The Appalachian State-Michigan game re-aired on September 4 on Fox Sports Net at either 8 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. local time, depending on the region. During many of the breaks in the action, viewers were asked to call a toll-free number with messages of support for adding the network to their cable lineups. It also re-aired on ESPN Classic on September 13.
[edit] Controversy over carriage rights
Similar to many newly launched cable sports networks, there has been debate over carriage between the Big Ten Network and cable providers. Both sides have tended to argue that the other side is being unreasonable in its demands -- cable companies complaining about the high cost per subscriber for the network and the Big Ten Network complaining about the tier upon which it will be carried. Essentially, in the eight-state Big Ten region, the Big Ten Network wants to appear on expanded basic cable packages at a reported cost of $1.10 per subscriber per month. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other large cable companies have indicated they want to place the Big Ten Network on digital sports tier, along with other networks such as NFL Network, Fox College Sports and NBA TV. Outside the eight-state Big Ten region, the Big Ten Network is reportedly asking for $0.10 per subscriber and has stated it could be placed on a digital tier, but given the multi-state coverage of many of the larger cable companies, this has not aided the negotiations.
In particular, there has been an argument held in the print media between Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and cable giant Comcast. In responding to comments made in a press release from the cable TV company, Delany railed about perceived slights against, specifically, the Iowa's women's volleyball team and women's sports in general. Some analysts have stated that Comcast intended no such slight, but rather attempted to accurately reflect the notion that consumers outside of Iowa are not likely to want to pay additional money on their cable bill to be able to watch Iowa volleyball games.[9] Comcast has allegedly provided financial and other support to the anti-Big Ten Network website http://www.puttingfansfirst.org [10]. According to its website, Putting Fans First is "a new coalition of sports superfans and concerned consumers uniting to address the soaring cost of TV sports programming."
It is interesting to note that Comcast is the owner or part-owner of many regional or conference affiliated sports networks, including MountainWest Sports Network. Comcast is also reportedly in talks with the Southeastern Conference on creation of a similar network.[11]. Comcast places its regional sports networks on its expanded basic tier and its carriage rates are often significantly higher than what the Big Ten Networks reported asking rate.
In response, the BTN has published its arguments in support of its stance on this page. Also, all of the conference's head football coaches except Penn State's Joe Paterno have taped messages supporting the network's stance.
In response to BTN's request for $1.10 per subscriber and basic cable coverage, Comcast executive vice president David Cohen said in publish reports in the Detroit Free Press that demand for the new network has been "virtually nothing." He added, “Consumers are tired of getting expensive channels they don’t want to watch. ... We don’t think that the vast majority of our customers who are not interested in it should pay to enrich 11 universities and Fox.” [12],
According to a March 10, 2008 Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal Article, Comcast and the Big Ten Network are close to a deal. A March 11, 2008 Chicago Tribune Article confirmed this report. According to the SportsBusiness Journal, the agreement would provide that Comcast would put the network on extended basic cable in at least 94% of the eight state Big Ten region rather than a digital sports tier.
As of now, the Big Ten Network is not being carried on the majority of the major cable providers in the Big Ten geographic region, although the network is carried on Wide Open West, and some Insight Cable systems in the region. Both DirecTV and Dish Network are now carrying the network nationally. The Big Ten Network is currently in over 30 million households, reaching this milestone faster than any new network in history. The network is carried on DirecTV's Choice programming, which does not include its Spanish packages, and Dish Network's America's Top 100 programming. The Big Ten Network's 49% stakeholder, Fox Cable Networks, and DirecTV were previously both owned by News Corporation, although News Corp subsequently sold its interest in DirecTV to Liberty Media. [13]
Published reports in the Sports Business Journal say Fox Cable Networks is tying Big Ten Network carriage to a current carriage contract extension with FSN Ohio and Time Warner Cable.[14]. This type of business bundling arrangement is typical in the industry and is used by other content providers such as ESPN, Comcast and Time Warner.
[edit] Current availability
| Cable provider | Area | Channel | Package | Subscribers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T U-Verse [15] | Throughout the US | 650 (overflow 643-647), 1650 (HD) | U 100 and higher, HD package | 100 thousand |
| Buckeye CableSystem[16] | Toledo, Ohio | 67, 645 (HD) | Basic package, HD package | 100 thousand |
| D&E Communications[17] | Central Pennsylvania | 68 | Expanded Cable | 50 thousand |
| DirecTV[18] | Throughout the US | 220 (overflow 218, 219, 221, 223) | Choice | 16 million |
| Dish Network | Throughout the US | 439 (overflow 440-443) | America's Top 100+ (in Big Ten region) and Multi-Sports Pack (outside Big Ten region) | 13 million |
| Insight Communications | Columbus, Ohio; Evansville, Indiana; Kentucky[19] | 26 (Ohio), 39 (Indiana), 527 (Kentucky), 528-529 (overflow) | Classic Cable Package (Ohio/Indiana), Insight Digital 2.0 Digital Service (Kentucky) | 640 thousand |
| RCN Corporation[20] | Chicago, Illinois; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 79 (overflow 99) | Basic package | 400 thousand |
| Service Electric | Pennsylvania; New Jersey | 32 | Basic Package, HD Package | 100 thousand |
| T² Communications[21] | Holland, Michigan | 21 | Basic package | 50 thousand |
| Wide Open West[22] | Illinois; Michigan; Ohio; Evansville, Indiana | 87,344,345 (Michigan/Ohio), 73 (Indiana) | Basic package overflow in Digital Basic | 400 thousand |
The network is currently available on 140 other small cable companies, including university cable systems in all the Big Ten campus dorms[23] with the exception of the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Big Ten Network Website
- Official Announcement of the creation of the network
- Big Ten Network FAQ
- Press release announcing official name and logo
- Putting Fans First--a Comcast web site critical of Big Ten Network
[edit] References
- ^ Chicago Business News, Analysis & Articles | Former Ward's building to house Big Ten Network | Crain's
- ^ http://www.latimes.com/sports/custom/extras/la-sp-tvcol23jun23,1,3794537.column?coll=la-sports-extras&ctrack=1&cset=true
- ^ Mark Silverman Named President of Big Ten Network :: Former Disney-ABC Executive to Lead
- ^ Leon Schweir Named Executive Producer/VP Production of Big Ten Network :: Emmy Award-Winning Producer responsible for all studio and event production
- ^ Big Ten Announces Commitment to Event Equality for Men and Women on Big Ten Network :: National network pledges to equal number of men's and women's events by third year
- ^ Big Ten Network to Produce More High-Definition Programming than Any New Network in History - Big Ten Network
- ^ News - Big Ten Network
- ^ News - Big Ten Network
- ^ http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/198644
- ^ Alesia, Mark. "Fox drives deals for channel", The Indianapolis Star, Gannett Company, 2007-08-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
- ^ Enquirer text edition
- ^ The article requested can not be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (C4,20070830,SPORTS08,70830091,AR)
- ^ Stewart Mandel, Searching for Big Ten Network, SI.com, August 31, 2007.
- ^ Sport Media Biz: Fox trying to bundle BTN
- ^ News - Big Ten Network
- ^ Buckeye to Launch with Big Ten Network - Big Ten Network
- ^ About D&E Communications
- ^ Dish Network Adds Big Ten Network - Big Ten Network
- ^ Buckeye to Launch with Big Ten Network - Big Ten Network
- ^ Chicago Business News, Analysis & Articles | Big Ten Network in deal with RCN | Crain's
- ^ D&E Communications: Check Availability
- ^ WideOpenWest Launches Big Ten Network - Big Ten Network
- ^ Big Ten Network
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