From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Big Ten Network |
 |
Big Ten Network
Logo |
Launched |
August 30, 2007 |
Owned by |
Big
Ten Conference (51%)
Fox Cable Networks (News Corporation) (49%) |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV) |
Slogan |
This is Big Ten Country, This is Where it Lives |
Country |
United
States |
Language |
English |
Broadcast area |
United States
Canada |
Headquarters |
Chicago, Illinois |
Sister channel(s) |
Fox Sports (broadcast operation)
FSN (North, Wisconsin, Midwest,
Detroit, Indiana,
Ohio &
Pittsburgh)
Fox
College Sports |
Website |
BigTenNetwork.com
See also External links |
Availability |
Satellite |
DirecTV (U.S.) |
610 (SD/HD)
extra football game channels SD: 609, 611, 612, 615
extra football game channels HD: same plus -1
1610 Video on
demand |
Dish Network
(U.S.) |
439 (SD)
9500 (HD)
extra football game channels SD: 5440-5443
extra football game channels HD: 9501-9504 |
Shaw Direct
(Canada) |
410 (SD)
265 (HD)
extra football game channels : varies |
Cable |
Available on most U.S. cable systems |
Main: BTN Channel Finder
Overflow: BTN Game Finder |
Shaw
Communications (Canada) |
See above |
Rogers Communications
(Canada) |
See above |
IPTV |
AT&T
U-verse (U.S.) |
650 (SD)
1650 (HD)
extra football game channels : 1651-1654 |
Internet
television |
Big Ten Ticket (by subscription, outside of US and Canada) |
www.BigTenTicket.com |
The Big Ten Network (sometimes unofficially
abbreviated BTN) is an American television sports network dedicated
to the Big
Ten Conference. Available to approximately 73 million[1]
households nationwide in the United States and Canada, it is the
first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering a
single college conference.
The network is a 20-year joint project of the Big Ten
Conference, and Fox Cable Networks (a division of News
Corporation).
It is headquartered in the former Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog
building at 600 W. Chicago Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.[2]
The Big Ten Network is majority-owned (51%) by the Big Ten
Conference, with Fox Cable Networks holding a minority interest
(49%).[3] Fox
handles the administration and affiliate sales operations of the
channel. The conference officially announced the formation of the
network on June 21, 2006.
The network, which launched August 30, 2007, operates 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year, showcasing a wide array of classic-to-current
sports and televising more Olympic sporting events and women’s
sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original
programming highlights activities and accomplishments of the Big
Ten universities. Each year, the network offers approximately 35-40
football games, 105 regular season men’s basketball games; 55
women’s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events;
nightly studio shows; coaches’ shows; and classic games. The
network has a commitment to "event equality", meaning that it will
produce and distribute an equal number of men's and women's events
across all platforms, within three years of being on the air.[4]
The network currently has agreements with more than 250
providers. It is carried nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network, and regionally on AT&T U-Verse, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox
Communications, Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications, Time Warner
Cable,Verizon
FiOS, Cable One and
Cablevision. The
network is available in 19 of the 20 largest U.S. media markets.[5]
Executive
personnel
Mark Silverman is the first President of the network. He was
formerly a General Manager and Senior Vice President of ABC Cable
Networks Group.[6]
On-air
talent
Studio
- Dave
Revsine[7], who
spent 11 years at ESPN
- Mike Hall, winner of the first
season of ESPN's Dream Job
- Rick Pizzo
- Brent Stover
- Lisa Cornwell
- Kyle Brady,
Big Ten Football Saturday: Pre-Game Show
Announcers
- Gus Johnson, known as "the
voice of March Madness"
- Thom
Brennaman, who has called the BCS, NFL and MLB on FOX
- Wayne
Larrivee, long time Big Ten play-by-play announcer and former
voice of the Chicago Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Kansas City Chiefs and
current voice for the Green Bay Packers Radio Network
- Tom Hamilton, long time Big
Ten play-by-play announcer and current radio voice of the Cleveland
Indians
- Dave
Revsine
- Mark Neely, current TV play-by-play announcer for the San Diego
Padres
- Matt
Devlin, current TV play-by-play announcer for the Toronto
Raptors
- Mike
Crispino, also works for MSG
- Rod Woodson,
former Purdue All-American defensive back and current analyst for
NFL Network
- Brian Barnhart, voice of the Fighting Illini
- Leah Secondo
- Brent Stover
- Tracy Warren
- Tom Werme
- Analysts
- Charles Davis, also an
analyst for FOX and NFL Network
- Gerry
DiNardo, former Indiana head coach
- Howard
Griffith, former Illinois running back
- Chris Martin, former Northwestern defensive back
- Glen Mason, former
Minnesota head coach and Ohio State linebacker
- Tony McGee, former
Michigan tight end
- Ian Allen, former Purdue
lineman
- Anthony Herron, former Iowa defensive lineman
- Kenny
Jackson, former Penn State coach
- Troy Vincent,
former Wisconsin defensive back
Men's
Basketball
- Analysts
- Jimmy Jackson, former Ohio
State player
- Gene Keady, former
Purdue coach
- Dan Dakich, former
Indiana player and interim coach
- Tim Doyle, former Northwestern player
- Gregory Kelser, former Michigan State
player
- Shon Morris, former Northwestern player
- Steve Smith, former Michigan
State player
- Trent Tucker,
former Minnesota player
- Kendall Gill,
former Illinois player
- John
Laskowski, former Indiana player
- Roy Marble, former
Iowa player
- Tim
McCormick, former Michigan player
- Spencer Tollackson, former Minnesota player
- Bill
Hosket, Jr., former Ohio State player
- Jimmy King, former
Michigan player
- Mike Kelley,
former Wisconsin player
Women's
Basketball
- Analysts
- Stephanie
White, former Purdue player
- Mary Murphy, former Northwestern player and Wisconsin
coach
- Vera Jones, former Indiana assistant coach
- Brenda VanLengen, former Nebraska coach
Baseball
- Analysts
Sideline
reporters
Ice
Hockey
- Play-By-Play
- Analyst
Wrestling
- Announcers
Live sports
coverage
- Through the creation of the Big Ten Network, every home Big Ten
football game is televised
- Each team is guaranteed to make a minimum of two appearances on
the network per year and one of those must be a conference
game
- The network televises approximately 35-40 football games each
fall and all of them are available in high definition
Men's
Basketball
- Through the creation of the Big Ten Network, every home Big Ten
basketball game is produced
- Each Big Ten men's basketball team makes approximately 10-20
appearances a season on the Big Ten Network
- The network televises approximately 60-65 in-conference
match-ups, plus selected Big Ten Tournament contests, and virtually
all of those games are produced in high definition
- The network streams a select number of non-conference and
exhibition games live on www.BigTenNetwork.com
- The network has a set on-site at the Big Ten Men's Basketball
Tournament in Indianapolis, with anchors providing coverage and
analysis of all the action
Women's
Basketball
- Each Big Ten women's basketball team makes approximately 8-10
appearances on the Big Ten Network
- In all, the network televises approximately 50-60 regular
season games plus approximately nine Big Ten Basketball Tournament
games and all of these games are produced in high definition
- The network streams dozens of games live on
www.BigTenNetwork.com, giving Big Ten women’s basketball the most
exposure of any conference in the country
- The network has a set on-site at the Big Ten Women's Basketball
Tournament in Indianapolis, with anchors providing coverage and
analysis of all the action
Baseball
- The Big Ten Network televises approximately 25 baseball games
each spring, all in HD
- Each Big Ten baseball team makes approximately 5-8 appearances
on the Big Ten Network
- In 2009, the network televised the Big Ten Baseball Tournament
from start to finish
Olympic
Sports
- The Big Ten Network televises more than 170 NCAA-sponsored
events in both men's and women's sports such as hockey, baseball,
softball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, swimming and diving,
etc.
Big Ten
Championships
- The Big Ten Network televises 19 Big Ten Championships and
Tournaments, including baseball, men’s and women’s basketball,
men’s and women’s cross country, women’s field hockey, men’s and
women’s golf, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s
swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s
indoor and outdoor track & field and men’s wrestling.[8]
Online
streams
In the 2009-10 school year, BTN began charging $2.99 per event
for online feeds.[9]
Regular
shows
- Big Ten Tonight: Big Ten Network's signature show,
it's a weekly thirty-minute show similar to ESPN's SportsCenter only offering highlights
and discussion of Big Ten football, basketball and other sports.
Dave Revsine, Rick Pizzo, Mike Hall and Lisa Cornwell anchor. Other
reporters and analysts appear depending on the sport being
discussed. Airs Sundays at 10 PM ET.
- Big Ten Football Saturday: On Saturdays during
football season, the day's games are discussed and highlights are
shown. There's the pre-game, halftime, and post-game editions for
all games. Dave
Revsine hosts and Gerry DiNardo (who they call "Coach") and
Howard
Griffith provide analysis.
- Big Ten Friday Tailgate: 90 minute light hearted and
irreverent show airing on Friday nights that looks at campus life
surrounding football weekends. The hosts are Mike Hall, Charissa
Thompson, and Chicago area improv actors Jordan Klepper and Steve
Waltien.
- Big Ten Tip-Off Show: A pre-game show in which the
day's basketball games are discussed. Hosted by Dave Revsine. Gene
Keady, Jimmy Jackson, Tim Doyle and Kendall Gill provide
analysis.
- Coaches Q&A: Excerpts from the week's press
conferences
- The Big Ten's Greatest Games: Classic football and
basketball games, usually with the meaningless parts edited out to
fit time constraints.
- The Big Ten Women's Show: Covers women's sports
throughout the conference. Airs at 10 PM ET on Mondays.
- The Big Ten Quad: a weekly sports discussion show with
Big Ten legends.
- Big Ten Cookout: a half hour cooking/tailgate show
that airs live on Saturdays at 10 AM ET. It is hosted by Melanie
Collins from a different Big Ten campus every week. The chefs are
Julius Russell and Ben Walanka.
- The Big Ten's Best: a weekly countdown show with lists
of the top 10 Big Ten teams or players in a certain category, such
as "best running backs of the 1990's" or "best quarterbacks of the
1980's". It is hosted by Charissa Thompson.
- Various magazine shows and coach's shows.
- University Showcase - a program block of non-sports
campus produced programs. Each school has equal time.
The network will debut four new football shows, beginning in
September 2009, dedicated specifically to Big Ten football. They
are:
Big Ten Football: Breakdown Every week, Big Ten coaches
and players review the previous week’s game film, looking for the
positives and the negatives. Network analysts will give fans a look
at the nuances of the game and what affected the teams’ success.
Airs Tuesdays at 10 PM ET.
Big Ten Football: Sites & Sounds The show includes
segments from press conferences, media interviews and the games, as
well as other behind-the-scenes footage,s hosted from the network's
Chicago studios. Airs Wednesdays at 10 PM ET.
Big Ten Football: Behind the Schemes The network's
resident head coaches go head-to-head each week, breaking down film
and putting together game plans for the upcoming week’s games. Airs
Thursdays at 10 PM ET.
Big Ten Football… & Beyond The show previews the
weekend’s games with reports from each Big Ten stadium and takes a
look at key national match-ups that could impact Big Ten postseason
plans. Airs Fridays at 10 PM ET.
Program
milestones
- First program: Big Ten Tonight, August 30, 2007 at 8 p.m.
ET
- First live football 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
Notable
games
- September 1, 2007: Appalachian State vs. Michigan (Football).
In the first football game ever broadcast by the network, Football Championship Subdivision team
Appalachian State pulls off a 34-32 upset over the then-number-five
Michigan, blocking a field goal on the game's final play.
- November 17, 2007: Indiana vs. Purdue (Football). A last-second
field goal propels Indiana to its first bowl game in 13 years for
their late coach Terry Hoeppner.
- February 24, 2008: Indiana vs. Northwestern (Men's Basketball).
The Hoosiers edge the Wildcats in the first game under interim head
coach Dan Dakich,
after a scandal involving unauthorized telephone calls to recruits
forced Kelvin
Sampson to resign. Tom Crean later became the permanent
successor and Dakich later became an analyst for the Big Ten
Network.
- March 14, 2008: Minnesota vs. Indiana (Men's Basketball).
Trailing by 1 with 1.5 seconds left, Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber
hauls in a 75-foot inbounds pass, spins away from two defenders and
nails an off-balance desperation heave to beat the Hoosiers.
Big Ten
Network HD
Big Ten Network HD is a 720p high
definition simulcast of Big Ten Network which launched
simultaneously to the regular channel. It is available nationally
on DirecTV and Dish Network; and
regionally on Cablevision, AT&T U-verse, Comcast, Time Warner
Cable, Charter Communications, Verizon FiOs, Cox Communications, Mediacom, and several other
cable television systems. In Canada, it is available nationally on
Shaw Direct and
regionally on Shaw Communications. All of its
original programs and studio shows are in HD, as well as most of
its sporting events and some of its school-produced coaches and
campus shows. Big Ten Network HD utilizes stylized pillarboxes for programs not
available in HD. The channel has announced it will produce all of
its football games in HD in 2009.[5]
Many times on football Saturdays, the Big Ten Network produces
multiple games that air at the same time. The network designates
one game as its national game, which is shown on the main channel
on satellite systems. The remaining games air on the main channel
in the local markets and on the overflow channels in the remaining
markets. Most cable systems inside the Big Ten's eight states offer
these Big Ten Network overflow or "out-of-market" feeds. All the
overflow feeds are available nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network; and regionally on AT&T
U-verse, many Comcast
systems, and several other cable systems. Some systems offer only
some of the overflow feeds. Other systems don't offer any overflow
feeds at all. DirecTV and Dish Network offer all games in HD.
However, some cable systems offer only the game on the main channel
in HD and the rest in SD.
Big
Ten Network On Demand
Big Ten Network On Demand, offers viewers
BTN's programming such as Big Ten Tonight, The
Journey, Big Ten Quad and Big Ten Short
Stories, original specials, press conferences and highlights
specific to each school, as well as magazine and coaches' shows.
DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers get content for all 11
schools, while cable customers only receive content for the
school(s) in their state. Most content is also offered in HD. The
channel's website, www.BigTenNetwork.com, also has a large amount
of video on demand content for all 11 schools which is free to all
internet users.
Carriage
Carriage negotiations with several major cable companies were
stalled for several months because the cable providers wanted to
put the channel on a digital sports tier and charge only customers
who wanted it, and Big Ten Network wanted to put it on extended
basic so that cable customers would not have to pay extra for it.
However, when the nation's largest cable provider Comcast reached a deal on June
19, 2008,[10] (and
began adding the channel on August 15, 2008), the other major
providers in The Big Ten Region (Charter Communications, Time Warner
Cable, etc.) followed suit.
Carriage deal agreements
2007
DirecTV was the only
major television provider to carry the channel at launch.[11] Dish Network added it
a week later.[12] 250
small cable systems carried it at launch as well.
2008
In late summer and early autumn 2008, several large cable
companies in The Big Ten Region reached carriage agreements with
The Big Ten Network. With these announcements, The Big Ten Network
now reaches every major cable TV provider in the Big Ten
Region.
- On August 25, 2008, it was announced in a joint statement that
Time Warner
Cable and The Big Ten Network reached a carriage deal. Time
Warner now carries the channel on its expanded basic service in the
eight states where Big Ten schools operate.[15][16]
- On September 30, 2008, Broadstripe added the channel to its
systems in Michigan.[20]
2009
- On June 23, 2009, Cablevision added the channel in both
standard and high definition.[21]
- On August 25, 2009, Atlantic Broadband and BTN reached a
carriage agreement. The channel will be added in standard
definition and high definition on September 1, 2009 to customers in
central and northern Pennsylvania.[22]
Canadian
carriage
In September 2008, the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
officially approved a request by Shaw Communications to allow
carriage of the Big Ten Network in Canada on digital cable television. Although CTVglobemedia
brought up concerns about it competing with TSN (a
major Canadian sports network, which airs some college sports), it
was determined that it wouldn't be competitive due to its
consideration as a "very niche service".[23] Big
Ten Network became available to Shaw customers on December 3, 2008.
Canadian satellite provider Shaw Direct also carries the Big Ten
Network. The channel became available on Rogers
Communications in Ontario and New Brunswick on October 22, 2009. [24]
Similar
channels
Other channels that show only college sports include:
External
links
References
Fox Sports |
|
Current programs |
|
|
American cable/satellite
networks |
|
|
Owned and operated
regional sports networks |
|
|
Affiliated regional sports
networks |
|
|
International sports
networks |
|
|
Others |
|
|
Former programs |
|
|
Defunct networks |
|
|
College basketball
on television |
|
Broadcast partners |
|
|
Secondary broadcast
partners |
|
|
Specialty broadcast
partners |
|
|
General media |
|
|
Commentators by network |
|
|
Broadcasters by event |
|
|
Other |
|
|