Television History: The Big Ten Network Goes Live

Television History: The Big Ten Network Goes Live

Aug. 30, 2007

CHICAGO – The much-anticipated launch of the Big Ten Network is here, with the network going on the air at 7 p.m. (Iowa time) with a special edition of Big Ten Tonight. Friends and fans of the Iowa Hwkeyes – including UI President Sally Mason and Gary Barta, the UI’s director of athletics – will gather in the Hawkeye Room of the Iowa Memorial Union to watch sports television history.

“We’re tremendously excited to make television history with the launch of the Big Ten Network on Thursday night,” Network President Mark Silverman said. “Fans will enjoy more Big Ten programming than ever before. I think fans will look back years from now and wonder how they ever followed their teams without the Big Ten Network.”

The network’s launch comes a little more than a year after Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany announced its creation in June 2006. Delany wanted to create a network that would extend the coverage the conference realized through its agreements with ABC/ESPN and CBS, while increasing coverage for women’s sports and other NCAA championship events.

The Big Ten Network will also dramatically increase the number of games available to fans on their existing cable packages. Fewer Big Ten games will appear platforms such as ESPNU and ESPN360 than in recent years.

With the launch of the Big Ten Network, every home football and men’s basketball game is guaranteed to be televised by one of the conference’s television partners. The Big Ten Network will televise 39 football games this fall and 140 men’s basketball games this season. Both of those numbers represent the most of any network.

The Iowa football team will make its first appearance on Saturday, Sept. 8, when the Hawkeyes square off against Syracuse at 7 p.m. in a primetime broadcast on the Big Ten Network. At least 16 games of Coach Todd Lickliter’s Iowa men’s basketball team against Big Ten Conference opponents are already scheduled for broadcast by the network. The number will likely exceed 20 when the UI announces television plans for its non-conference schedule later this month.

The Big Ten Network will also televise live Iowa volleyball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, wrestling, baseball and softball events in addition to the weekly television shows of UI football coach Kirk Ferentz and Lickliter. The UI will also produce up to 60 hours or programming about things and people on the UI campus that are not athletics for broadcast on the network.

“In Iowa, the Big Ten Network is truly the University of Iowa Network with more hours of University of Iowa programming annually than any other television network ever,” said Rick Klatt, the UI’s associate athletics director for external affairs.

The Big Ten Network will also televise more live events in high definition than any other new network in television history.

The Iowa football team will make its first appearance on Saturday, Sept. 8, when the Hawkeyes square off against Syracuse at 7 p.m. in a primetime broadcast on the Big Ten Network. At least 16 games of Coach Todd Lickliter’s Iowa men’s basketball team against Big Ten Conference opponents are already scheduled for broadcast by the network. The number will likely exceed 20 when the UI announces television plans for its non-conference schedule later this month.

The network officially launches with a special football season preview edition of Big Ten Tonight. Lead studio host Dave Revsine and analysts Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith will break down the conference title race and forecast the 2007-08 season. Earlier this month, Revsine, DiNardo and Griffith visited all 11 preseason camp to gauge each team’s prospects. Big Ten ties run deep for all three. Revsine is a Northwestern graduate and Chicago native, DiNardo coached for three seasons at Indiana and Griffith starred at running back for Illinois before earning two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos.

The series premiere of The Big Ten’s Greatest Games follows at 9 p.m. ET with the 2006 Ohio State-Michigan epic. Fourteen of the contest’s key participants and observers were interviewed for this episode including Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.

Last year’s memorable showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan was termed the “Game of the Century.” An Ohio Stadium record crowd of 105,708 saw the first-ever No. 1 vs. No. 2 match-up in this storied rivalry. The game was played a day after legendary former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler passed away and the teams couldn’t have honored his memory with a better game. Ohio State quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith threw for a career-high four touchdowns and a season-high 316 yards to propel the Buckeyes to a 42-39 win. The victory sealed a Big Ten championship for Ohio State and a berth in the BCS Championship Game.

Big Ten Network staff were on the UI campus earlier this week doing the final interviews that will be part of three different games that will be a part of the Greatest Games series.

After the debut of The Big Ten’s Greatest Games, Revsine hosts Big Ten Tonight, the network’s signature nightly studio show with highlights, analysis and features. The program will not only cover football and basketball, but also many NCAA-sponsored sports including hockey, baseball, volleyball, softball and many more.

The excitement of the football season’s opening weekend continues the night before the games with Friday Night Tailgate at 7 p.m. Iowa time.. The show will capture that excitement while letting viewers experience the passion and fervor on Big Ten campuses come alive as players, students, fans and faculty get ready for the big game. Host Mike Hall and a team of campus correspondents will provide an unparalleled look at the next day’s games, as well as the excitement and anticipation that surround Friday nights.

The Sept. 7 edition of Friday Night Tailgate will be live from the Krause Family Plaza outside historic Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

Big Ten Football Saturday kicks off at 11 a.m. ET with a one-hour pre-game show. Revsine, DiNardo and Griffith provide up-to-the-minute updates on developments that could affect the day’s games.

At noon ET, the network will carry four games simultaneously, including Youngstown State at Ohio State (DIRECTV Channel 218), Northeastern at Northwestern (DIRECTV Channel 219), Appalachian State at Michigan (DIRECTV Channel 220, the Big Ten Network’s main channel) and Florida International at Penn State (DIRECTV Channel 221). The games will be regionalized to cater to each specific market. Cable subscribers should check their local listings.

The primetime games include a pair of 7 p.m. kickoffs. Indiana hosts in-state rival Indiana State (DIRECTV Channel 218) while Minnesota hosts Bowling Green (DIRECTV Channel 220).

Click HERE for more information about the Big Ten Network.

THE BIG TEN NETWORK
Program Schedule, Aug. 30 to Sept. 3

Schedule is subject to change

Thursday August 30, 2007

8:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight #2 Football Preview Edition
(Live) HDTV

9:00 PM
The Big Ten’s Greatest Games 2006 – Michigan at Ohio State
HDTV

11:00 PM
Big Ten Tonigt
(Live) HDTV

12:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

1:00 AM
Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon
(D)

2:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

3:00 AM
The Big Ten’s Greatest Games 2006 – Michigan at Ohio State
(R) HDTV

5:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

Friday, August 31, 2007

6:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

7:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

8:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

9:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

10:00 AM
The Big Ten’s Greatest Games 2006 – Michigan at Ohio State
(R) HDTV

12:00 PM
Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon
(R)

1:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

2:00 PM
The Big Ten’s Greatest Games 2006 – Michigan at Ohio State
(R) HDTV

4:00 PM
Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon
(R)

5:00 PM
Big Ten Men’s Soccer ’07 (Big Ten) West Virginia at Ohio State
(Live) 08/31/07 HDTV

7:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

8:00 PM
Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate
(Live) HDTV

10:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight
(Live) HDTV

11:00 PM
Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate
(R) HDTV

1:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

2:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

3:00 AM
Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate
(R) HDTV

5:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

Saturday, September 1, 2007

6:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

7:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

8:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight Football Preview Edition
(R) HDTV

9:00 AM
Big Ten Friday Night Tailgate
(R) HDTV

11:00 AM
Big Ten Football Saturday Pre-Game Show
(Live) HDTV

12:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big Ten) Appalachian State at Michigan
(Live) 9/01/07 Non-OH. PA. IL HDTV

3:30 PM
Big Ten Football Saturday Post Game Show
(Live) HDTV

4:30 PM
Big Ten Men’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10) West Virginia at Ohio State
(R) 8/31/07 HDTV

6:30 PM
Big Ten Football Saturday Pre-Game Show
(Live) HDTV

8:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big Ten) Bowling Green at Minnesota
(Live) 09/01/07 Non-IN HDTV

11:30 PM
Big Ten Football Saturday The Finale
(Live) HDTV

12:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight #1
(Live) HDTV

1:00 AM
Big Ten Football Saturday The Finale
(R) HDTV

1:30 AM
Big Ten Tonight #1
HDTV

2:30 AM
Big Ten Football Saturday The Finale
(R) HDTV

3:00 AM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Youngstown State at Ohio State
(D) 09/01/07 HDTV

Alternate

12:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Youngstown State at Ohio State
(Live) 09/01/07 OH HDTV

8:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Indiana State at Indiana
(Live) 09/01/07 IN HDTV

Alternate B

12:00PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Northeastern at Northwestern
(Live) 09/01/07 IL

Alternate A

12:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Florida International at Penn State
(Live) 09/01/07 PA HDTV

Sunday, September 2, 2007

6:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

7:00 AM
Big Ten Football Saturday The Finale
(R) HDTV

7:30 AM
Big Ten Football Saturday The Finale
(R) HDTV

8:00 AM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Appalachian State at Michigan
(R) 09/01/07 HDTV

11:00 AM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Indiana State at Indiana
(D) 09/01/07 HDTV

2:00 PM
Big Ten Men’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10) UCLA at Indiana
(Live) 9/02/07 HDTV

4:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Youngstown State at Ohio State
(R) 09/01/07 HDTV

7:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Appalachian State at Michigan
(R) 09/01/07 HDTV

10:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight #1
(Live) HDTV

11:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Florida International at Penn State
(D) 09/01/07 HDTV

2:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight #1
(R) HDTV

3:00 AM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Northeastern at Northwestern
(D) 09/01/07

Monday, September 3, 2007

6:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

7:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

8:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

9:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

10:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

11:00 AM
Big Ten Men’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10) UCLA at Indiana
(R) 9/02/07 HDTV

1:00 PM
Big Ten Football ’07 (Big 10) Florida International at Penn State
(R) 09/01/07 HDTV

4:00 PM
The Ron Zook Show ’07 (Big 10)
(D)

5:00 PM
Iowa Football with Kirk Ferentz ’07 (Big Ten)
(D)

5:30 PM
Buckeye Football Weekly ’07 (Big Ten)
(D)

6:00 PM
Michigan Replay with Lloyd Carr ’07 (Big Ten)
(D)

6:30 PM
Penn State Football Story ’07 (Big Ten)
(D)

7:00 PM
Big Ten Extra Points
(D) HDTV

7:30 PM
The Big Ten Women’s Show
(D) HDTV

8:00 PM
Big Ten Women’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10) Syracuse at Michigan State
(D) 09/02/07 HDTV

10:00 PM
Big Ten Tonight
(Live) HDTV

11:00 PM
Penn State Football Story ’07 (Big Ten)
(R)

11:30 PM
Iowa Football with Kirk Ferentz ’07 (Big Ten)
(R)

12:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

1:00 AM
Big Ten Women’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10)Syracuse at Michigan State
(R) 09/02/07 HDTV

3:00 AM
Big Ten Tonight
(R) HDTV

4:00 AM
Big Ten Men’s Soccer ’07 (Big 10)UCLA at Indiana
(R) 09/02/07 HDTV