bigten
Latest
Refs will wear GoPros for Fox's Big Ten championship broadcast
During this weekend's Big Ten football championship game, Fox Sports will offer fans a different kind of on-field views during its coverage of the match-up. When Wisconsin and Penn State take the field Saturday, December 3rd, referees will be wearing hats equipped with GoPros to give fans another perspective of the action on the gridiron. The network says it worked alongside GoPro and Big Ten officials on a hat that would capture footage it could use immediately during its broadcast.
Big Ten Network carriage agreements may be motivating conference expansion
It's no secret that college football is big business and that a major contributing factor is revenue from television. The influential reach of that revenue is a hot debate in organizations that are supposed to put more ideal values above capitalistic ones -- the two are not always at odds, though. So when a collegiate organization like the Big Ten Conference is motivated to expand, most would like to think it's a school's academic, or even athletic, merits that put said institution at the top of the want list. However, Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports believes the reason the Big Ten courted the University of Maryland and Rutgers University really just comes down to finding a way to sell an additional 14.6 million residents the Big Ten Network. The economics of sports networks on cable television is well documented -- the majority pay so that the vocal minority may watch -- but sculpting an amateur sports league to ensure your cable TV channel gets carriage in America's largest media markets might be a new twist.
Big Ten, MAC football get HD instant replay for the refs, but the SEC was faster
It's been a few years since the NFL made the jump to high definition instant replay, and it's absolutely time it arrived in college football as well. The SEC announced plans to switch last month and today the Big Ten and Mid-American Conferences mentioned they will upgrade their systems as well. The Pac 10 tested HD replays back in 2008 but is still mentioned by the provider it shares with the SEC, XOS Digital as a standard def conference, along with the Big 12, Sun belt and others. It's silly that we should have a better look at the action from home than the refs charged with calling the game so we hope they get new hardware soon, although they could always be waiting for the right time to put 3D glasses on the zebras before investing.
Charter reaches agreement with Big Ten Network just in time to see Ohio State be totally awesome
Charter's next on the block to add the Big Ten Network and "related programming" in time for Saturday's football openers. No word whether or not this will include the HD version of the network, or if it will be in time for the start of the season, but it is definitely on the way. In a minor footnote, Charter mentioned that in addition to carrying the BTN across its systems in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Northern Illinois it's also reupping Jim Tressel's snazzy sweatervest collection, teaching Terrelle Pryor the correct name of "the University of Ohio State University" and teaching Ohio State how to defend against the spread offense. Good times all around.
Time Warner Cable gets Big Ten Network in time for Ohio State's next BCS Championship blowout
Proud Buckeyes (& other fans in Big Ten country) served by Time Warner Cable can expect a new addition to their channel lineup ahead of Saturday's season opener against Youngstown State. On the way is the Big Ten Network's HD feed and video on-demand programming, so you don't have to worry about missing a snap as Ohio State looks forward to it's weak non-conference schedule (aside from USC) and the tantalizing future of yet another BCS Championship defeat at the hands of SEC speed. Cox customers take heart, word is they are also close to an agreement, not surprising now that TWC and Comcast have worked out their differences with BTN. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, Mike & Paul]Update: Unfortunately not everyone will have the HD & VOD packages in time for the August 30 game, but if you can stomach just one 480i game against punching bag Youngstown State, they're promised to be added "later" (Go Wolverines!). [Thanks Paul!]
Big Ten Network goes live on Comcast tomorrow
After what felt like an endless battle, Comcast and the Big Ten Network were finally able to hammer out broadcast details earlier this year. Right on schedule, the channel is expected to go live in the Big Ten region tomorrow, August 15th, on its expanded basic level of service. Of course, the HD feed will be included as well, and fanatics in the footprint can get set as the action begins with Indiana taking on Western Kentucky on August 30th. Are you ready for some football?
Comcast and Big Ten Network finally reach agreement
Whoa, Nelly! After what seems like eons, Comcast and the Big Ten Network have finally put their problems aside and reached an agreement. Of course, we heard yesterday that the deal was close, but we didn't exactly predict that it was this close. Under the terms of the deal, Comcast will "initially launch BTN as part of its expanded basic level of service to promote it to the majority of its customers residing in states with Big Ten universities on August 15th. Next Spring, the carrier reserves the right to "move the network to a broadly distributed digital level of service in most of its systems in these states." As expected, users will have access to all high-definition feeds as well, which is sure to bring a smile to Big Ten fanatics across Comcast's footprint.
University of Minnesota orders up 108- by 48-foot HD scoreboard from Daktronics
The University of Minnesota has finally found a way to one-up OSU and the other U of M's football squads by ordering up the first Daktronics HD-16 scoreboard in the Big Ten (Will you be able to watch the Big Ten Network on it?). Second-largest in college football to Texas' Godzillatron, the 108- by 48-foot display takes advantage of all the company's latest technologies, and should be ready for Minnesota's home opener against Air Force in 2009. Some fans may wonder how the big screen will make the football team better, but if top-notch facilities help recruit the next Marion Barber III-Laurence Maroney connection then it should be well worth it.
Big Ten Network lands on Wide Open West
Considering just how zany this past weekend was in the world of college football, it's good to see that even more folks now have access to even more games. Wide Open West, which serves around 400,000 domiciles in the Big Ten's eight-state footprint, announced that it had landed a deal with the Big Ten Network to position the channel "on its expanded basic package." This agreement pushes the network beyond the "the 30 million subscriber mark within a month of its launch," but a number of major players (namely Cox, Charter, Comcast, Time Warner Cable [partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget], and Mediacom) have still refused to shake hands on terms.
DISH gets deal done with the BigTen Network
Wow, that was some game against Michigan and Appalachian state last weekend on the BigTen Network. We'd tell you how great the HD looked if we actually got to see it, but with all the providers sitting on the sidelines, we're not sure if anyone was able to enjoy the HD broadcast. Comcast fans have to wait longer than DirecTV -- when does hell start freezing again? -- who should be carrying the games in HD as soon as DirecTV 10 is operational, but DISH subscirbers get to start enjoying HD college football tomorrow, thanks to a deal that was struck yesterday that puts the BigTen Network on DISH through the next basketball season. At that point it will continue to be carried in at least BigTen country on the America's Top 100 tier.
BigTen Network launches Thursday, but will you get it?
Most HD fans love sports, and all sports fans love HD (right?), so it's only natural that every sports lovin' HD fan wants every HD sports channel they can get their hands on. The BigTen network is a big deal for sports fans, -- especially if you follow any BigTen teams -- and we love the fact that 92% of their football games get the HD treatment. But unfortunately when the channel launches this Thursday most won't be able to enjoy it, 'cause only a few providers (like DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse) have signed on. Like most of these deals, a big part is money, but some of it is the ol' basic tier Vs extended BS. So if you're in the unlucky colum, then go ahead and call your provider and if they can't get the deal done, you'd better hope you have a nice southwestern view of the sky.
Comcast, Big Ten duke it out over licensing fees
For the estimated 5.7-million Comcast subscribers residing in the Big Ten footprint, seeing your favorite games this coming Fall could end up costing you a bit more than expected. Apparently, the Big Ten conference and Comcast have yet to reach an agreement on carrying the Big Ten Network, as Comcast reportedly wants $1.10 per subscriber in order to host the content on a dedicated sports tier. The conference, however, suggests that watchful consumers shouldn't be forced to pay "undue costs" in order to watch local teams, and even points out that the Mountain West Sports Network is carried on Comcast's basic cable lineup in the Salt Lake City region. Of course, we all know there's more money to be made in the juggernaut that is the Big Ten, but if an agreement isn't reached by August 1st, the Big Ten Network "could go on the offensive and encourage millions of Big Ten alumni to switch to DirecTV."
The BigTen Network to launch in August in HD
2007 is shaping up to be the real year for HD, as more networks announce plans to launch HD channels than ever before. While DirecTV waits for it's new birds to launch, cable operators try to figure out a way to fit all the new channels in their lineup. This week the big news is for BigTen college sports fans, not only are they getting a new network that will exclusively cover their conference, but most of the programming will be presented in our favorite format. Programming highlights include 35+ football games per season, 105+ basketball games and Big Ten championship events. Now we just have to wait to see who will carry the new channel.[Via Multichannel News]
