Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, and other content focusing on the conference's member schools. It is a joint venture between Fox Sports and the Big Ten, with Fox Corporation as 61% stakeholder and operating partner, and the Big Ten Conference owning a 39% stake. It is headquartered in the former Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House building at 600 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago. Big Ten Network is carried by most major television providers and as of 2014, had an estimated 60 million U.S. subscribers—the number had been boosted by the addition of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

to the conference. Big Ten Network was the second U.S. sports network to be devoted to a single college sports conference, having been preceded by the MountainWest Sports Network one year prior to its launch. BTN was later followed by rival cable channels by the Pac-12, SEC and ACC with a similar array of programming.

History

The network's foundation traces back to 2004, following negotiations between the Big Ten and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

on an extension of the conference's broadcast contract with the network. With three years remaining in the existing deal, the conference sought a significant increase in rights fees. ESPN, however, balked, causing Big Ten commissioner

Jim Delany James Edward Delany (born 1948) is the former commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, a role in which he had served from 1989 until 2020. He is regarded among college athletics as having been influential in the creation of the Bowl Championship Ser ...

to begin exploring the creation of his own network. The launch of the Big Ten Network was announced on June 21, 2006, as a 20-year joint project between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Entertainment Group. At launch, the conference owned 51% of the network, while Fox owned a minority interest and handled its operations. The network was positioned to be the first ever cable channel dedicated to a single collegiate conference. The network also has a commitment to "event equality", stating it would produce and distribute an equal number of men's and women's events across all platforms, within three years of its launch. The deal was meant to replace the Big Ten's television contract with ESPN's ESPN Plus regional television package. ESPN Plus games were typically only seen on one broadcast

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ea ...

in a team's local market (for example, the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

aired its games on Champaign,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

CBS affiliate WCIA (channel 3)). Big Ten Network was launched at 8:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...

on August 30, 2007, with ''Big Ten Tonight'' as its inaugural program. The network aired its first live telecasts two days later on September 1, which included a football game between

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Doug ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

– the game gained national attention for its upset victory; being the first win by a Division I FCS team over a ranked

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...

team since Division I was split into two subdivisions by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

in 1978. On September 2, the network aired its first women's sports event (a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match between Syracuse University and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

) and its first men's non-revenue sports event (a soccer match between UCLA at

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

). The new network suffered from limited carriage on its launch, as it was only carried by two major television providers. By the following year, the network had reached its goal to attain carriage on the "extended basic" tiers of cable providers in all Big Ten markets. While no specifics were revealed, Fox increased its stake in the Big Ten Network to 51% in June 2010, acquiring majority control, using a provision in its contract with the conference. To coincide with the 2011 college football season, the network unveiled a new logo that made "BTN" the primary name of the channel, and introduced a new

TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...

service known as "BTN2Go," which offers live streaming of BTN telecasts and other programming through a web browser or mobile app. The service was initially available to subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, DirecTV and Dish Network. BTN and Dish Network were involved in a dispute leading up to the expiration of the satellite provider's contract with the network in August 2012, a day before that year's college football season began. The network was temporary blacked out for eight days beginning on September 14, giving way to a new agreement that restored BTN on Dish Network on September 22. In July 2017, as part of a new six-year agreement that made Fox the primary television rightsholder of regular season Big Ten football games, Fox's contract to run BTN was extended through 2032. On December 14, 2017, 21st Century Fox announced it would sell a majority of its assets to

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

, owners of ESPN, SEC Network and the then-upcoming ACC Network, in a transaction valued at over $52 billion. 21st Century Fox's stake in the Big Ten Network was not included in the deal and was spun off to the significantly downsized Fox Corporation, along with the Fox network,

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

, Fox Business, FS1, and FS2. The deal was approved by Disney and Fox shareholders on July 27, 2018, and was completed on March 19, 2019. The network introduced a new logo on October 23, 2020, coinciding with the start of the delayed 2020 football season. The new logo returns to using "Big Ten Network" as the primary name of the channel, and incorporates the conference's "B1G" wordmark.

Programming

Original programs

*''Big Ten Tonight'' – a weekly half-hour show airing on Sundays that is similar to ESPN's '' SportsCenter''; it offers highlights and discussion of Big Ten sporting events. The program is currently anchored by Dave Revsine, Rick Pizzo, Mike Hall and Lisa Cornwell. Other reporters and analysts appear depending on the sport being discussed. *''Big Ten Football Saturday'' – a program airing Saturdays (with pre-game, halftime and post-game editions) during the college football season, which features discussions and highlights of the day's games. It is hosted by

Dave Revsine Dave Revsine (born July 20, 1969 in Urbana, Illinois), is an American sportscaster, and sports columnist and journalist who currently serves as the lead studio host for the Big Ten Network. Previously, he was a journalist at ESPN anchoring on ''Sp ...

, with analysis provided by Gerry DiNardo (nicknamed by the hosts as "Coach") and

Howard Griffith Howard Griffith (born November 17, 1968) is a former American football fullback who spent 11 seasons in the NFL (1991–2001). While at the University of Illinois, Griffith set the NCAA record for touchdowns in a game with eight. It occurred ...

. *''Big Ten Tailgate'' – originally titled ''Friday Night Tailgate'', it is a Friday night program that takes a lighthearted and irreverent look at campus life surrounding the weekend of a Big Ten football game. It was host was Mike Hall, with correspondents Charissa Thompson and Chicago-area improv actors

Jordan Klepper Jordan Klepper (born March 9, 1979) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, television host, and actor. He began his career as a member of The Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade. From 2014 to 2017, he was a corres ...

, Steve Waltien, and Tim Baltz. 90-minute In 2010, the show was cut to 60 minutes and was renamed as ''Big Ten Tailgate''. *''Big Ten Tip-Off Show'' – a pre-game show airing during the regular season from November to March discussing the day's basketball games; it is hosted by Dave Revsine, with analysis provided by Gene Keady, Jimmy Jackson, Tim Doyle and Kendall Gill. *''Coaches Q&A'' – a program featuring excerpts from the week's press conferences around the conference. *''The Big Ten's Greatest Games'' – a showcase of classic football and basketball games, with editing of some non-essential game action out to fit time constraints. *''The Big Ten Women's Show'' – an hour-long Monday night program covering women's sports throughout the conference. *''The Big Ten Quad'' – a weekly sports discussion show with Big Ten legends. *''Big Ten Cookout'' – a half-hour live cooking/tailgate show on Saturday mornings, taking place at a different university campus within the conference each week; it is hosted by Melanie Collins, alongside chefs Julius Russell and former '' Hell's Kitchen'' season five contestant 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 1990s" or "best quarterbacks of the 1980s"; hosted by Charissa Thompson. * Various coach's shows *''University Showcase'' – a program block of non-sports campus produced programs; each school has equal time. *''Student U'' – Game broadcasts produced by university broadcast departments involving students controlling production and play-by-play which are usually seen only on closed-circuit campus cable networks. * "Big Ten Frozen Fridays" – a hockey pregame show on Friday nights, airing before most Big Ten hockey game telecasts, featuring game previews and highlights from around the Big Ten Conference * ''Big Ten Football: Breakdown'' – a weekly series airing on Tuesdays in which Big Ten coaches and players review the previous week's game footage, with network analysts providing a look at the nuances of the game and what affected the teams' success. * ''Big Ten Football: Sites & Sounds'' – a Wednesday night program that includes segments from press conferences, media interviews and the games, as well as other behind-the-scenes footage, hosted from the network's Chicago studios. * ''Big Ten Football: Behind the Schemes'' – airing Thursday nights, it is a breakdown featuring the network's resident head coach analysts, analyzing footage of the previous week's games and putting together game plans for games being held that week. * ''Big Ten Football… & Beyond'' – a Friday night program previewing the weekend's upcoming games with reports from each Big Ten stadium and a look at key national matchups that could impact the conference postseason. * ''Big Ten Film Vault'' – a program, hosted by Dan Dierdorf, showcasing a vintage Big Ten film from the 1940s to the 1970s. * '' Big Ten Icons'' – a series highlighting a Big Ten athlete from a wide range of sports and history. Notable subjects include

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lif ...

, Jack Nicklaus and Steve Alford. * ''The Journey: Big Ten Basketball'' – a Sunday night documentary-style series following multiple teams each week throughout the conference's 10-week basketball season. * ''Big Ten Treasure Hunter'' - a program starring memorabilia collector John Arcand in which he travels around Big Ten territories and make negotiations with fans to buy Big Ten memorabilia.

Former

* ''Big Ten Hoops: On Campus'' – an hour-long Friday night program (hosted by Mike Hall, Jim Jackson, Tiffany Simons and Natalie Kane) featuring visits to different campuses each week to showcase the loyalty and tradition behind Big Ten basketball and its fans. * ''This Week in Big Ten Basketball'' – a Sunday night program providing comprehensive breakdowns of the week's college basketball action involving Big Ten teams; it was hosted by Dave Revsine, Jim Jackson and Dan Dakich.

Sports coverage

Football

Big Ten Network holds national broadcast rights to all of the conference's home football games and televises approximately 35-40 football games each season. Each team is guaranteed to appear a minimum of two times annually on the network, one of which must be a conference game.

Basketball

The network holds national television rights to all men's basketball conference home games; all non-conference and exhibition games are either televised or streamed on bigtennetwork.com. Each of the conference's men's basketball teams appear on the network approximately 10-20 times a season; it carries approximately 60–65 in-conference match-ups, as well as select tournament contests. Big Ten Network also televises approximately 50-60 regular season women's basketball games annually, along with approximately nine Big Ten Basketball Tournament games. Each Big Ten team appears on the network approximately 8 to 10 times during the season. The network streams dozens of games live on its website, giving Big Ten women's basketball the most exposure of any conference in the country. The network maintains a set on-site during the Big Ten men's and women's basketball tournaments in Indianapolis,

with anchors providing coverage and analysis of each day's game action during the event.

Other sports

Big Ten Network televises approximately 25 of the conference's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

games each spring, with each team making approximately 5 to 8 appearances annually. In 2009, the network televised the entirety of the

Big Ten baseball tournament The Big Ten baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in college baseball, baseball for the NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I Big Ten Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCA ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Big Ten Network expanded its coverage of

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

due to the Big Ten Conference beginning to officially sponsor the sport, broadcasting 27 games as well as the Big Ten tournament, and adding associated studio programs. The Big Ten Network televises more than 170 NCAA-sponsored

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

events in both men's and women's sports such as hockey, soccer, volleyball, track and field, swimming and diving.

Esports

In April 2016, it was announced that BTN and Riot Games would organize a collegiate '' League of Legends'' event, the ''BTN Invitational'', between teams representing Michigan State and Ohio State. The event was held at

PAX East PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, alongside the semi-finals and finals of Riot's own college championship. Michael Sherman, head of Riot's collegiate competitions, stated that "there was actually a student group at Penn State that was looking to run a Big Ten tournament, and the Big Ten Network got word of it and through that we actually connected to each other and saw that we had a lot of interest in sort of building an event together." In January 2017, BTN and Riot announced that it would hold a season of conference competition between teams representing 12 Big Ten schools, culminating with a championship whose winner would receive an invite to Riot's college championship. The competition was primarily be streamed online, but later rounds were televised on BTN. In January 2018, Riot and BTN announced an extension of the partnership through 2019, complete with scholarship funds for teams ($35,000/team yearly) and the addition of Penn State and Nebraska, bringing all full conference members to the partnership. ESL became a partner with BTN's competition for 2019.

Tournament and championship events

The Big Ten Network televises 21 Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

, men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, men's and women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, rowing, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, men's and women's indoor and outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

. In February 2017, the

announced that Big Ten Network had acquired rights to the Women's Frozen Four—the NCAA national championship of Women's ice hockey, beginning in 2017 under a four-year deal. BTN broadcast the finals in 2017, and began airing the semi-finals beginning 2018.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

* Mike Hall - studio host * Rick Pizzo - studio host *

- studio host and play-by-play announcer *

Lisa Byington Lisa Byington (born May 18, 1976) is a play-by-play announcer, studio host, and feature producer/reporter. She has broadcast games for Fox Sports, FS1, Big Ten Network, CBS, Turner Sports, Pac-12 Network, ESPN, SEC Network. Byington has worked ...

- studio host and play-by-play announcer * Gerry DiNardo - football analyst *

- football analyst * Anthony "Spice" Adams - BTN Tailgate * Dave Wannstedt - football studio host *

Corey Wootton Corey Andrew Wootton (born June 22, 1987) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Northwestern University. As a junior, he garnered first-team All-Big Ten Conferen ...

- football analyst * Michelle McMahon - studio host and BTN Tailgate * Stanley Jackson - studio host and football analyst * Robbie Hummel - men's basketball studio host and analyst *

Andy Katz Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, and was a regular spo ...

- men's basketball studio host and analyst * Shon Morris - men's basketball studio host and analyst * Elise Menaker - studio host and reporter * Nicole Darin - studio reporter * Allison Hayes Freeze - studio reporter * Damon Benning - football studio reporter * Pat Forde - studio reporter * Nicole Auerbach - studio reporter * Rob Blackman - football studio reporter * Ryan Baker - football studio reporter *

Ray Lucas Ray Lucas (born August 6, 1972) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played for three teams, the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins during his seven-year career from 1996 to 2002. He is c ...

- studio reporter * Dean Linke - play-by-play announcer * Marcus Ray - studio reporter

Football

* Brandon Gaudin - football play-by-play announcer *

- football play-by-play announcer * Cory Provus - football play-by-play announcer *

Joe Beninati Joseph Edward Beninati (born November 14, 1965) is an American sportscaster who serves as the television play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals. Along with Capitals television color analyst Craig Laughlin an ...

- football play-by-play announcer * Chris Vosters - football play-by-play announcer *

Mark Followill Mark Followill is an American sports announcer, currently for Fox Sports, covering basketball, soccer and football. Career Early in his career, Followill worked in various positions at KTCK The Ticket in Dallas including as host of ''The Ender. ...

- football play-by-play announcer * J Leman - football color analyst * Anthony Herron - football color analyst *

Matt Millen Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is a former American football linebacker and executive. Millen played 12 years in the National Football League for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins, ...

- football color analyst *

James Laurinaitis James Richard Laurinaitis (born December 3, 1986) is a former American football linebacker who played for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a ...

- football color analyst *

Glen Mason Glen Orin Mason (born April 9, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. Mason served as the head football coach at Kent State University from 1986 to 1987, the University of Kansas from 1988 to 1996, and the University of Minnesota ...

- football color analyst * Ben Leber - football color analyst * Coley Harvey - football sideline reporter * Rick Pizzo - football sideline reporter * Olivia Harlan - football sideline reporter * Elise Menaker - football sideline reporter *

Matt McGloin Matthew James "Matt" McGloin (born December 2, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 2010 to 2012. McGloin was the first walk-on quarterback to start ...

- football sideline reporter

Basketball

* Kevin Kugler - basketball play-by-play announcer * Brandon Gaudin - basketball play-by-play announcer * Dave Resvine - basketball play-by-play announcer *

- basketball play-by-play announcer *

Jeff Levering Jeff Levering is an American sportscaster. Levering is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers on Bally Sports. He was named to this position for the 2022 season. Broadcasting career Levering graduated from Chapman ...

- basketball play-by-play announcer * Chris Vosters - basketball play-by-play announcer * Mike Hall - basketball play-by-play announcer * John Beilein - basketball color analyst * Robbie Hummel - basketball color analyst *

Stephen Bardo Stephen Dean Bardo (born April 5, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 3 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a college basketball analyst. Basketball career During his standout c ...

- basketball color analyst * Mike DeCourcy - basketball color analyst *

- basketball color analyst * Len Elmore - basketball color analyst * Shon Morris - basketball color analyst *

Christy Winters-Scott Christy Winters Scott is a basketball color analyst for college basketball games for ESPN, FSN, The Big Ten Network (BTN), NBC Sports Washington, and Raycom Sports. She has been the lead analyst for BTN Women’s Basketball since 2016. Some of h ...

- basketball color analyst

Baseball

* Danan Hughes - baseball analyst *

Scott Pose Scott Vernon Pose (; born February 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa and the University of Arkansas. Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the ...

- baseball analyst * Kevin Kugler - baseball play-by-play announcer * Brandon Gaudin - baseball play-by-play announcer * Michael Huff - studio reporter

Ice hockey

* Ben Clymer - ice hockey analyst * Paul Caponigri - ice hockey analyst *

Billy Jaffe Billy Jaffe (born April 2, 1969) is an on-air ice hockey analyst for NESN, provides commentary for pre-game, post-game and intermission shows during Boston Bruins games. Jaffe also served as a hockey analyst for Sportsnet, and for select coverag ...

- ice hockey analyst *

Fred Pletsch Fred Pletsch is currently serving as analyst on FSN Detroit's college hockey coverage. Additionally he was commissioner for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In his broadcasting career he also has been the play-by-play announcer for the ...

- ice hockey analyst and Play-by-play * Aaron Ward - ice hockey analyst

Volleyball

* Grace Loberg - volleyball analyst * Telly Hughes - volleyball studio reported * Emily Ehman - volleyball color analyst

Wrestling

* Shane Nebl Sparks - wrestling announcer * Jim Gibbons - wrestling announcer * Tim Johnson - wrestling announcer

Former on-air staff

Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American television sportscaster. He is the son of former Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman. Broadcasting career After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati's Anderson High Sch ...

- lead play-by-play announcer (later lead television voice for the Cincinnati Reds on

Fox Sports Ohio Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on profess ...

, announcer for

MLB on Fox ''MLB on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox MLB'') is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports, the sports division of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the W ...

, NFL on Fox and NFL Europe on Fox and FX) * Matt Devlin - play-by-play announcer (now television play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Raptors) * Cal Eldred - baseball analyst (now pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals) *

Rebecca Haarlow Rebecca Haarlow (born December 20, 1978) is an American sideline reporter for MSG Network, NBA TV, the NBA on TNT, and the Big Ten Network. Previously she served as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Net, and as an anchor and reporter for the N ...

- sideline reporter for football and baseball (now with

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...

and NBA on TNT) *

Ben Holden Ben Holden (born November 3, 1970 in Lansing, Michigan) is a sportscaster most recently with CBS Sports Network and has been with the Big Ten Network. Biography Holden called college football, basketball, and ice hockey for the CBS Sports Network ...

- play-by-play announcer (now college hockey announcer for Fox Sports Detroit, Comcast Local and

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known ...

) * Gus Johnson - play-by-play announcer (now NFL and Pac-12 announcer for Fox Sports) * Wayne Larrivee - play-by-play announcer (longtime Big Ten play-by-play announcer; now does play-by-play for the Packers Radio Network) * Charissa Thompson - sideline reporter (now with Fox Sports and later co-host of entertainment news magazine Extra) *

Stephanie White Stephanie Joanne White (formerly Stephanie White-McCarty; born June 20, 1977) is a former professional basketball player and head coach of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. She was previously head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basket ...

- women's basketball analyst (now women's basketball coach at Vanderbilt) *

Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...

- (now an analyst for the NFL on Westwood One) *

Eric Collins Eric Collins (born June 16, 1969) is a play-by-play sports announcer, currently the voice of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets on Bally Sports South. Education Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Collins is a graduate of St. Lawrence University. He earned a m ...

- play-by-play announcer (now television play-by-play announcer for the Charlotte Hornets on

Fox Sports Southeast Bally Sports Southeast (BSSE) (originally named SportSouth from its inception until October 4, 2015, and Fox Sports Southeast (FSSE) until March 31, 2021) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture betw ...

and

Fox Sports South Bally Sports South (BSSO) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports Networks. The network carries regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events from across ...

, occasional announcer for Fox Major League Baseball and Fox College Hoops) * Josh Lewin - play-by-play announcer (longtime play-by-play announcer for Fox Major League Baseball, now college basketball and football play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins)

Other services

High definition and 4K

Big Ten Network launched in both standard definition and a

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcas ...

high definition simulcast. All of its original programs and studio shows are broadcast in HD, as well as nearly all of its sports telecasts and some of its university-produced coaches and campus shows. The channel has produced all of its football games in HD since 2009. In September 2017, BTN revealed plans to televise selected games from the 2018 Big Ten men's basketball tournament in 4K.

Streaming platforms

BTN2Go was Big Ten Network's

service, which offers online streaming of BTN programming to subscribers on qualifying television providers. Beginning in the 2017–18 season, BTN2Go content became available within Fox Sports' main TV Everywhere app

Fox Sports Go The Bally Sports app is the video streaming service of the former Fox Sports Networks, now Bally Sports regional sports networks. The app replaces Fox Sports Go (FSGO), the app of the former Fox Sports Networks. The service is available for custo ...

. In July 2019, due to the Fox Sports Go platform being divested with the Fox Sports Networks as part of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, BTN content moved from Fox Sports Go to the main Fox Sports website and apps. The BTN2Go app was transitioned to an app for BTN Plus—a subscription over-the-top streaming service for non-televised Big Ten events.

Football overflow feeds

On many Saturdays during the football season, 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 providers. The remaining games air on the main channel in the local markets and on the extra 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 to provide additional football games. All of the additional overflow feeds for the network's various football telecasts are available nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network; and regionally on AT&T U-verse, many Comcast systems, and several other cable providers. Some providers only carry the overflow feeds in standard definition, and providers outside of the U.S. provide them in out-of-market subscription packages. Since 2019, all Big Ten Network football games are also available via the Fox Sports app, regardless of geography and wireline restrictions.

Carriage

Carriage negotiations with several major cable providers were stalled for several months due to their interest in placing the channel on a sports tier, with the providers only wanting to charge customers who wanted to subscribe to it; Big Ten Network, however, wanted providers to carry it on their extended basic tiers so that subscribers would not have to pay an extra fee to receive the network. Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S., reached a deal to carry the network on June 19, 2008, and began adding the channel to its systems on August 15, 2008; other major providers in states with universities in the Big Ten Conference (including Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable) would soon follow suit. Additionally, the Big Ten Network is an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.

Carriage agreements

DirecTV and AT&T U-verse were the only major television providers to carry the channel at launch; however, 250 smaller cable systems (including those that are members of the National Cable Television Cooperative) also carried BTN at launch. Dish Network added the channel one week later in early September 2007. During the late summer and early fall of 2008, several larger cable companies within states where a Big Ten university was located reached agreements to carry Big Ten Network, expanding its carriage to every major cable provider in those areas. On August 23, 2008, Mediacom (which services most of

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, including Iowa City, where Big Ten member, the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

, is located) was reported by Cedar Rapids newspaper ''

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'' to have reached an agreement in principle to carry the network according to sources close to negotiations; the deal was announced on August 28. On August 25, Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network announced in a joint statement that the two parties had reached a carriage deal. Time Warner Cable carries the channel on its expanded basic service in the eight states where Big Ten universities are located. These deals were later followed by carriage agreements with Charter Communications on August 26 and Cox Communications on August 28. Also on August 26, 2008, '' The Indianapolis Star'' reported that Bright House Networks was "very close to a deal" to carry the channel. On September 30,

Broadstripe Broadstripe is a telecommunications and cable company owned by WideOpenWest and Anne Arundel Broadband, with WideOpenWest holding a majority stake in the company. Serving communities in Maryland, Broadstripe serves residential customers with WOW! ...

added the channel to its systems in Michigan. On June 23, 2009,

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...

added the channel in standard and high definition to its Optimum systems. The following month on August 25, the network reached a carriage agreement with Atlantic Broadband, which added the network's standard and high definition feed on September 1, 2009, to its systems in central and northern Pennsylvania. On December 28, 2009, Charter Communications reached an agreement to provide the network to its systems in St. Louis and Southern

on the provider's expanded basic-digital tier. On July 24, 2017, the Big Ten Network announced they would be available on Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV. On April 11, 2018, Comcast dropped Big Ten Network in a number of "out-of-market" states that fall outside of the conference's direct geographical footprint, with other selected markets dropping the network on May 10, 2018. This notably included the 23,000 Comcast customers in New York, despite the recent addition of

in New Jersey having been used to market the conference and BTN in neighboring

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Canadian carriage

In September 2008, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a request by Shaw Communications to allow carriage of BTN in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

on its specialty television services. While CTVglobemedia filed a concern that it would create undue competition (which is prohibited between foreign and domestic services) with its mainstream sports channel TSN, the CRTC determined that Big Ten Network's specific scope in coverage did not create undue competition with domestic mainstream sports services such as TSN. The network became available to Shaw Cable customers on December 3, 2008. The channel became available on Rogers Cable systems in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

on October 22, 2009. As of 2020 the channel is carried by Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers Cable, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct and VMedia.

Similar channels

Other channels that show only college sports include: * ACC Network - shows sports involving the Atlantic Coast Conference * Pac-12 Network – an American sports television network focusing on the Pac-12 Conference * SEC Network – an American sports network focusing on the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Longhorn Network Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and is operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Compa ...

– an American network that focuses on sports and programming involving the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

* BYUtvsports.com – an American network that carries sports and programming involving

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

* ESPNU * Fox College Sports

References

External links

* – Big Ten Network * – Big Ten Conference {{Authority control Sports television networks in the United States Big Ten Conference College sports television networks English-language television stations in the United States Fox Sports Companies based in Chicago Television channels and stations established in 2007 College basketball on television in the United States College football on television Fox Corporation