Big Ten Network

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The Big Ten Network is a planned television station in the United States set to be launched in August 2007. The network is a joint project of the Big Ten Conference, a college athletic conference, and Fox Entertainment Group and is a national channel devoted to Big Ten athletic and academic programs. It will be headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The Big Ten Channel represents a 20-year partnership between the Big Ten and Fox. It will be majority-owned (51%) by the Big Ten Conference, with Fox holding a minority interest (49%).[1] Fox will handle the administration and daily operations of the channel. The conference officially announced the formation of the network on June 21, 2006.

Mark Silverman has been announced as the first president of the network. He was formerly a general manager and senior vice president of ABC Cable Networks Group.[2]

The station is planned to broadcast 35+ football games per season (including at least two per conference team). For men's basketball, there will be at least 105 regular-season games and three Big Ten Tournament games. 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. Many events will be produced in High-Definition television (HDTV).

The channel will be available nationally, with the first affiliate, DirecTV, having already signed up to carry the channel and planning on delivering the channel to its Total Choice Package. The station will be made available to other cable and satellite companies. Although it is planned to be broadcasted nationally, it is unclear whether other cable or satellite systems will do so or whether they will merely carry the channel within the Midwest region.