Every once in awhile something gets me riled up. Recently, I got an email stating the newly formed Big Ten Network is not airing the Men’s and Women’s Big Ten Cross Country Championships to be held at the Ohio State University Golf Course on Sunday, October 28th. The email sent to me went on to say they Big Ten Network has shown football, volleyball, soccer and field hockey.
Now, I live an area where my cable provider Time Warner has said no to the Big Ten Network so far. I have only watched the channel once on a Saturday afternoon at a restaurant. The conflict between the Big Ten Network and Time Warner seems to stem from the Big Ten Network wanting Time Warner to provide their programming on the Time Warner Basic Plan and give the Big Ten Network $1.10 of each subscriber basic fee. I have only had a few economics classes, but I have to side with Time Warner on this issue. Time Warner have said they would add the Big Ten Network to their sports package but not to their Basic Plan and they are not willing to give $1.10 for the programming when some other markets are only paying ten cents for the Big Ten Network.
In September during the conflict between Time Warner and the Big Ten Network I read and heard advertisements on how Time Warner was not playing fair and that Time Warner customers should contact them and say they want the Big Ten Network. The Big Ten Network in their promotions stated how they cover all Big Ten sports….
Well if the Big Ten Network wanted me to speak out for their programming… I would like to encourage all of the runners in Ohio and the Big Ten institutions States to speak out for coverage of cross-country on the Big Ten Network. Contact the Big Ten Network office and tell them you want to see them cover the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships in Columbus, Ohio on October 28th.
*Feel free to email/forward this information to your friends. I hope you can enjoy these Championships and watch some of the top cross-country runners and teams in the Nation compete October 28th in Columbus.
Here are the contacts for the Big Ten Network office –
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/contact
[email protected]
Elizabeth Conlisk, VP/Communications - Big Ten Network
[email protected]
Mike Vest, Media Relations Manager – Big Ten Network
[email protected]
Read more on the Big Ten Cross Country Championships –
http://www.runohio.com/news/10-13-07Big10_xc.html
Read more on Big Ten Network Not Showing Cross Country –
http://www.runohio.com/news/10-13-07Big_10_network.html
www.runohio.com
Big Ten Network Not Showing Cross Country
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that is such crap. i don't particularly want the big ten network but i was intrigued that they claimed they would be covering "all" sports. i thought about whether it would be worth it to see xc and indoor/outdoor track. there goes that idea.
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Just sent them an email. Hope others will also send them one.
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On a side note...
Depending on where in Ohio you are, WOW has very quietly added the Big Ten Network. -
Sure would be nice for some coverage...
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First step in the Big Ten's goal to phase out cross country and track.
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Maybe in the MAC but not in the Big Ten...look at the success of CC over the past few years.
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The greedy Big 10 is just trying to sell 2nd rate FB games..
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Here is the response I received, sounds like they may be showing it later at least in some capacity.
Thanks for your email.
You are correct in saying that the Big Ten Network will not televise the 2007 Big Ten Cross Country Championships live. The events will, though, most likely receive coverage on Big Ten Tonight and the Big Ten Women’s Show. We hope to carry the Cross Country Championships live in future years.
In addition, we are also tremendously excited to be televising this year’s Big Ten Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The Big Ten Network will be carrying about 170 Olympic sport events this year – an extremely ambitious standard for a network in its first year. As I mentioned before, with the passage of time, we hope to expand our coverage to many other Big Ten events.
Thanks again for the email and your interest in the Big Ten Network.
Sincerely,
Mike -
thats the same exact response I got.
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Reasonable response from below. Also, it is hard to cover a XC meet for TV. Whereas most sports being televised are pretty simple since they are in a relatively small, contained area where one camera can do the job (field hockey, soccer, volleyball, etc).
Give it time. It is the first year of the network and football (and basketball) are going to be the ones paying the bills if this thing works. -
hard to cover xc? not sure about that. camera on the lead car and a couple stationary cameras will do the trick. i'm not sure what kind of coverage of those sports you're watching - sounds like local public access' high school coverage - but i would hope the big ten network doesn't think it can cover any sport with one camera. if they do, i'm certainly not interested in paying for that.
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I live on the East Coast. Last year I was able to watch almost every Indiana U. football game of the season through my nothing-fancy cable package. This year, as best as I can recall, the Hoosiers have not been televised once in my area. Thanks a lot Big Ten Network, Time Warner, and anyone else involved.
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It looks like the Big Ten Network is getting a few emails, becasue last week I got this. No we are not covering the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. We hope to in the future.
However, my friend got the same response you got yesterday. Looks like Mike now has a pat answer.
If you haven't sent an email to the Big Ten Network, please do to let them know cross country runners and fans wonder how they can't cover this event. -
Here two more individuals at the Big Ten Network who would like to hear you would like for them to cover cross country.
Mark Silverman, President
[email protected]
Leon Schweir, Executive Producer/Vice President, Production
[email protected] -
Here is my latest email from the Big Ten Network when I sent a letter to the “executive team” asking how they determine their programming….seems odd to me they will not share this information…
Big Ten Network reply…
I’m writing because your email to our executive team was forwarded to me. I’ll do my best to answer your questions once again.
As we discussed last week, we do not share the selection process for programming. We are pleased to be carrying 400 live events in our first year of existence – including the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. However, I can tell you with 100 percent certainty the 2007 Cross Country Championships will not be televised on the Big Ten Network. In future years, we will most certainly consider televising the Big Ten Cross Country Championships live. This year’s championships will most likely receive coverage on the Big Ten Women’s Show and Big Ten Tonight.
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