UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Big Ten Network has released a portion of its fall Olympic sports broadcast schedule, featuring at least 11 Penn State contests. BTN will have coverage of five conference championships this fall, as well as an extensive line-up of Student U and BTN.com events to be announced.
The Penn State women’s volleyball team will have a minimum of seven matches on BTM this season. At least two men’s soccer matches, one women’s soccer contest and one field hockey match featuring the Nittany Lions also will be televised. Big Ten Network also will have coverage of the Big Ten field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s cross country championships.
Big Ten Network again will air multiple Penn State football games this season, including the Sept. 3 season opener vs. Indiana State (noon) and the Oct. 22 primetime clash at Northwestern (7 p.m.). Additional Nittany Lion football games are likely to be selected to air on BTN once the 12-day selection process begins during the season.
Coverage of Penn State’s four-time defending NCAA Champion women’s volleyball squad begins with the AVCA Showcase on Aug. 26-27 in Rec Hall, with live matches against Oregon and USC. At least five of the Nittany Lions’ conference matches will air on BTN, including the Oct. 29 clash with Nebraska at 8 p.m. in Rec Hall. The Big Ten Network also will air two wild card matches the final weekend of conference play.
Penn State’s 13-time Big Ten Champion women’s soccer team will be featured on BTN on Sunday, Oct. 23 as it travels to Michigan for a noon contest. Women’s soccer also could be selected for a BTN wild card game.
Coming off its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, men’s soccer will have two matches air live on the Big Ten Network – at Michigan State (noon, Oct. 9) and home vs. Northwestern (2 p.m., Oct. 16). Men’s soccer also could be chosen for a BTN wild card game.
The Nittany Lion field hockey team’s Oct. 1 match vs. Northwestern will air at 4 p.m., Oct. 2 on BTN. The Big Ten semifinals and championship, hosted by Penn State, will be broadcast live as well.
The Big Ten Network is available to more than 80 million homes through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco providers in all 50 states and Canada. Among the 25 Pennsylvania cable providers who carry BTN are: Atlantic Broadband, Beaver Valley Cable, Cablevision, CATV Service, Comcast, Consolidated Communications, Kuhn Communications, Nittany Media, RCN, Service Electric Broadband, Service Electric Cable TV & Communications, Service Electric Cablevision, Shen-Heights TV, Time-Warner Cable and Windstream.
Armstrong, Blue Ridge, MetroCast and Adams Cable, though, do not carry the Big Ten Network in Pennsylvania and the Youngstown and Media, Ohio areas. More than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in the communities served by the four cable providers in Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown areas, in addition to thousands more fans and current Penn State students.
Armstrong, Blue Ridge, MetroCast and Adams Cable customers missed 115 Penn State events on BTN during the 2010-11 academic year, in addition to coverage from 15 conference championships. Armstrong and Blue Ridge are the two largest cable providers in the nine Big Ten states that do not carry BTN.
Penn State on BTN – Fall 2011
(additional events to be added)
Aug. 26 – WVB: Penn State vs. Oregon, 8 p.m.
Aug. 27 – WVB: Penn State vs. USC, 8 p.m.
Sept. 3 – FB: Penn State vs. Indiana State, noon
Oct. 1 – FH: Penn State vs. Northwestern (airs Oct. 2, 4 p.m.)
Oct. 1 – WVB: Penn State vs. Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Oct. 5 – WVB: Penn State vs. Northwestern, 8 p.m.
Oct. 8 – WVB: Penn State vs. Illinois, 7 p.m. (airs Oct. 10)
Oct. 9 – MSOC: Penn State at Michigan State, noon
Oct. 16 – MSOC: Northwestern at Penn State, 2 p.m.
Oct. 22 – FB: Penn State at Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Oct. 23 – WSOC: Penn State at Michigan, noon
Oct. 29 – WVB: Penn State vs. Nebraska, 8 p.m.
Nov. 4 – FH: Big Ten Tournament semifinals, 10 a.m. & noon
Nov. 4 – WSOC: Big Ten Tournament semifinals, 2 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 4 – WVB: Penn State at Minnesota, 9 p.m.
Nov. 6 – FH: Big Ten Tournament Championship, 2 p.m.
Nov. 6 – WSOC: Big Ten Tournament Championship, 4 p.m.
Nov. 11 – MSOC: Big Ten Tournament semifinals, 1 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 13 – MSOC: Big Ten Tournament Championship, noon
TBA – Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships
About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. Events include football, men’s and women’s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches’ shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women’s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 80 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For updated information on BTN, go to BTN.com.