The Big Ten is "one big step closer to putting its flag in the New York/New Jersey television market," as the conference's cable network has "reached deals with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision to broadly distribute its channel to the millions of homes in the market," according to Steve Politi of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman yesterday said that he is "optimistic that a deal will be reached with the third cable giant -- Comcast -- before the football season." Rutgers' first two Big Ten games -- its opener against Penn State and then against Michigan -- are "slated for primetime" on BTN. The net already is "available on FiOS and DirecTV" (NJ.com, 5/19). Politi writes this "might be the best news Rutgers has gotten in a while." Gone would be the "threat of a protracted dispute, which many TV experts believed to be inevitable, over cable fees that would have dampened the excitement over the Big Ten introduction and kept thousands of fans from being able to watch at home." Silverman would "not discuss the terms of the agreements with Time Warner or Cablevision, except to say that they would likely go into effect in late August." But yesterday he "made it clear that Rutgers and fellow newcomer Maryland would have an increased presence on the network during their inaugural season." Silverman: "It's our number one priority this year to integrate Rutgers and Maryland into the Big Ten Network and make high-quality programming for both schools" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/20).
