Big Ten Network Tips Off On Charter In St. Louis, Southern Illinois On Jan. 4

Big Ten Network will jump into the distribution game with Charter Communications in St. Louis and southern Illinois early next year.
The parties have reached an agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, under which Charter will carry the college sports network on expanded basic-digital level of service, tipping off Jan. 4. The network will be positioned on channel 414 in those areas.
The Big Ten Network will televise two-thirds of all the conference's men's basketball games and will debut three new basketball shows in early January. The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2010 will follow the conference's most intriguing storylines in a documentary-style format. Every Friday, Big Ten Hoops: On Campus will showcase the loyalty, passion and tradition that define Big Ten basketball. And This Week in Big Ten Basketball will provide a comprehensive breakdown of all the circuit's hoops action.
"Big Ten games are popular with St. Louis and Southern Illinois area fans, and I expect the Big Ten Network will become a popular destination for our customers very, very quickly," said Steve Trippe, vice president and general manager of Charter's operations in Missouri and Illinois, in a statement.
Big Ten Network president Mark Silverman added, "When Charter customers tune in to the network, they'll find unparalleled coverage of Big Ten sports and their teams, an increasing amount of original programming about football and basketball and shows featuring entertaining stories about what's happening at their favorite Big Ten universities."