No Cross Country Coverage on The Big Ten Network??

[runohio]

Since my cable provider now has the Big Ten Network, the one thing that concerns me is when I go to the Big Ten Network web site and look at the sports they cover; cross country is not one of the sixteen sports they list. The Big Ten Network web site says “Sports televised: Football, men's basketball, women's basketball and other NCAA-sponsored sports...” Yet, cross country is not listed as a sport the Big Ten Network covers.

Also, it looks like they do not plan to cover the Men’s and Women’s Big Ten Cross Country Championships in Ann Arbor November 2. I have had numerous ads from the Big Ten Network over the year asking me to contact Time Warner and say I want the Big Ten Network. Well, I would like the runners of Ohio, the Midwest, from States which have Big Ten institutions, as well as any cross country/running fan to contact the Big Ten Network office and ask why they are not covering cross country.

Here is the Big Ten Network web page if you would like to voice your support for cross country - http://www.bigtennetwork.com/contact

More info - http://www.runohio.com/read_feature/no- ... en-network

[runohio]

When I wrote the Big Ten Network last week, I got an email back saying they
were not going to be covering the Big Ten Cross Country Championships. In
fact they said that CBS had an exclusive right with the NCAA to cover cross
country and could not televise the race. After talking with a person at then
NCAA office yesterday (who works with broadcast rights), I was told this was
not true. CBS has an exclusive right for the NCAA Division I, II and III
National Cross Country Championships, but not for any league Championships.

Last year, after numerous emails from various people the Big Ten Network sent out a crew to cover the Championships – Here is a link to their coverage -
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/videos/crosscountry.html
I am hopeful they would do the same this year.

Also, the Big Ten Network added cross country yesterday to the sports they
cover on their web site - http://www.bigtennetwork.com/sports/crosscountry

[guru]

Last year, after numerous emails from various people the Big Ten Network sent out a crew to cover the Championships

Not true.

All along they planned to do highlight coverage, though you badgered them as to why they weren't covering the meet in depth. Then, you tried to take credit for the coverage that they had planned to do from the beginning.

http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... 048#406048

http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... 986#407986

[runohio]

Guru, I did not list all of my emails since last September to and from the Big Ten Network on here, but they were posted on the www.runohio.com site.

The first two emails I received back from the Big Ten Network said
1st “We will not be airing the Big Ten Cross Country Championships this year. Hope to air it in the future.”
2nd “As you mentioned, we will not televise the Big Ten Cross Country Championships later this month.”

Now that sounded like they had no plans to cover the races.

However, after a number of people including myself contacted the Big Ten Network I received this email from the Big Ten Network last fall about three weeks before the Championships. “It's certainly possible the cross country championships will receive coverage through on Big Ten Tonight and the Big Ten Women's Show.”

Now it sounds like they “might” cover the races.

It wasn’t until the week of the Championships I received an email saying “We will be sending a team to cover the Big Ten Cross Country Championships and will air it later on the Big Ten Tonight and the Big Ten Women’s Show”

I do think the emails that a number of individuals and I sent to the Big Ten Network helped them decide to cover the championships.

My goal last year and this year is to encourage runners to voice their interest in seeing the Big Ten Network cover cross country and the Men’s and Women’s Big Ten Cross Country Championships. I do not expect them to show the races live, but their coverage last year was good and I am not sure it would have occurred without public input and support.

After the race I emailed the Big Ten Network and thanked them for their coverage and posted a link to their coverage.

Hopefully, as a cable subscriber which now has the Big Ten Network, they will again cover the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships.