Basketball, hockey up next for network

The Big Ten Network is gearing up for winter sports coverage, even as the network and cable television giants arm wrestle over where the network can be viewed.

During the next four months, the network will broadcast a wide array of Big Ten sports.

The Badgers are scheduled to go live for at least 14 men’s basketball games, seven women’s games and several men’s hockey games. This is unprecedented national coverage and will include some of Wisconsin’s most heated rivalries, including men’s hoops games against Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.

So where does that leave you if you’re a Wisconsin fan, pining for your cable company to pick up Badger sports? For now you’re out in the cold.

The Big Ten Network is available on Direct TV and Dish Network as well as 15 smaller cable operators around Wisconsin. If you can’t switch or don’t want to because you’re all bundled up in a package deal, you have the option of calling your provider to let them know how you feel, repeatedly if necessary.

University administrators are frustrated as well. As Chancellor John D. Wiley and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez and wrote in an open letter to Badger fans: “We believe strongly that we are doing all that we can to assist the Big Ten Network staff in their negotiations. But, simply put, until the major cable companies are willing to negotiate, our role in the process will remain extremely limited.”

For more information, visit UWbadgers.com or the Big Ten Network.