Business Unit News
Big Ten Network to Televise President Obama's Commencement Address at the University of Michigan
Special edition of University Showcase at 10:30 a.m. ET on May 1
April 15, 2010 - CHICAGO & ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The
Big Ten Network will offer live television coverage of President
Barack Obama’s commencement address at the University of
Michigan. Live coverage of the commencement from Michigan
Stadium will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, May 1, as a
special edition of the network’s University Showcase
programming.
President Obama’s speech will be the first televised
commencement address for the three-year-old network, a
partnership between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable
Networks. The entire commencement ceremony will also be streamed
live at
www.BigTenNetwork.com.
Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said such a major
national event taking place on a Big Ten campus was a natural
fit for the network. “The Big Ten Conference is about more than
just athletic excellence. Our universities also represent the
very best in higher education. President Obama’s commencement
address at the University of Michigan is undoubtedly a
newsworthy occasion, and we’re pleased to be able to carry it
live to a national audience.”
In addition to airing more than 350 live sporting events, studio
shows, original programming, coaches’ shows and classic games,
the network also provides universities the ability to produce
programming focused on campus activities unrelated to sports
through University Showcase. This year, the network will air
over 100 hours of University Showcase.
President Obama will become the fourth sitting American
president to visit the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
following George H.W. Bush in 1991; Gerald R. Ford, who launched
his re-election campaign there in 1976; and Lyndon B. Johnson,
who announced the Great Society Program at the campus in 1964.
This will be Obama’s first visit to the university as president.
Editor’s Note: For interviews with Big Ten Network President
Mark Silverman, contact Mike Vest.
About the Big Ten Network: A joint venture between the Big Ten
Conference and Fox Cable Networks, the Big Ten Network is the
first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering
one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With
approximately 350 live sporting events, and nearly all of them
in HD, the 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. The network
operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, showcasing a wide
array of classic-to-current sports and televising 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.
Each year, the network offers between 35 and 40 football games,
105 regular season men’s basketball games; 55 women’s basketball
games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows;
coaches’ shows; and classic games. Available to all cable and
satellite providers nationwide and in Canada, the network
currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates,
including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision,
Charter, Comcast, Cox (Cleveland, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas,
Omaha), DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable
(Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable
and Verizon FiOS. For updated information on the Big Ten
Network, go to
www.BigTenNetwork.com.
Contact:
Mike Vest
Big Ten Network
(312) 665-0737
Laura Lessnau
University of Michigan
(734) 647-1851