New network to launch Aug. 30, dive into games

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CHICAGO -- The Big Ten Network will launch Aug. 30 with a highlight show and follow two days later with its first football games.

The network will go on the air at 8 p.m. ET on a Thursday. On Saturday, there will be regional coverage of Appalachian State-Michigan, Youngstown State-Ohio State, Florida International-Penn State and Northeastern-Northwestern.

The conference Monday also announced distribution commitments for more than 75 local cable systems serving viewers in the eight states in which there are Big Ten schools.

"We're well on our way toward ensuring that roughly half the subscribers to smaller cable systems across the Midwest have better access to their favorite Big Ten schools and teams than anytime in history," Big Ten Network president Mark Silverman said in a statement.

The Big Ten also has an agreement with DirecTV. The conference has been feuding with Comcast over whether the cable provider, which has 5.7 million subscribers in the eight states, will carry the network.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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