• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 3, 2007

The Big Ten Network said Monday it has reached agreements with 75 small cable operators to carry the channel when it launches Aug. 30. But it has still yet to reach a deal with any of the country's major MSOs, notably Comcast.

The network didn't detail how many homes are covered by the new deals with various hyper-local cable operators in the eight states where Big Ten conference schools are located, citing just "hundreds of thousands."

The main distribution engine for the network, devoted to the 11-school collegiate athletic conference, is DirecTV, which is giving it coverage in some 16 million homes at launch. The deal is an outgrowth of Fox Cable Networks' part ownership in the network, since the programmer and the satellite operator are both part of News Corp. (which is divesting DirecTV).

"As we continue discussions with the largest national cable system operators, we're pleased to know that many of these Midwestern communities will have the network available to them on an expanded basic," said network head Mark Silverman.

The network will carry Big Ten basketball and football games, but many of the attractive ones will be on partner networks, such as ABC and ESPN. Much of its other coverage will be of so-called non-revenue sports.

Big Ten has been in a public carriage dispute with Comcast, which has balked at paying the sub fees the channel is asking for and offering it on the expanded-basic tier the network requested. Comcast reportedly reaches 5.7 million homes in the eight-state footprint, including homes in the Big Ten Network home Chicago market.

"Comcast recently has characterized events that will be on the Big Ten Network as 'second and third tier,' " Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said recently. "I believe Comcast owes every Big Ten university an apology. ... There are no second-rate contests in the Big Ten."

The network launches two days before the Big Ten football season and will include games Sept. 1. involving top teams Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. All three, however, play less-than-marquee opponents.