Big Ten Network gives UI stories another place to shine

With the Big Ten Network now on the air, the Iowa Hawkeye athletic teams will soon have a chance to show how good they are to viewers across the nation.

But the network also will give the University’s people and programs that same opportunity to shine.

As part of the agreement creating the Big Ten Network, the conference’s 11 member schools each have 60 hours a year reserved for programming that showcases their academic programs, activities, faculty, staff, and students. Steve Parrott, director of the Office of University Relations and a member of the committee that develops program ideas to showcase the University, says the programming will highlight life at the University and across the Iowa City area.


Ben Hill of the University's Center for Media Production captures footage on the Pentacrest on the UI campus. As part of the agreement creating the Big Ten Network, the conference’s 11 member schools each have 60 hours a year reserved for programming that showcases their academic programs, activities, faculty, staff, and students. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

“The University of Iowa is a great institution because we have great people and great programs, and because Iowa City is a great city,” he says. “These broadcasts on the Big Ten Network give us a chance to tell that story to a lot of viewers, especially prospective students, and show them that Iowa City is a cosmopolitan place with a vibrant social scene.”

The University of Iowa expects to have some programs ready to air later this fall, says Dan Lind, director of the Center for Video Production, which is producing much of the programming content for the Big Ten Network. Among the first to be broadcast will be existing programs filmed for other forums and will be reformatted to fit the style of the Big Ten Network. The programs include biographical features on UI artist and printmaker Mauricio Lasansky, wrestling coach Dan Gable, and the late astronomer and physics professor James Van Allen.

“We have no shortage of stories to tell,” says Rick Klatt, director of athletic marketing and also a member of the programming committee. “We could easily produce three or four stories every week if we had the resources.”

Original programs now in production include:

A feature about the Hawkeye Marching Band’s preseason “hell week” (also the subject of fyi’s Sept. 10 photo feature).
Profiles of Hawkeye mega-fans.
A profile of 94-year-old orthopaedics professor emeritus Ignacio Ponseti, and his revolutionary treatment for clubfoot in children.
A feature about the Project 3000 collaboration between Edwin Stone, director of the UI Center for Macular Degeneration, Chicago Cubs’ first baseman Derrek Lee, and Boston Celtics’ owner Wyc Grousbeck to fight Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis. LCA is a rare eye disease afflicting Lee’s daughter and Grousbeck’s son.
A documentary-style program about the Iowa caucuses featuring experts from University faculty and the Iowa Electronic Markets.

Parrott says those first productions should build an initial library of 10 hours of programming—those shows will be repeated to fill out the University’s 60-hour allotment for the year. Programs will be worked into the Big Ten Network schedule as they are completed, he says, and the University will produce more programs in the future.

“The Big Ten Network is committed to quality programming, both sports and entertainment, and we share that commitment,” Parrott says. “As a result, the production process for developing programs is time-consuming and takes a lot of effort, so it’s something we’ll have to ramp up as we go. We can’t just make quality programs appear.”

Klatt says the University is receiving $7 million from the Big Ten Network; athletics is providing $250,000 to produce the programs. He says the academic programming not only is a great chance to tell the University’s story, it’s also what will set the Big Ten Network apart from its cable competition.

“There are entertainment channels out there, and there are sports channels out there, but the Big Ten Network is the only channel that offers both,” Klatt says. “If all 11 Big Ten schools take full advantage of this opportunity, that will be 660 hours of nonathletic programming on the network, and that creates an incredible diversity of programs.”

The Big Ten Network will air most nonathletic programs during its daytime, late night, and overnight slots, a time that Parrott admits is not ideal but is still valuable.

“We’ll know in advance when these programs will air so we’ll be able to market them to important audiences who will want to tune in,” he says. “For instance, these programs will show prospective students what the University is about, and they’re a great way for alumni to stay connected.”

By Tom Snee