Around this time a year ago I was checking the news daily for any hope that Mediacom and the Big Ten Network would strike a deal. Thankfully they did, just in time for the football season (though I did have to watch a game or two on the Mediacom Connection Channel). Well, this year there is even better news: Big Ten Network HD! For all you stuck with Mediacom out there, in case you hadn't noticed, you will find BTN HD on channel 834.I've had my HDTV for a little while now, but never bothered to get an HD box from Mediacom as they are generally a hassle to deal with and their HD lineup is just okay. But, once I heard that the BTN was coming in HD I called up Mediacom and got my old digital box traded in for the HD box. And let me say this, it was totally worth it. The BTN looks fantastic in HD and I can't wait for the season to start to watch some real football.
Also, the programming on the BTN has gotten noticeably better I think. The Big Ten Football Tour has been excellent and they are coming to Iowa City today! The actual show will be on at 9:00 tonight. I also thought that they had good coverage of the Big Ten Media Days and I am excited about their 4 new football shows premiering this fall. One last note, I think they have embraced social media exceptionally well. They have an active and informative twitter accounts (@BTN_IOWA for Hawkeye updates), decent blogs and podcast, and have a fairly nice website that features lots of videos. Now, if they'd just get rid of that Friday Night Tailgate show...(that's actually okay too, and I read that they are tweaking things to make it better).