Big Ten Network: tracing a public-relations war

On the homepage of the official Penn State news site, you'll find a digital clock that's faithfully counting down to the Big Ten Network's launch date  -- right there in the upper left-hand corner.

Click the link below it -- it says "Big Ten Network News" -- and you'll be spirited into a repository of public relations: a full list of Penn State-BTN press releases sent this summer to the news media. At least 14 times since June 29, Penn State has issued BTN-related advisories and statements to us.

That, of course, doesn't count the steady stream of other advisories released by the network itself (Go here for a sampling of those) -- nor the  multiple offers that official BTN advocates have extended to news reporters, inviting us to chat with executives involved in the network. (Come back to this blog post soon to read excerpts of interviews with a couple BTN on-air personalities.)

Indeed, the public and behind-the-scenes campaigns to stir support for BTN -- and to get TV viewers to demand it -- has been a recurring presence in newsrooms across the eight Big Ten states this summer. As noted in today's Centre Daily Times, even the Penn State Alumni Association has jumped into the fray and sought its members' support for BTN.

Penn State is hardly alone among its Big Ten peers. The University of Michigan athletics department has taken up the cause here; the Wisconsin Alumni Association, here; and the MSU Alumni Association, here.

Among official news services at the Big Ten universities, Penn State Live appears to offer one of the strongest ongoing public emphases on BTN. Its well-placed homepage feature on the BTN stands in marked contrast to news sites at Ohio State, the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. None of those included any homepage attention for BTN as of Sunday morning.

In any case -- Comcast, which has sparred repeatedly and publicly with BTN executives over distribution, has helped drive online conversations, too. This slick site is a direct affront to BTN arguments. And it has corporate support from the Philadelphia-based media giant.

The jousting from all sides is almost a sport in itself.

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And BTN has what to do with education, research, and service?