New Head Basketball Coach John Beilein says the Big Ten Network, set to debut Aug. 30, will help with athlete recruitment for all U-M sports. Beilein and others from the University joined Big Ten leaders during an Aug. 8 community update on the status of the national cable and satellite programming service, which is dedicated to the coverage of athletics and academics for all universities in the conference. Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman told those in attendance that some 80 agreements to run the programming have been signed to date but that talks with cable TV companies likely will come down to the wire—typical of such negotiations, he said. The stumbling block with local provider Comcast is that the cable company wants the channel to be placed on a premium tier, while the Big Ten believes it should be part of the basic cable package, accessible to more customers. Silverman urged participants to ask cable providers to carry the network by calling 1-866-WANT-B10. (Photo by Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services)