BTN Debuts 'BTN LiveB1G' Monday

CHICAGO, Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BTN debuts a new show Monday that explores how Big Ten universities are improving lives and giving back through innovations in research, education and community service. The 12-episode series, called BTN LiveB1G, will include a 30-minute show featuring each Big Ten university.

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BTN LiveB1G is the second BTN collaborative campus program series produced in conjunction with the Big Ten Conference and its 12 universities.  The first was 2012's Impact the World. Since the network launched in 2007, BTN has aired programs produced from each Big Ten university under the University Showcase heading.

BTN LiveB1G – Indiana debuts at 9 PM ET following the Indiana at Penn State men's basketball game. The episode will include several stories that showcase the impact of people and programs at IU. For example:

• Caring for the needs of veterans has been at the forefront of a partnership between Indiana's School of Medicine and the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis.  Dr. Kurt Kroenke and his team work with veterans to explore innovative approaches to combat chronic pain, with the goal of creating a model that can help public and private hospital systems around the country.
• IU offers students a competition to create a business plan focused on Internet and software technologies through the B.E.S.T. program – Building Entrepreneurs in Software and Technology – which is one of the largest student-based entrepreneurial competitions in the country. Students work together to submit business plans focused on Internet and software technologies, and the first-place winner could earn at least $100,000.
• IU researchers extend their impact far beyond Bloomington through their work with HIV patients in Kenya.  More than 140,000 patients have been treated through a program called AMPATH, which has expanded to 60 sites throughout the country. 
• Back in the U.S., television icon and IU alum Jane Pauley works with the nation's most underprivileged children at a Harlem organization called The Children's Health Fund. 
• And back home in Bloomington, IU alum Julio Alonso is working to end hunger through his work with the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Future BTN LiveB1G air dates are:      

BTN is co-producing the series with Chicago-based TeamWorks Media, a creative content company that specializes in producing inspirational stories that also produced Impact the World.

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. Events include football, men's and women's basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches' shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women's sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation's finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 80 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.

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