Charter's next on the block to add the Big Ten Network and "related programming" in time for Saturday's football openers. No word whether or not this will include the HD version of the network, or if it will be in time for the start of the season, but it is definitely on the way. In a minor footnote, Charter mentioned that in addition to carrying the BTN across its systems in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Northern Illinois it's also reupping Jim Tressel's snazzy sweatervest collection, teaching Terrelle Pryor the correct name of "the University of Ohio State University" and teaching Ohio State how to defend against the spread offense. Good times all around.

Proud Buckeyes (& other fans in Big Ten country) served by Time Warner Cable can expect a new addition to their channel lineup ahead of Saturday's season opener against Youngstown State. On the way is the Big Ten Network's HD feed and video on-demand programming, so you don't have to worry about missing a snap as Ohio State looks forward to it's weak non-conference schedule (aside from USC) and the tantalizing future of yet another BCS Championship defeat at the hands of SEC speed. Cox customers take heart, word is they are also close to an agreement, not surprising now that TWC and Comcast have worked out their differences with BTN. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks, Mike & Paul]

Update: Unfortunately not everyone will have the HD & VOD packages in time for the August 30 game, but if you can stomach just one 480i game against punching bag Youngstown State, they're promised to be added "later" (Go Wolverines!). [Thanks Paul!]

Vermont and some Pennsylvania Comcast subscribers should have a few additional HD choices on their sets in short order. Harrisburg and Hershey, PA subscribers can expect 10 new high definition channels Friday, with AMC HD, Animal Planet HD, Big Ten Network HD, CNN HD, Fox New Channel HD, FX HD, The History Channel HD, NHL Network HD, Speed Channel HD and The Weather Channel HD. Vermont launched nine new networks today, including Disney HD, ABC Family HD, TLC HD, AMC HD, Science Channel HD, Animal Planet HD, Sci-Fi HD, The Movie Channel HD and Showtime 2 HD. Go forth, and feed your HDTV the episodes of Mad Men and Battlestar Galactica it's been wanting.

Read - Vermont
Read - Pennsylvania

After what felt like an endless battle, Comcast and the Big Ten Network were finally able to hammer out broadcast details earlier this year. Right on schedule, the channel is expected to go live in the Big Ten region tomorrow, August 15th, on its expanded basic level of service. Of course, the HD feed will be included as well, and fanatics in the footprint can get set as the action begins with Indiana taking on Western Kentucky on August 30th. Are you ready for some football?

For fans of HD in Adrian, Michigan that haven't already signed up with DISH Network or DirecTV (yeah, all five of you), help is on the way. Comcast will finally be bringing high-definition to Lenawee County later this month after years of pleading from locals. Aside from seeing a number of channels find new homes as many of its analog signals are replaced with digital alternatives, high-definition will apparently be introduced for the first time -- or at least in a substantial capacity. All we know thus far is that Big Ten Network will land just in time for the college football season, though we'll have to wait until August 18th to see what other changes are in store.

Ahem, Verizon? Yeah -- pretty sure we're well aware of your intentions to carry Big Ten Network on FiOS TV. You know, considering it was in the tagline of your release last week affirming the addition of 22 new channels. Nevertheless, things seem to be more official than ever now, with both Verizon and the BTN jointly announcing that it will soon be available in both SD and HD flavors. Currently, the channel is only live in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but it's scheduled to roll out to other areas during the next few months. Thanks for the reminder Verizon, now, could you launch it any sooner maybe?

Whoa, Nelly! After what seems like eons, Comcast and the Big Ten Network have finally put their problems aside and reached an agreement. Of course, we heard yesterday that the deal was close, but we didn't exactly predict that it was this close. Under the terms of the deal, Comcast will "initially launch BTN as part of its expanded basic level of service to promote it to the majority of its customers residing in states with Big Ten universities on August 15th. Next Spring, the carrier reserves the right to "move the network to a broadly distributed digital level of service in most of its systems in these states." As expected, users will have access to all high-definition feeds as well, which is sure to bring a smile to Big Ten fanatics across Comcast's footprint.

Could it finally be happening? The bigwigs at Comcast and Big Ten Network are actually closing in on a deal? According to a recent writeup originating in the Chicago Tribune, a long-awaited partnership between the carrier and station is expected to become official at any moment. A BTN spokesperson told the Star Tribune that "while the deal between the sides is close, there is nothing to report at this point." However, the individual did admit that the two parties "remain close to reaching an agreement." Needless to say, quite a few individuals (hundreds of thousands, actually) in the Big Ten footprint would be elated to have their upcoming football season around and in HD, but considering just how long this bickering has been going on, we aren't jotting this one in stone quite yet.

For fans of Big Red and baseball alike, get ready for quite the baseball season -- from the comfort of your couch. Reportedly, a minimum of eight Cornhusker baseball games will be televised this year, with the vast majority in HD. The team's first TV appearance will be a showing on FSN on March 29th, while five others will be carried across the state on NET-1 and NET-HD (Nebraska Educational Television). Nationally, supporters of the team can catch their April 8th tilt with Iowa on the Big Ten Network, and we wouldn't be surprised to see more games added in the future.

[Image courtesy of CollegePublisher]

Sure, college football season is still a good ways away, but Big Ten fans can get their minds off of said dilemma by focusing on the 2008 Big Ten Championships on the Big Ten Network. Reportedly, the station will broadcast men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field and wrestling during a six-week span from February 29th through April 5th, and every minute of every event will be aired in high-definition. Things get kicked off at 8:00PM EST on the last day of February when the Women's Swimming and Diving Championships take place from Ohio State's campus -- 'tis a shame you Charter and Comcast folks will (still) be left in the dark, huh?

[Image courtesy of OSU]

Don't worry -- that feeling of déjà vu actually isn't just in your head. Going back as far as last June, you'll find disagreements between Comcast and Big Ten Network, and for whatever reason, those conflicts still exist today. Just days after we heard that BTN remained anxious to land a deal with Charter, a new report out of the Chicago Tribune asserts that wheels are still spinning between the network and Comcast. Reportedly, BTN President Mark Silverman was "optimistic" about inking an agreement last month, but here we are a month later without any sort of deal in place. Granted, Mr. Silverman still suggests that talks are continuing, but we're beginning to wonder how long it'll be before these friendly conversations lead to a bona fide business transaction.

Make no mistake, Big Ten Network has been quite successful in getting itself on a number of providers, but to this day, Charter subscribers in the eight-state Big Ten footprint are still missing out. According to a new report, the network is still anxious to get a deal done with Charter, as quite a chunk of Minnesota Gophers fans are currently cheering through Tubby Smith's inaugural season without the ability to view some 17 of the team's games. 'Course, we've no idea if Charter is even close to forking out the coinage required to land a carriage agreement, but at least one side isn't backing down, right?

Considering just how zany this past weekend was in the world of college football, it's good to see that even more folks now have access to even more games. Wide Open West, which serves around 400,000 domiciles in the Big Ten's eight-state footprint, announced that it had landed a deal with the Big Ten Network to position the channel "on its expanded basic package." This agreement pushes the network beyond the "the 30 million subscriber mark within a month of its launch," but a number of major players (namely Cox, Charter, Comcast, Time Warner Cable [partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget], and Mediacom) have still refused to shake hands on terms.

Wow, that was some game against Michigan and Appalachian state last weekend on the BigTen Network. We'd tell you how great the HD looked if we actually got to see it, but with all the providers sitting on the sidelines, we're not sure if anyone was able to enjoy the HD broadcast. Comcast fans have to wait longer than DirecTV -- when does hell start freezing again? -- who should be carrying the games in HD as soon as DirecTV 10 is operational, but DISH subscirbers get to start enjoying HD college football tomorrow, thanks to a deal that was struck yesterday that puts the BigTen Network on DISH through the next basketball season. At that point it will continue to be carried in at least BigTen country on the America's Top 100 tier.