Big Ten Network will join Time Warner lineup

COLUMBUS - Chalk up a victory for the Big Ten against a national power.

Late Monday night, Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network reached an agreement in principle allowing the nation's second-largest cable company to carry the year-old network's programming.

That means Buckeye fans who subscribe to Time Warner will be able to watch Saturday's season opener against Youngstown State, and subsequent games carried by BTN, from the comfort of home.

The agreement ends a yearlong stalemate between Time Warner, the dominant cable company in central Ohio, and BTN, which is expected to broadcast three of the first five Buckeye games this season, including the Big Ten opener against Minnesota.

Terms of the agreement were not immediately available.

Time Warner and BTN issued the following joint statement:

"Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network announced today that they have reached an agreement-in-principle on terms of carriage for the Big Ten Network and its high-definition and video-on-demand programming on Time Warner Cable's line-ups throughout the Big Ten territory, including Ohio and Wisconsin.

"The pending agreement will ensure that Time Warner Cable's customers across these Big Ten states will have access to this Saturday's Big Ten college football season openers and all future Big Ten Network programming on an expanded basic level of service."