BTN giddy about Hawkeyes-Spartans match-up

The Big Ten Network's ratings have soared recently, and President Mark Silverman said Wednesday the network could reach another step with Saturday's Iowa-Michigan State game.

“We've had some access to good games but nothing like this run of games we've had, and nothing like the game we're going to have this Saturday night,” Silverman said in a phone interview with The Gazette.

The network, which is owned jointly by the Big Ten Conference and Fox, earned its best ratings Oct. 3. Two day games combined to earn a 4.7 household rating, which means about 4.7 million people viewed those games in nine Midwestern markets.

“I think it's going to be interesting to see if we set a new record,” Silverman said. “Iowa is obviously one of the smaller states versus Michigan or Ohio, but the degree of passion the fans have is so huge. We're definitely looking for very significant rating on Saturday night.

“We think we have the best match-up in prime time on Saturday.”

No. 7 Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) has lost in its last four trips to Michigan State, including last year's 16-13 loss. Michigan State (4-3, 3-1 Big Ten) has won three straight and is tied for second in the Big Ten behind Iowa.

ABC gets first choice of Big Ten games, followed by a rotation between the Big Ten Network and ESPN's channels. ABC selected Penn State-Michigan months ago, and the BTN picked Iowa-Michigan State for a night slot.

“Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I thought this would be as important as it is,” Silverman said. “We thought it be an attractive match-up between two teams last season that obviously showed a significant trending up.”

Former Hawks on BTN

Ex-Iowa basketball player Kenyon Murray of Cedar Rapids will call basketball six games for BTN this winter.

Murray, who works as a territory manager for Tulsa Dental, will call Iowa's games against Michigan State, Illinois and Northwestern and three non-conference games.

“It allows me to stay involved with something I love, which is basketball, and I went into it just doing it as fun and I got to liking it working with WMT,” Murray said. “Obviously, having the door open with the Big Ten Network, I was like I might as well jump right through and see what happens.

“It's an opportunity that doesn't come across all the time so I figured I'd be silly to not even try it. When you get your backing from your wife and she tells you do it 900 times then that's a pretty good vote of confidence to go ahead and try to do it.”

Anthony Herron, a former Iowa defensive end, is in his second year with the network and is an analyst for “Big Ten Sites and Sounds.”

“We now have Anthony Herron on Wednesday, to join with Troy Vincent,” Silverman said. “We were hoping Anthony would come on board, and Anthony has been a great addition to that show.”