Big Ten Network to Televise President Obama's Commencement Address at the University of Michigan

Special edition of University Showcase at 10:30 a.m. ET on May 1

The Big Ten Network will offer live television coverage of President Barack Obama's commencement address at the University of Michigan. Live coverage of the commencement from Michigan Stadium will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, May 1, as a special edition of the network's University Showcase programming.
 
President Obama's speech will be the first televised commencement address for the three-year-old network, a partnership between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks. The entire commencement ceremony will also be streamed live at www.BigTenNetwork.com <http://www.bigtennetwork.com/> .
 
Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said such a major national event taking place on a Big Ten campus was a natural fit for the network. "The Big Ten Conference is about more than just athletic excellence. Our universities also represent the very best in higher education. President Obama's commencement address at the University of Michigan is undoubtedly a newsworthy occasion, and we're pleased to be able to carry it live to a national audience."
 
In addition to airing more than 350 live sporting events, studio shows, original programming, coaches' shows and classic games, the network also provides universities the ability to produce programming focused on campus activities unrelated to sports through University Showcase. This year, the network will air over 100 hours of University Showcase.
 
President Obama will become the fourth sitting American president to visit the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, following George H.W. Bush in 1991; Gerald R. Ford, who launched his re-election campaign there in 1976; and Lyndon B. Johnson, who announced the Great Society Program at the campus in 1964. This will be Obama's first visit to the university as president.