Jan. 30, 2007

Veteran sports producer Leon Schweir, winner of multiple national and local Sports Emmy Awards, has been named the Big Ten Network's first head of production, it was announced today by Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman. Assuming his new duties immediately as Executive Producer/Vice President of Production, Schweir reports directly to Silverman and is based at the network's Chicago headquarters. The Big Ten Network, scheduled to launch this August, is a national network dedicated exclusively to Big Ten Conference television programming.

In his new role, Schweir, a Purdue University graduate, is responsible for all of the Big Ten Network's studio and event production. The network will produce approximately 400 live events annually, including football and basketball games from the conference's 11 institutions. Schweir will also oversee all studio shows produced at the network's state-of-the-art production facilities now under construction in Chicago's historic Near North area. The vast majority of events and studio programs will be produced in High-Definition.

"The Big Ten Network is very fortunate to have attracted a television production executive as talented and experienced as Leon Schweir," said Silverman. "He has served in management and as a producer or director on major events like the Summer Olympics and World Series, local telecasts of the New York Yankees and Knicks, and he has created many hours of original series programming. I'm confident that Leon will hire and develop a great team and that the Big Ten Network's programming will be produced at the highest level of quality."
 
"The launch of the Big Ten Network is a tremendous challenge, but one that I'm very anxious to undertake," said Schweir. "Fans of the Big Ten Conference are extremely passionate, and putting together quality telecasts and programming that reflects that passion is a top priority.  We'll be working very hard over the next several months to get things right from the start." 

Schweir comes to the Big Ten Network with more than 25 years of production, programming and management experience. His work has been recognized with two national and 27 local Sports Emmy Awards.

Prior to joining the Big Ten Network, Schweir spent 26 years at Madison Square Garden Networks in New York City. From 2000 until his new appointment, he served as Executive Producer/Vice President of Programming, overseeing the programming for two regional sports networks - Madison Square Garden Network (MSGN) and FSN New York. He also served as Coordinating Producer for MSGN and for many years was the lead producer for New York Yankees telecasts, including the team's four World Championship seasons from 1996 to 2000.

The Big Ten Network, scheduled to launch in August 2007, is dedicated exclusively to the Big Ten Conference and will be the destination for Big Ten fans across the country. Operating 24-hours a day, 365-days a year, the Big Ten Network is majority-owned by the Big Ten Conference, while Fox holds a minority interest in the network. Showcasing a wide array of classic-to-current sports as well as original programming produced by the conference's 11 institutions, it will be available to all carriers and distributors nationwide.  For more information regarding the Big Ten Network, visit www.bigten.org.  For employment opportunities, interested candidates should submit resumes to bigten.jobs@fox.com.