The Big Ten Network is offering something other than sports today.
U-W Madison political science professor Charles Franklin discusses the results of a Midwest political poll aimed at determining the attitudes of voters in the eight states where the Big Ten Conference is located. But, isn't the Big Ten Network all about sports?
"Well it is where we think of sports but remember part of the purpose of the Big Ten Network was to also support academic programs within the Universities."
Franklin, the co-creator of Pollster.com , says this show offers something different than what's already out there on all the networks, with political spin coming from both sides of the aisle.
"The one thing that academics at least can do is step back a little bit from that and try to present a little bit more detail about what's happening in the campaign and why, and hopefully do it without any partisan spin."
In this election year, five key battleground states are in the Midwest and have Big Ten universities in them, including Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The results of this regional poll — of 600 people in each state — will be presented in a 90-minute show called "Big Ten Battleground: Campaign 2008," starting at three on the Big Ten Network. The results will also be available on-line beginning at 3 p-m at www.BigTenPoll.Org .
The Big Ten Battleground Poll will be repeated in mid-October.
Ken Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project , which tracks political ads on television, joins in the discussion.