It took more than a year for it to happen, but Comcast subscribers within the Big Ten Conference’s eight-state footprint can finally catch a glimpse of the Big Ten Network in their homes starting on Aug. 15.

But in the Philadelphia area only, there is a caveat: you have to be shelling out extra cash each month for Comcast’s premium digital package in order to get BTN. If you are unsure about your current cable viewing status, turn to channel 257. If all you see is static, you are out of luck. But don’t forget, if you simply lived in any other part of Pennsylvania, or in seven other states in the Midwest, you would not be watching a test pattern right now. That’s because those areas get BTN as part of their standard cable package.

If you have helped to make Verizon FiOS one of the nation’s top-10 video distributors just three years since its debut, you are in luck. The Big Ten Network will be made available to you in both standard and high definition very soon.

What does it all mean for Penn State fans? If you get BTN, you won’t be forced to go to a sports bar or else miss three regular season football games this fall like you did a year ago while the network and cable operators squabbled. The Nittany Lions’ season opener on Aug. 30 against Coastal Carolina is the first of at least three PSU games that will be televised by BTN in 2008. The others: a Sept. 20 clash with Temple and at least one conference clash.

At 9 p.m. on Aug. 21, BTN will offer a rare look inside a Penn State football practice during a 90-minute Big Ten Tonight: Penn State Football Practice report. During its inaugural year, the network also provided coverage of 22 other Nittany Lion programs, including 19 men’s basketball games, a dozen women’s basketball games and six matches of the 2007 NCAA Champion women’s volleyball team. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.