BTN-Dish standoff ends

The three-week standoff between satellite provider Dish Network and the Big Ten Network is officially and unreservedly over.

In an email dated 4:28 a.m. Saturday, Elizabeth Conlisk, BTN vice president for communications and university relations, released a statement confirming the two sides had reached an agreement.

"Big Ten Network (BTN) and Dish have reached an agreement that returns BTN to the Dish channel lineup," the statement reads. "We’re pleased that both sides could eventually come together, and we thank fans for their patience."

The pair had been at loggerheads over a new carrier agreement, after their original five-year deal expired Aug. 31. A temporary agreement was reached at one point, to keep BTN on Dish for the first weekend of the college football season, but unlike that arrangement, this one is expected to be formal and permanent.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the statement. When the original agreement expired, Dish had approximately 2.5 million customers with the Big Ten Network in their package, according to a source familiar with the situation. What that number is today is not clear.