In the last couple of days, there have been some rather persistent rumors online about whether DirecTV's relationship with the Big Ten Network was coming to an end on October 15. The story seems so obviously silly, given DTV's early involvement with the BTN, that it barely seemed worth the trouble, but more than one person reporting receiving such news from a DirecTV customer service representative. I decided to drop a line to Robert Mercer, director of public relations for DirecTV, to ask him whether there was any truth to the rumor that DirecTV is dropping the BTN. Mr. Mercer's prompt response, in full:

I hesitated to send the e-mail, not wanting to give additional circulation to a rumor that defied belief in the first place. If you haven't heard the rumor, then I apologize for spreading it. But it seems to be false, and Mr. Mercer's response seems to be a flat denial with little wiggle room.

Update: After initially posting this, I received an e-mail that was even more unequivocal, if that's possible, from Will Stegemann of DirectTV:

That seems to settle it.