Comcast SportsNet

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Comcast SportsNet
NBC Sports Regional Networks, Comcast Sports Group
Comcast SportsNet logo 2012.png
Launched October 1, 1997 (1997-10-01)
Owned by NBC Sports Group (NBCUniversal)
(Comcast)
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Nationwide (through regional affiliates)
Headquarters New York City, New York
Sister channel(s) NBC
NBCSN
Golf Channel
Universal Sports
Website www.comcastsportsnet.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Dish Network Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Cable
Available on some U.S. cable systems Consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability
Verizon FiOS Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
IPTV
AT&T U-verse Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability

Comcast SportsNet (CSN), also known under the corporate names NBC Sports Regional Networks or Comcast Sports Group, is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by Comcast, and operated through the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal.

Each of the networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various professional, collegiate and high school sports teams (with broadcasts typically exclusive to each individual network, although some are shown on more than one CSN network within a particular team's designated market area), along with regional and national sports discussion, documentary and analysis programs. In addition to the seven Comcast SportsNet-branded networks, Comcast is also has a partial ownership interest in SportsNet New York (co-owned with Time Warner Cable and the New York Mets).

Depending on their individual team rights, some Comcast SportsNet outlets maintain overflow feeds available via digital cable, telco and satellite providers in their home markets, which may provide alternate programming when not used to carry game broadcasts that the main feed cannot carry due to scheduling conflicts. Comcast SportsNet's business and master control operations are based in New York City, New York.

History

Origins

The origins of Comcast SportsNet are traced to Comcast's March 19, 1996 purchase of a 66% interest in Spectacor and its primary assets – the Philadelphia Flyers, The Spectrum and the then-recently completed CoreStates Center – for $240 million and the assumption of a collective $170 million in debt; the new Comcast Spectacor (which appointed the company's previous majority owner, Edward M. Snider, as its chairman) also immediately purchased a 66% interest in the Philadelphia 76ers.[1][2]

Immediately after the purchase was announced, there was speculation that Comcast would let Spectacor's television contracts with two local premium services that had long been carrying their games – PRISM (which carried movies and specials, in addition to sports events) and the all-sports network SportsChannel Philadelphia (both owned by Rainbow Media) – run out and create a sports network of its own, buy the existing networks or reach a complex deal with Rainbow to have PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia retain the broadcast rights to the 76ers and Flyers.[3][4] Comcast immediately approached the Philadelphia Phillies – whose contract with PRISM and Sports Channel Philadelphia ended after the 1997 season – about entering into a broadcast deal, indicating it would launch an RSN.[1]

After short-lived discussions between Rainbow Media and Comcast about the latter possibly becoming a part-owner in PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia,[5] on April 25, 1996, Comcast Spectacor formally announced plans to create a new Philadelphia-centric basic cable channel, which would carry sports events from the Flyers (whose contract with PRISM and SportsChannel was set to end that fall and was extended by one year on October 4, 1996, the day before its season home opener, after strained contract negotiations) and the Phillies.[6][7][8] On July 21, 1997, Comcast acquired the local television rights to the Philadelphia 76ers, with the team opting out of its contract with PRISM and SportsChannel that was set to run until the 1999-2000 season.[9]

The launch of the new network, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, effectively shuttered PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia when it launched on October 1, 1997, with the network directly replacing the latter on Philadelphia area local cable systems;[10]

Expansion into other markets

Alternate logo of Comcast SportsNet, used as a corporate logo by the NBC Sports Group.

CSN began to expand with a series of acquisitions and new establishments: on July 11, 2000, Comcast acquired a 75% majority interest in Baltimore-area regional sports network Home Team Sports and Minneapolis-based network Midwest Sports Channel from Viacom for approximately $150 million.[11][12] Minority owner News Corporation, which wanted to acquire full ownership of both networks to make them part of its Fox Sports Net group, sued Comcast and Viacom on July 21 in an attempt to block the sale.[13]

On September 7, 2000, as part of a settlement between the two companies, Comcast traded its equity interest in Midwest Sports Channel to News Corporation in exchange for sole ownership of Home Team Sports.[14] HTS was later relaunched as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on April 4, 2001.[15][16]

On April 30, 2007, Cablevision Systems Corporation sold its 50% ownership interests in FSN Bay Area and FSN New England to Comcast for $570 million (the San Francisco Giants were added as a partner in FSN Bay Area, when the team acquired a 30% stake in the network on December 10);[17][18][19] subsequently, FSN New England rebranded as Comcast SportsNet New England in July 2007,[19] while FSN Bay Area was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area on March 31 of that year.

As the result of the acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast in February 2011, the operations of CSN, along with sister national sports networks Versus and Golf Channel, were integrated into the NBC Sports division. Plans called for NBC-related branding to be eventually incorporated by the Comcast SportsNet outlets, although plans to drop the brand entirely in favor of renaming the collective networks under the NBC Sports brand were shelved in favor of retaining the CSN brand.[20][21] In September 2012, the CSN networks began adopting the NBC Sports graphics package designed by Troika Design Group (introduced as part of a rebranding of the division's on-air presentation in January of that year) for live game coverage and studio shows; the CSN logo was also updated to incorporate the NBC peacock.[22] The networks' flagship program, "SportsNet Central", later adopted the NBC Sports logo and graphics in April 2014.[23]

In April 2012, NBC Owned Television Stations took over responsibilities of selling national advertising on behalf of four CSN networks (New England, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast SportsNet Northwest and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia). For "unwired sales", the Group will be continue to be represented by Home Team Sports. The arrangement is an extension of one that it had established with New England Cable News in 2011.[24]

In early 2012, Comcast signed a contract worth $1 billion with the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets, which formed a new joint venture in which the two teams would own a 77.307% ownership interest in a new Houston-based sports network (with Comcast holding the remaining 22.693% interest); Comcast SportsNet Houston launched on October 1, 2012, assuming the rights to the Rockets and Astros from Fox Sports Houston,[25] which shut down three days later.[26] After filing an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the network on September 27, 2013, to "resolve structural issues affecting CSN Houston's partnership,"[27] DirecTV Sports Networks and AT&T acquired Comcast SportsNet Houston on August 6, 2014 as part of a reorganization plan (with DirecTV as majority owner at 60%).[28] The network was then integrated into DirecTV-operated Root Sports group, which relaunched it as Root Sports Southwest on November 14, 2014.[29]

In markets that did not have an affiliate of that group, Comcast SportsNet also carried national programming distributed by competing regional sports network chain FSN (which included various college sports and UEFA Champions League soccer), a relationship that traced back to the launch of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (which took over the FSN programming rights from SportsChannel Philadelphia).[30] CSN quietly dropped all FSN-supplied programming on August 1, 2012, after failing to reach an agreement to continue carrying FSN's nationally distributed programs.[31] In the Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C./Baltimore markets, programming from Fox Sports Networks airs on local broadcast stations.

Networks

Owned-and-operated outlets

Channel Region served Team rights Year established Formerly operated as Notes
SportsNets
Comcast SportsNet Bay Area San Francisco Bay Area
Northern and central California
parts of Southern Oregon
northwestern Nevada (including the Lake Tahoe-Reno-Carson City region)
San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Golden State Warriors (NBA)
San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
San Jose SaberCats (AFL)
Stanford Cardinal sports (NCAA)
California Golden Bears sports (NCAA)
local coverage of the Pac-12, West Coast, Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences (NCAA)
2008 Pacific Sports Network (1989–1991)
SportsChannel Bay Area (1990–1991)
SportsChannel Pacific (1991–1998)
Fox Sports Bay Area (1998–2000)
Fox Sports Net Bay Area (2000–2004)
FSN Bay Area (2004–2008)
Owned as a joint venture between Comcast (45%), the San Francisco Giants (30%) and 21st Century Fox (25%).[19] Comcast acquired a majority interest in the network from Cablevision in April 2007. While previously branded as an FSN affiliate, it switched to the Comcast SportsNet branding in March 2008.[18]
Comcast SportsNet California Northern and central California
parts of Oregon
parts of Nevada
Oakland Athletics (MLB)
Sacramento Kings (NBA)
San Jose Sharks (NHL)
San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
San Jose SaberCats (AHL)
California Golden Bears sports (NCAA)
San Francisco Dons sports (NCAA)
Sacramento State Hornets sports (NCAA)
Saint Mary's Gaels sports (NCAA)
UC Davis Aggies sports (NCAA)
Pacific Tigers sports (NCAA)
Nevada Wolf Pack sports (NCAA)
San Jose State Spartans sports (NCAA)
2004 Comcast SportsNet West (2004–2008) Created in conjunction with Maloof Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Sacramento Kings and Sacramento Monarchs, after the company opted not to renew its previous contract with FSN Bay Area. Originally launching as Comcast SportsNet West, the channel was renamed Comcast SportsNet California on September 4, 2008.
Comcast SportsNet Chicago Chicago metropolitan area
Illinois, Indiana (except areas near Cincinnati, Evansville and Louisville), Iowa, non-Milwaukee market areas of southern Wisconsin
Chicago Cubs (MLB)
Chicago White Sox (MLB)
Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Chicago Sky (WNBA)
Chicago Fire S.C. (MLS)
Chicago Rush (AFL)
Chicago Bandits (NPF)
Northern Illinois Huskies football (NCAA)
Illinois State Redbirds basketball (NCAA)
2004 Owned by Comcast subsidiary NBCUniversal (20%), the family of Chicago Cubs owner J. Joseph Ricketts (20%), Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf (40%), and Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz (20%). Created in conjunction with the four teams, in order to effectively replace FSN Chicago by giving them better editorial control over their broadcasts.[citation needed]
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Maryland
Virginia
Washington, D.C.
southern Pennsylvania
eastern West Virginia
southern Delaware
Hampton Roads
Outer Banks
Washington Capitals (NHL)
Washington Wizards (NBA)
Washington Redskins (NFL)
(preseason games only)
D.C. United (MLS)
Washington Mystics (WNBA)
Chesapeake Bayhawks (MLL)
Atlantic Coast Conference football and basketball (NCAA)
Colonial Athletic Association sports (NCAA)
2001 Home Team Sports (1984–2001) Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic carried the Baltimore Orioles until 2006, when it lost the rights to the team-owned Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. In 2010, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic split its main website into two regional websites, rebranding them as "Comcast SportsNet Baltimore" and "Comcast SportsNet Washington" to provide individualized coverage of sports events relevant to the two cities.[citation needed]
Comcast SportsNet New England Massachusetts
eastern and central Connecticut (except Fairfield County)
Vermont
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Boston Celtics (NBA)
New England Revolution (MLS)
Boston Cannons (MLL)
Maine Red Claws (D-League)
2007 PRISM New England (1981–1983)
SportsChannel New England (1983–1998)
Fox Sports New England (1998–2000)
Fox Sports Net New England (2000–2004)
FSN New England (2004–2007)
Comcast acquired a majority share from Cablevision in April 2007. The network was renamed Comcast SportsNet New England in October 2007.[32] It does not air programming from the Atlantic Coast Conference, as rights to ACC games are sold on a regional basis within its market territory.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest Washington
Oregon
Portland Trail Blazers (NBA)
Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
(through Sportsnet Pacific)
Portland Thunder (AFL)
Tacoma Rainiers (PCL)
University of Oregon Ducks sports (NCAA)
2007 Created in conjunction with the Trail Blazers after the team was unable to reach an agreement to keep its game broadcasts on FSN Northwest (now Root Sports Northwest). The network is currently available mainly on Comcast systems, and is not carried by Dish Network nor DirecTV. Canby Telcom has accused Comcast of being inflexible in carriage negotiations for the network pertaining to its subscriber rates,[33] with The Oregonian reporting that CSN Northwest was seeking a rate of $2 per month per subscriber, more than what was being paid to the established FSN Northwest.[34]
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia Philadelphia metropolitan area
eastern Pennsylvania
southern and central New Jersey
Delaware
Philadelphia Phillies (MLB)
Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Philadelphia Union (MLS)
Philadelphia Big 5 basketball (NCAA)
Atlantic 10 Conference football and basketball (NCAA)
Colonial Athletic Association sports (NCAA)
1997 Owned by NBC Sports Group (75%) and the Philadelphia Phillies (25%).[35] The flagship of the Comcast regional sports networks, it was the first Comcast SportsNet channel to launch, effectively replacing SportsChannel Philadelphia and PRISM in 1997, and (through its ownership by Phillies and 76ers parent Comcast Spectacor) was a pioneer in team-owned sports networks.[36] Due to its re-use of the infrastructure from PRISM (which does not use any satellite uplinks to distribute programming to providers), it was legally exempt from requirements to offer its programming to satellite provideers. Despite FCC regulation closing the terrestrial loophole in March 2010, CSN Philadelphia remains exclusive to Comcast and Verizon FiOS in the market, and is still unavailable via DirecTV or Dish Network.[37] The approval of Comcast's majority shareholder purchase of NBCUniversal by the FCC in 2011 contained provisions requiring Comcast to make regional sports programming available to competing satellite providers. Comcast blacked out NBC-branded nationally televised first-round playoff games between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins for Philadelphia area DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers (in lieu of the game being broadcast on the [unavailable] CSN Philadelphia) during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Other networks
SportsNet New York (SNY) New York metropolitan area
New York state
Connecticut
northern and central New Jersey
northeastern Pennsylvania
New York Mets (MLB)
New York Jets (NFL)
(team-related programs only)
Big East Conference sports (NCAA)
Sun Belt Conference sports (NCAA)
University of Connecticut Huskies sports (NCAA)
2006 Owned by the New York Mets (65%), Time Warner Cable (27%) and Comcast (8%).
The Comcast Network Mid-Atlantic states
southern Pennsylvania
Eastern League baseball
Colonial Athletic Association football (NCAA)
1996 CN8 (1996–2009) Based in Philadelphia and the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The network is carried on most Comcast systems along the East Coast (from Philadelphia to Richmond, Virginia), and is also carried on other cable providers. The Comcast Network feeds served primarily as local news/information channels, but carry some regional sports programming, including Eastern League baseball and CAA football, as well as select Phillies games within that team's designated market. Originally expanded into the Boston market, the New England operations ceased in 2009.

Former networks

Channel Region served Team rights Formerly operated as Tenure with CSN Notes
Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina Atlanta Dream (WNBA)
Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference sports (NCAA)
Sun Belt Network (1999–2004) 1999–2014 Launched as a joint venture with Charter Communications; available only on cable providers, CSS primarily carried collegiate and high school sporting events. Although it never used the Comcast SportsNet brand, CSS was treated as a sister network to the CSN outlets.
Comcast SportsNet Houston Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico[38] Houston Rockets (NBA)
Houston Astros (MLB)
Houston Dynamo (MLS)
regional college football and basketball
2012–2014 DirecTV and AT&T acquired Comcast SportsNet Houston in November 2014, rebranding it as part of DirecTV's Root Sports group as Root Sports Southwest; the network reached 40% of cable television homes in the Houston market prior to the network's bankruptcy and sale.
Comcast Sports Southwest Houston area Select games from Sun Belt Conference, Southeastern Conference, and Conference USA (particularly those of the University of Houston and Rice University; all NCAA) 2009–2014 The network shut down in October 2012, following the launch of Comcast SportsNet Houston. The network carried events from the Houston Cougars and Rice Owls as well as Houston-area high school sports.[39]
MountainWest Sports Network (The Mtn.) National (based in Denver, Colorado) Air Force Falcons (NCAA)
Boise State Broncos (NCAA)
Colorado State Rams (NCAA)
New Mexico Lobos (NCAA)
SDSU Aztecs (NCAA)
TCU Horned Frogs (NCAA)
UNLV Rebels (NCAA)
Wyoming Cowboys (NCAA)
2006–2012 Launched on September 1, 2006 as a joint venture between the Mountain West Conference, CBS Sports (through the former CSTV) and Comcast. The network was shut down on June 1, 2012 as a result of the Mountain West Conference's team realignment.

Other channels

New England Cable News, a regional news channel owned by Comcast, was operated as a part of Comcast Sports Group and CSN prior to Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal. In July 2013, as part of a corporate reorganization, NECN had its operations transferred to NBC Owned Television Stations (the unit of NBCUniversal Television Group responsible for running NBC and Telemundo's owned-and-operated stations).[40]

Comcast also owned Comcast Local (CL), a Detroit-based sports network that was distributed throughout Michigan and central Indiana. The network provided coverage of local collegiate and high school sports events, as well as minor league sports throughout its broadcast area. Comcast Local ceased operations in February 2008, as every major professional or college team in the region had its programming tied to FSN Detroit and/or the Big Ten Network.[41][42]

Related services

Comcast SportsNet HD

Comcast SportsNet HD is a high definition simulcast feed of select programs from Comcast SportsNet including live sports and series. Each regional channel (and in some cases, their alternate feed) has its own separate high-definition feed, with their own set schedules of programming – including live sports events as well as locally produced and CSN-distributed national programs and live studio shows – available in HD. Comcast SportsNet Northwest currently does not maintain a high-definition simulcast in the Seattle market.

Comcast SportsNet Plus

Most Comcast SportsNet outlets maintain alternate (or overflow) feeds under the Comcast SportsNet Plus brand (with the network's regional name suffixed preceding the "Plus" title) for the broadcast of two or more events involving teams the respective network holds the broadcast rights to carry. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia maintains a different arrangement, using sister channel The Comcast Network to serve as a de facto overflow network in the event that two local games are scheduled to air simultaneously on CSN Philadelphia.

National programs

Programming strategy

Each of the Comcast SportsNet outlets have acquired the play-by-play broadcast rights to major sports teams in their regional market (exempting NFL regular season or playoff games, since the league's contracts require all games to be aired on broadcast television in each participating team's local markets). In addition to local play-by-play coverage, the CSN networks also produce and broadcast pre-game and post-game shows, and broadcasts weekly "magazine" shows centered on the teams that maintain rights with the individual network. In some markets, CSN competes directly with other regional sports networks for the broadcast rights to team-specific programming.

National sports programming

Live national play-by-play

  • NBA regular season and early round playoff games (five games per week; some games are broadcast live and tape delay)

Other sports

See also

References and footnotes

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External links

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