Major League Baseball on regional sports networks
Encyclopedia
In the United States of America and Canada
, a regional sports network
, or RSN, is a cable television
station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate an overwhelming percentage of an RSN's advertising income. During the rest of the day, these stations show other sports and recreation programming. These channels are often the source content for out-of-market packages
.
Most regional sports networks in the United States are either affiliated with Fox Sports Net
or Comcast SportsNet
, with supplemental programming from networks such as America One
, AMGTV
or ESPNEWS
.
In Canada
, Rogers Sportsnet
operates four regional sports networks.
were relocated to Washington, D.C.
in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for the new franchise
. Since at least 1981, Major League Baseball
had designated the Baltimore Orioles television territory to extend from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Orioles agreed to share its territory with the Nationals in return for the ability to present the Nationals games on the Orioles television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
. The Orioles have a 90 percent stake in MASN and MLB paid the Orioles $75 million for 10 percent of the regional sports network. When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in July 2006 they became part owners in MASN. Over the next 23 years, the Washington Nationals’ stake in the network will increase to 33 percent. Under the current arrangement, MASN paid the Nationals $20 million to broadcast their games in 2005.
baseball coverage began in 1984 on the New England Sports Network
, airing mostly road games on the newly-formed pay cable channel. Former Sox second baseman Kent Derdivanis
served as the play-by-play announcer and Mike Andrews
provided color commentary. NESN periodically sent guest color commentators to the booth, with the likes of Rico Petrocelli
, Bill Monbouquette
, and Dick Radatz
. The in-studio host was a young man just out of Syracuse University
named Sean McDonough
.
Fast-forwarding 24 years later, NESN now carries full coverage (minus some nationally broadcast games on FOX
and ESPN
) of Red Sox games as well as in-depth pre- and post-game shows. Unlike previous seasons where it split coverage with over-the-air stations, it now broadcasts all games not on national television, using the slogan "One Nation
, One Network". In 2006, it became the first network to broadcast all its Major League Baseball
team's games in High Definition, available to cable providers throughout New England, DirecTV, AT&T U-Verse (in CT) and Verizon FIOS (in MA). Dish Network only provides NESN in HD during live Red Sox , Boston Bruins
, Hartford Colonials (UFL
), as of 2010, and College Hockey games, most notably The Beanpot (Ice Hockey) Tournament.
2004
, FSN Chicago
lost broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area when the owners of the Bulls
, White Sox
, Blackhawks
, and Cubs
decided to end their agreement with the network and partnered with Comcast
to form Comcast SportsNet Chicago
. This led to a number of cable/satellite providers dropping the network. With the end of local pro sports coverage, FSN Chicago became mostly a feeder channel of the national network's entire schedule, some minor local and semi-pro
teams, Midwestern outdoors programs, and sports rights and games from other college conferences of little interest to Chicago area viewers. In 2005
, Cablevision bought all of FSN Chicago when NewsCorp swapped assets with the cable company.
is owned by the Dolan family, which owns the Indians team. It is operated as a separate business venture. It can be compared to the New York Yankees
' YES Network
, as both were started primarily to broadcast each team's games, however they differ in that YES is owned by a holding company that also owns the Yankees, whereas STO is a venture separate from the Indians that is directly owned by Larry Dolan, Cleveland Indians owner.
Thirty minutes before each Indians Game, STO airs "Indians on Deck," a pre-game show hosted by Al Pawlowski. It features highlights from the previous game, a preview of the upcoming game, and news around baseball.
The commentators during the game are Matt Underwood, Rick Manning, and Jim Donovan (WKYC games only). All home games on STO and all games on WKYC are in High Definition. After the game, there is a postgame show recapping the game and featuring an interview with Indians manager, Manny Acta
.
in 1984, who at the time also owned the Detroit Tigers
. In 1992, Monaghan sold the Tigers to Mike Ilitch
and PASS was sold to Post-Newsweek Stations
and merged with the Post's Detroit television station WDIV (Detroit's NBC affiliate).
Following the purchase, PASS moved its studios and offices from Ann Arbor, MI to WDIV's in Detroit. PASS became available on basic cable, (under Monaghan it was a premium cable network). Post-Newsweek made the station 24-hours, (under Monaghan it only airing in the evening and on weekends).
Fox Sports Detroit
was launched as a competitor to PASS in 1996. After a surprise bid in 1996 to pick up the rights to the Detroit Pistons
, Fox Sports Detroit began planning to launch their network two years later.
When Detroit Red Wings
and Detroit Tigers
rights were up for bid, Fox Sports Detroit decided to accelerate their launch date by bidding and winning the rights to the Red Wings beginning with the 1997-98 season and the Tigers beginning in 1998. The Washington Post Company, the parent company of Post-Newsweek Stations
sold the remaining year (1998) of the Tigers, Pistons contracts and the contract of broadcaster John Keating to Fox Sports Detroit. Fox Sports Detroit is now the exclusive local home of the Detroit Tigers.
was a regional sports network
in the United States
. It was owned by Anheuser-Busch
and was launched on April 2, 1984.
The new network was a way for Anheuser-Busch to show additional games of the St. Louis Cardinals
, the Major League Baseball
team it owned at the time. Games of the Cincinnati Reds
and Kansas City Royals
baseball teams, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League
, and various college sports teams also aired on the network.
Sports Time showed Reggie Jackson
's 500th career home run on September 17, 1984. The Royals were playing the California Angels
in Anaheim, California
that night.
After a season of obvious frustration, Anheuser-Busch pulled the plug on Sports Time at the end of March 1985. Today, the Cardinals and Reds are shown on Fox Sports Net
in their respective regions, Midwest and Ohio. Beginning with the 2008 season, Fox Sports Kansas City will show most Royals games. For the first season, 140 games are scheduled to be aired. The Blues are also shown on FSN Midwest.
(originally Z Channel
) the following season.
NOW, the Dodgers games are shown on Prime Ticket, and Angels games are shown on Fox Sports West. One other local network showing the Angels games is the over-the-air MY 13 Los Angeles network, or KCOP-TV
Los Angeles.
baseball team
launched Victory Sports One as a cable
and satellite television
regional sports network
in October 2003. Victory Sports, of course, became the exclusive TV home of Twins games; in addition, it planned coverage of various Minnesota
college
and high school
games. The channel also simulcast ESPNEWS
.
The Twins opted to retain the local broadcast rights for game broadcasts after the 2003 season
, in order to carry the games on their own network, after carriage for many years on Midwest Sports Channel (now known as FSN North
). The model for the plan was the success of the New York Yankees
' YES Network
.
However Victory Sports was unable to obtain carriage from the primary cable television
providers in the Twin Cities, the rest of the state of Minnesota, and the Dakotas, or from DirecTV
or Dish Network
. During the 2004 season
, the Twins quickly re-signed with FSN North to placate viewers inconvenienced by the change.
was the cable home of the New York Yankees
. MSG paid an average of $55 million a year for those rights, and the deal is widely credited as having started a national trend towards greater team coverage on regional sports networks, with more games being broadcast than over-the-air stations' regular programming schedules could usually permit. MSG also produced the Yankees radio broadcasts from 1994 to 2001, which aired on WABC
. MSG also owned the over the air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which they sold to long-time broadcaster WPIX
from 1989–1998 and WNYW
from 1999-2001 (at the time, NewsCorp owned part of MSG). In 2002, the Yankees left MSG to form the YES Network
. From 2002 to 2005, MSG aired games from Major League Baseball
's New York Mets
on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, games which previously aired on FSNY (MSG, FSNY, and WPIX each carried about 50 games a season on consistent days of the week). Like the Yankee deals, Cablevision also owned the broadcast TV rights, placing games on WWOR-TV
before moving to WPIX
in 1999. After the 2005 baseball season, Met games moved to SportsNet New York
, a cable network partially owned by the Mets, although WPIX retained a reduced slate of games. Comcast and Time Warner, which generally control whatever NYC-area cable systems Cablevision doesn't (Time Warner controls most of Upstate New York as well), are the other partners.
, Alaska
and parts of Idaho
and Montana
. Rogers Sportsnet Pacific carries selected telecasts to areas of Western Canada that are within the Mariners broadcast territory.
games were the featured attraction on the Canadian national sports channel TSN
when it launched in 1984 – since at that point (and until 1995), both the Blue Jays and TSN were owned by beer company Labatt. Although TSN is not a "regional" sports network per sé, these broadcast rights were sold by the team (not MLB) in much the same fashion that regional rights are sold in the United States; however, games would often be subject to blackouts in Quebec
during the existence of the Montreal Expos
. TSN continued to carry Blue Jays games until 2009.
In addition, in the past some Blue Jays games were televised nationally (with the same caveat regarding blackouts in Quebec) on Canadian over-the-air networks, namely CBC
and CTV
.
Since 2001, the Blue Jays, now a subsidiary of Rogers Communications
, have been once again co-owned with a cable sports channel – Rogers Sportsnet
, a set of regional sports networks serving various parts of Canada. Since the 2010 season, Sportsnet has served as the team's exclusive Canadian TV broadcaster. Most Blue Jays games are broadcast nationally in Canada across all four of Sportsnet's regional feeds (which, while subject to blackouts when necessary for NHL broadcasts, are carried nationwide on digital television services). Some games now air on Rogers Sportsnet One
, a new national sports channel which launched in 2010.
2004
, FSN Chicago
lost broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area when the owners of the Bulls
, White Sox
, Blackhawks
, and Cubs
decided to end their agreement with the network and partnered with Comcast
to form Comcast SportsNet Chicago
. This led to a number of cable/satellite providers dropping the network. With the end of local pro sports coverage, FSN Chicago became mostly a feeder channel of the national network's entire schedule, some minor local and semi-pro
teams, Midwestern outdoors programs, and sports rights and games from other college conferences of little interest to Chicago area viewers. In 2005
, Cablevision bought all of FSN Chicago when NewsCorp swapped assets with the cable company.
to 1996
, the Rockies were without a cable television affiliate. That changed, when FSN Rocky Mountain
acquired the regional cable rights in 1997
, and the team has aired most of its games on that network since then, sharing some of its games with KWGN
(1997–2002) and KTVD-My 20
(2003–2008). Starting in 2009, FSN Rocky Mountain
became the exclusive TV outlet for the Rockies.
to 2005
, the Marlins Television Network
aired games to homes not only in South Florida but to other parts of Florida
. The network was produced by the same crew that telecast Marlins games on cable television. When FSN Florida
signed an exclusive long-term deal for Marlins baseball starting in the 2006 season
, that signaled the end of the Marlins Television Network as a majority of those telecasts would air on Sun Sports
.
from its inception in 1983 until the mid-1990s, when the network became part of the Prime Sports Networks
. Prime Sports Southwest lasted only two years before its parent company was purchased by News Corporation and renamed Fox Sports Southwest. In 2005, a sub-feed of Fox Sports Southwest was formed, called Fox Sports Houston
, which focused on Houston-based teams including the Astros. In January 2009, Fox Sports Houston broke away from its parent network and is now a stand-alone network.
, Dodgers
, Ducks
, and all other events that FSN West didn't have room for. This is after the December 1993 shut-down of SportsChannel Los Angeles
, which left their home teams with only over-the-air and part-time cable coverage locally.
(SNY) is a New York City
-based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area
and all of New York state
, and nationwide via satellite
. It is owned jointly by the New York Mets
, Time Warner
, and Comcast
.
SNY will carry 120 Mets games during 2007 season (with the remainder airing on WPIX
, Fox
, and ESPN
). Bill Webb, who directs the World Series
and the All-Star Game
for Fox, is the director for Mets broadcasts on both SNY and WPIX.
and Philadelphia Flyers
, along with the Philadelphia Phillies
.
CSN Philadelphia debuted on October 1, 1997, replacing the old PRISM Network in the Philadelphia area. The Phillies own a minority share of the channel.
CSN Philadelphia's studios and offices are located inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. CSN Philadelphia also has a small studio inside Citizens Bank Park
, which is used sporadically during the baseball season.
In addition, Comcast owns CN8, which on occasion will air Phillies games in the Philadelphia metro area when a Flyers or 76ers game airs on CSN Philadelphia. WPHL-TV
also carries a slate of games from each team. WPSG
formerly carried Phillies games, but WPHL-TV
took broadcasting rights in 2009.
baseball team since 1997, and has been the exclusive local TV home of the Padres since 2004. Since 2003, 4SD has broadcasted at least 100-140 Padres games annually in high-definition
. Besides its award-winning Padres coverage, the station features shows about the area's other sports teams including the NFL Chargers
, high school sports, and the athletic teams of San Diego State University
and the University of San Diego
. The channel was launched by Cox Communications as an outlet used as an experiment during the 1996 Republican
Convention, as well as providing around-the-clock coverage for the Super Bowl
festivities at Qualcomm Stadium
in 1998.
In 2001, the Padres and Cox Communications signed a 10-year extension for broadcast rights, as a result of the deal, Channel 4 has a state-of-the-art broadcast center located at Petco Park
.
and 1989
, the Cardinals aired 50 games a season, first on Sports Time
(1984), then on pay-per-view on Cencom. After being off cable television for four seasons (1990–93), the Cardinals returned to the cable airwaves in 1994 through Prime Sports Midwest, which became FSN Midwest
in November 1996. The Cardinals have been on FSN Midwest since then. The Cardinals will again air 130 regular-season games on FSN Midwest in 2010, with the other 32 on either ESPN
, Fox
or NBC affiliate KSDK-TV 5. For many seasons, Joe Buck
and Al Hrabosky
were the commentators, but Dan McLaughlin
has since replaced Buck, who now does MLB and NFL
games for Fox-TV.
were relocated to Washington, D.C.
in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for the new franchise
. Since at least 1981, Major League Baseball
had designated the Baltimore Orioles television territory to extend from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Orioles agreed to share its territory with the Nationals in return for the ability to present the Nationals games on the Orioles television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
. The Orioles have a 90 percent stake in MASN and MLB paid the Orioles $75 million for 10 percent of the regional sports network. When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in July 2006 they became part owners in MASN. Over the next 23 years, the Washington Nationals’ stake in the network will increase to 33 percent. Under the current arrangement, MASN paid the Nationals $20 million to broadcast their games in 2005.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a regional sports network
Regional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
, or RSN, is a cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate an overwhelming percentage of an RSN's advertising income. During the rest of the day, these stations show other sports and recreation programming. These channels are often the source content for out-of-market packages
Out-of-Market Sports Package
In the North America, an Out-of-Market Sports Package is a form of subscription television that broadcasts sporting events to areas who are unavailable to see them because the games are not broadcast in their local market....
.
Most regional sports networks in the United States are either affiliated with Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
or Comcast SportsNet
Comcast SportsNet
Comcast SportsNet is a group of regional sports networks in the United States primarily owned by the Comcast cable television company....
, with supplemental programming from networks such as America One
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...
, AMGTV
AMGTV
AMGTV is an American family-oriented television network, featuring programming including sitcoms, lifestyle programs, sports, films and more...
or ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Rogers Sportsnet
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...
operates four regional sports networks.
Baltimore Orioles
When the Montreal ExposMontreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
were relocated to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for the new franchise
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
. Since at least 1981, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
had designated the Baltimore Orioles television territory to extend from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Orioles agreed to share its territory with the Nationals in return for the ability to present the Nationals games on the Orioles television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is a regional sports network owned by two Major League Baseball franchises—the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals -- and televises every available game of both teams, live and in high-definition...
. The Orioles have a 90 percent stake in MASN and MLB paid the Orioles $75 million for 10 percent of the regional sports network. When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in July 2006 they became part owners in MASN. Over the next 23 years, the Washington Nationals’ stake in the network will increase to 33 percent. Under the current arrangement, MASN paid the Nationals $20 million to broadcast their games in 2005.
Boston Red Sox
Boston Red SoxBoston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
baseball coverage began in 1984 on the New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network
The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...
, airing mostly road games on the newly-formed pay cable channel. Former Sox second baseman Kent Derdivanis
Kent Derdivanis
Kent Derdivanis is an American sportscaster.Derdivanis career began as a play by play announcer for University of Arizona Wildcats football and basketball games. In 1981, Derdivanis became the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers on WVTV. He left WVTV in 1984 to become the NESN's first play by play...
served as the play-by-play announcer and Mike Andrews
Mike Andrews
Michael Jay Andrews is a retired American Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics. He is currently the chairman of The Jimmy Fund, an event fundraising organization affiliated with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston,...
provided color commentary. NESN periodically sent guest color commentators to the booth, with the likes of Rico Petrocelli
Rico Petrocelli
Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli is an American retired baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire career in the American League with the Boston Red Sox...
, Bill Monbouquette
Bill Monbouquette
William Charles Monbouquette is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher...
, and Dick Radatz
Dick Radatz
Richard Raymond Radatz , nicknamed "The Monster" or "Moose", was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a scorching but short-lived period of dominance for the Boston Red Sox . Radatz also played for the Cleveland Indians , Chicago Cubs , Detroit Tigers and...
. The in-studio host was a young man just out of Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
named Sean McDonough
Sean McDonough
Sean McDonough is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN.-Early life and career:The son of Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough, Sean graduated from Syracuse University in 1984. It was in Syracuse where McDonough began his broadcasting career in 1982 as the play-by-play announcer...
.
Fast-forwarding 24 years later, NESN now carries full coverage (minus some nationally broadcast games on FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
) of Red Sox games as well as in-depth pre- and post-game shows. Unlike previous seasons where it split coverage with over-the-air stations, it now broadcasts all games not on national television, using the slogan "One Nation
Red Sox Nation
Red Sox Nation refers to the fans of the Boston Red Sox. The phrase "Red Sox Nation" was first coined by Boston Globe feature writer Nathan Cobb in an October 20, 1986, article about split allegiances among fans in Connecticut during the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the New York...
, One Network". In 2006, it became the first network to broadcast all its Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
team's games in High Definition, available to cable providers throughout New England, DirecTV, AT&T U-Verse (in CT) and Verizon FIOS (in MA). Dish Network only provides NESN in HD during live Red Sox , Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
, Hartford Colonials (UFL
UFL
UFL or UFl may refer to:Chemistry:* Upper flammable limit, the flammability limit describing the richest flammable mixture of a combustible gasColleges and universities:...
), as of 2010, and College Hockey games, most notably The Beanpot (Ice Hockey) Tournament.
Chicago White Sox
In OctoberOctober 2004
October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February –...
2004
2004 in television
The year 2004 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2004.For the American TV schedule, see: 2004–05 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
, FSN Chicago
FSN Chicago
Fox Sports Net Chicago was a regional sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The network carried the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Fire, the Arena Football League's Chicago Rush, local and national collegiate sports, including those...
lost broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area when the owners of the Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
, White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, and Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
decided to end their agreement with the network and partnered with Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
to form Comcast SportsNet Chicago
CSN Chicago
Comcast SportsNet Chicago is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area.-Background:CSN Chicago is jointly owned by NBCUniversal , the family of J...
. This led to a number of cable/satellite providers dropping the network. With the end of local pro sports coverage, FSN Chicago became mostly a feeder channel of the national network's entire schedule, some minor local and semi-pro
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
teams, Midwestern outdoors programs, and sports rights and games from other college conferences of little interest to Chicago area viewers. In 2005
2005 in television
The year 2005 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2005.For the American TV schedule, see: 2005–06 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
, Cablevision bought all of FSN Chicago when NewsCorp swapped assets with the cable company.
Cleveland Indians
SportsTime OhioSportsTime Ohio
SportsTime Ohio is a regional sports network in Cleveland and northern Ohio, launched in 2006. It was created to air Cleveland Indians games, and is owned by the family which owns the team. It is also the cable television home of the Cleveland Browns...
is owned by the Dolan family, which owns the Indians team. It is operated as a separate business venture. It can be compared to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
' YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
, as both were started primarily to broadcast each team's games, however they differ in that YES is owned by a holding company that also owns the Yankees, whereas STO is a venture separate from the Indians that is directly owned by Larry Dolan, Cleveland Indians owner.
Thirty minutes before each Indians Game, STO airs "Indians on Deck," a pre-game show hosted by Al Pawlowski. It features highlights from the previous game, a preview of the upcoming game, and news around baseball.
The commentators during the game are Matt Underwood, Rick Manning, and Jim Donovan (WKYC games only). All home games on STO and all games on WKYC are in High Definition. After the game, there is a postgame show recapping the game and featuring an interview with Indians manager, Manny Acta
Manny Acta
Manuel Elias Acta is a Major League Baseball manager for the Cleveland Indians. He is the former manager of the Washington Nationals . In the Dominican Winter League, he managed the Tigres del Licey from 2002–2004, including leading them to victory at the 2003 Caribbean Series...
.
Detroit Tigers
PASS Sports was started by Tom MonaghanTom Monaghan
Thomas Stephen "Tom" Monaghan is an entrepreneur and Catholic philanthropist and activist who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983-1992....
in 1984, who at the time also owned the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
. In 1992, Monaghan sold the Tigers to Mike Ilitch
Mike Ilitch
Michael "Mike" Ilitch Sr. is an American entrepreneur and owner of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers. In addition to his sports ownerships, he is the founder and owner of Little Caesars Pizza since 1959, which has become an international fast food franchise...
and PASS was sold to Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company...
and merged with the Post's Detroit television station WDIV (Detroit's NBC affiliate).
Following the purchase, PASS moved its studios and offices from Ann Arbor, MI to WDIV's in Detroit. PASS became available on basic cable, (under Monaghan it was a premium cable network). Post-Newsweek made the station 24-hours, (under Monaghan it only airing in the evening and on weekends).
Fox Sports Detroit
Fox Sports Detroit
Fox Sports Detroit , is a regional sports network that covers local sports teams in the state of Michigan, mostly those in the Metro Detroit area. It is an owned and operated affiliate of Fox Sports Net...
was launched as a competitor to PASS in 1996. After a surprise bid in 1996 to pick up the rights to the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
, Fox Sports Detroit began planning to launch their network two years later.
When Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
and Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
rights were up for bid, Fox Sports Detroit decided to accelerate their launch date by bidding and winning the rights to the Red Wings beginning with the 1997-98 season and the Tigers beginning in 1998. The Washington Post Company, the parent company of Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations
Post-Newsweek Stations is the official name of the broadcasting division of the Washington Post Company and is a self-contained corporation within that company...
sold the remaining year (1998) of the Tigers, Pistons contracts and the contract of broadcaster John Keating to Fox Sports Detroit. Fox Sports Detroit is now the exclusive local home of the Detroit Tigers.
Kansas City Royals
Sports TimeSports Time
Sports Time was a regional sports network in the United States. It was owned by Anheuser-Busch and was launched on April 2, 1984. Sports Time was available in 15 states from Colorado to West Virginia.-Coverage:...
was a regional sports network
Regional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was owned by Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
and was launched on April 2, 1984.
The new network was a way for Anheuser-Busch to show additional games of the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
, the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
team it owned at the time. Games of the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
and Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
baseball teams, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, and various college sports teams also aired on the network.
Sports Time showed Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
's 500th career home run on September 17, 1984. The Royals were playing the California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
that night.
After a season of obvious frustration, Anheuser-Busch pulled the plug on Sports Time at the end of March 1985. Today, the Cardinals and Reds are shown on Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
in their respective regions, Midwest and Ohio. Beginning with the 2008 season, Fox Sports Kansas City will show most Royals games. For the first season, 140 games are scheduled to be aired. The Blues are also shown on FSN Midwest.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
In 1990, Prime Ticket became the cable television home of the California Angels, as well as serving as the cable home of the Clippers for one season (1990–91), before they moved to the now-defunct SportsChannel Los AngelesSportsChannel Los Angeles
SportsChannel Los Angeles aired from 1989 to 1993 in the southern California area; it was a regional sports network.-Programming:SCLA featured live play-by-play of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the California Angels, and the Los Angeles Clippers...
(originally Z Channel
Z Channel
The Z Channel was one of the first pay cable stations in the United States. Launched in 1974 from Los Angeles, California, this station was known for its devotion to the art of cinema due to the eclectic choice of films by the programming chief, Jerry Harvey...
) the following season.
NOW, the Dodgers games are shown on Prime Ticket, and Angels games are shown on Fox Sports West. One other local network showing the Angels games is the over-the-air MY 13 Los Angeles network, or KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV, channel 13, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, KCOP is a sister station to Fox network outlet KTTV , and is affiliated with the MyNetworkTV programming service...
Los Angeles.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota TwinsMinnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
baseball team
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
launched Victory Sports One as a cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
regional sports network
Regional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
in October 2003. Victory Sports, of course, became the exclusive TV home of Twins games; in addition, it planned coverage of various Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
games. The channel also simulcast ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
.
The Twins opted to retain the local broadcast rights for game broadcasts after the 2003 season
2003 in baseball
-Headline event of the year:*The Florida Marlins become World Series champions, holding off a dynastic New York Yankees team, 4 games to 2.-Major League Baseball:*Regular Season Champions*World Series Champion - Florida Marlins...
, in order to carry the games on their own network, after carriage for many years on Midwest Sports Channel (now known as FSN North
FSN North
Fox Sports North is a regional sports network serving Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Iowa, Upper Michigan along the Wisconsin border and the eastern parts of North Dakota and South Dakota...
). The model for the plan was the success of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
' YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
.
However Victory Sports was unable to obtain carriage from the primary cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
providers in the Twin Cities, the rest of the state of Minnesota, and the Dakotas, or from DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
or Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
. During the 2004 season
2004 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since , ending the Curse of the Bambino.*With 262 hits, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners breaks George Sisler's record of 257. Suzuki also sets the record for most singles in a season, with 225.*2004 also marked the final...
, the Twins quickly re-signed with FSN North to placate viewers inconvenienced by the change.
New York Yankees
Between 1989 and 2001, the MSG NetworkMSG Network
The MSG Network, now shortened to simply MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is focused on New York City sports teams...
was the cable home of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. MSG paid an average of $55 million a year for those rights, and the deal is widely credited as having started a national trend towards greater team coverage on regional sports networks, with more games being broadcast than over-the-air stations' regular programming schedules could usually permit. MSG also produced the Yankees radio broadcasts from 1994 to 2001, which aired on WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
. MSG also owned the over the air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which they sold to long-time broadcaster WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
from 1989–1998 and WNYW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
from 1999-2001 (at the time, NewsCorp owned part of MSG). In 2002, the Yankees left MSG to form the YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
. From 2002 to 2005, MSG aired games from Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, games which previously aired on FSNY (MSG, FSNY, and WPIX each carried about 50 games a season on consistent days of the week). Like the Yankee deals, Cablevision also owned the broadcast TV rights, placing games on WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
before moving to WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in 1999. After the 2005 baseball season, Met games moved to SportsNet New York
SportsNet New York
SportsNet New York is a New York City-based regional sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and all of New York state, and nationwide via satellite. It is owned jointly by the New York Mets, Time Warner Cable, and NBCUniversal...
, a cable network partially owned by the Mets, although WPIX retained a reduced slate of games. Comcast and Time Warner, which generally control whatever NYC-area cable systems Cablevision doesn't (Time Warner controls most of Upstate New York as well), are the other partners.
Seattle Mariners
Fox Sports Northwest is the regional carrier of the Seattle Mariners, televising their games in Washington, OregonOregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and parts of Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. Rogers Sportsnet Pacific carries selected telecasts to areas of Western Canada that are within the Mariners broadcast territory.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue JaysToronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
games were the featured attraction on the Canadian national sports channel TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
when it launched in 1984 – since at that point (and until 1995), both the Blue Jays and TSN were owned by beer company Labatt. Although TSN is not a "regional" sports network per sé, these broadcast rights were sold by the team (not MLB) in much the same fashion that regional rights are sold in the United States; however, games would often be subject to blackouts in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
during the existence of the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
. TSN continued to carry Blue Jays games until 2009.
In addition, in the past some Blue Jays games were televised nationally (with the same caveat regarding blackouts in Quebec) on Canadian over-the-air networks, namely CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
and CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
.
Since 2001, the Blue Jays, now a subsidiary of Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
, have been once again co-owned with a cable sports channel – Rogers Sportsnet
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...
, a set of regional sports networks serving various parts of Canada. Since the 2010 season, Sportsnet has served as the team's exclusive Canadian TV broadcaster. Most Blue Jays games are broadcast nationally in Canada across all four of Sportsnet's regional feeds (which, while subject to blackouts when necessary for NHL broadcasts, are carried nationwide on digital television services). Some games now air on Rogers Sportsnet One
Rogers Sportsnet One
Sportsnet One is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel owned by Rogers Media.Sportsnet One is a national sports channel serving as a complementary service to Sportsnet, a regional sports network also owned by Rogers Media. The channel broadcasts in standard and high-definition...
, a new national sports channel which launched in 2010.
Chicago Cubs
In OctoberOctober 2004
October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December -Events:October 2004: January – February –...
2004
2004 in television
The year 2004 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2004.For the American TV schedule, see: 2004–05 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
, FSN Chicago
FSN Chicago
Fox Sports Net Chicago was a regional sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The network carried the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Fire, the Arena Football League's Chicago Rush, local and national collegiate sports, including those...
lost broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area when the owners of the Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
, White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, and Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
decided to end their agreement with the network and partnered with Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
to form Comcast SportsNet Chicago
CSN Chicago
Comcast SportsNet Chicago is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area.-Background:CSN Chicago is jointly owned by NBCUniversal , the family of J...
. This led to a number of cable/satellite providers dropping the network. With the end of local pro sports coverage, FSN Chicago became mostly a feeder channel of the national network's entire schedule, some minor local and semi-pro
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
teams, Midwestern outdoors programs, and sports rights and games from other college conferences of little interest to Chicago area viewers. In 2005
2005 in television
The year 2005 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2005.For the American TV schedule, see: 2005–06 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
, Cablevision bought all of FSN Chicago when NewsCorp swapped assets with the cable company.
Colorado Rockies
From 19931993 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies ; Paul Molitor, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Dave Stewart*National League Championship Series MVP: Curt Schilling...
to 1996
1996 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves ; John Wetteland, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Bernie Williams**American League Division Series*National League Championship Series MVP: Javy López...
, the Rockies were without a cable television affiliate. That changed, when FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN Rocky Mountain
Root Sports Rocky Mountain is a regional sports network based in Denver, Colorado. The network is part of the DirecTV Sports Networks and is an affiliate of Fox Sports Net...
acquired the regional cable rights in 1997
1997 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians ; Liván Hernández, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Marquis Grissom**American League Division Series*National League Championship Series MVP: Liván Hernández...
, and the team has aired most of its games on that network since then, sharing some of its games with KWGN
KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 , is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network...
(1997–2002) and KTVD-My 20
KTVD
KTVD, virtual channel 20 is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station based in Denver, Colorado, and is owned by the Gannett Company. The station is a sister to KUSA, Denver's NBC affiliate and is housed and operated out of KUSA's high definition studios...
(2003–2008). Starting in 2009, FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN Rocky Mountain
Root Sports Rocky Mountain is a regional sports network based in Denver, Colorado. The network is part of the DirecTV Sports Networks and is an affiliate of Fox Sports Net...
became the exclusive TV outlet for the Rockies.
Florida Marlins
From 19931993 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies ; Paul Molitor, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Dave Stewart*National League Championship Series MVP: Curt Schilling...
to 2005
2005 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series.*2005 also marked the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals, who relocated from Montreal and were formerly known as the Expos....
, the Marlins Television Network
Marlins Television Network
From 1993 to 2005, the Marlins Television Network aired games to homes not only in South Florida but to other parts of Florida. The network was produced by the same crew that telecast Marlins games on cable television...
aired games to homes not only in South Florida but to other parts of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The network was produced by the same crew that telecast Marlins games on cable television. When FSN Florida
FSN Florida
Fox Sports Florida, formerly FSN Florida, Fox Sports Net Florida, and SportsChannel Florida, is a regional sports network that shows local sports coverage in the state of Florida. It is owned by News Corp along with Sun Sports and is a member of Fox Sports Net. It was launched on July 1, 1987 as...
signed an exclusive long-term deal for Marlins baseball starting in the 2006 season
2006 Major League Baseball season
In , the Major League Baseball season ended with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series with the lowest regular season victory total in history. The American League continued its domination at the All-Star Game by winning its fourth straight game; the A.L. has won nine...
, that signaled the end of the Marlins Television Network as a majority of those telecasts would air on Sun Sports
Sun Sports
Sun Sports is a Florida sports broadcasting network, with its headquarters in Orlando. Launched in 1988 as Sunshine Network, the station is now affiliated with virtually every cable company throughout the state of Florida and can be picked up by some satellite providers around the United...
.
Houston Astros
Home Sports Entertainment was home of the Houston AstrosHouston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
from its inception in 1983 until the mid-1990s, when the network became part of the Prime Sports Networks
Prime Network
The Prime Network was a group of regional sports networks owned by Liberty Media that served several regionalized areas that was in operation between 1983 and late-1997. While Liberty owned many of these stations, some were affiliates and owned by other companies...
. Prime Sports Southwest lasted only two years before its parent company was purchased by News Corporation and renamed Fox Sports Southwest. In 2005, a sub-feed of Fox Sports Southwest was formed, called Fox Sports Houston
Fox Sports Houston
Fox Sports Houston is a regional sports network that covers sports in Houston, Texas. The network operates out of Downtown Houston....
, which focused on Houston-based teams including the Astros. In January 2009, Fox Sports Houston broke away from its parent network and is now a stand-alone network.
Los Angeles Dodgers
In January 1997, Fox Sports Net West 2 (later renamed Fox Sports Prime Ticket, now simply called Prime Ticket) was formed to serve as a cable home for the ClippersLos Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
, Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, Ducks
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
, and all other events that FSN West didn't have room for. This is after the December 1993 shut-down of SportsChannel Los Angeles
SportsChannel Los Angeles
SportsChannel Los Angeles aired from 1989 to 1993 in the southern California area; it was a regional sports network.-Programming:SCLA featured live play-by-play of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the California Angels, and the Los Angeles Clippers...
, which left their home teams with only over-the-air and part-time cable coverage locally.
New York Mets
SportsNet New YorkSportsNet New York
SportsNet New York is a New York City-based regional sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and all of New York state, and nationwide via satellite. It is owned jointly by the New York Mets, Time Warner Cable, and NBCUniversal...
(SNY) is a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
and all of New York state
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and nationwide via satellite
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
. It is owned jointly by the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
, Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
.
SNY will carry 120 Mets games during 2007 season (with the remainder airing on WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
). Bill Webb, who directs the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
and the All-Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
for Fox, is the director for Mets broadcasts on both SNY and WPIX.
Philadelphia Phillies
CSN Philadelphia was the very first Comcast Sportsnet and broadcasts the Comcast-owned Philadelphia 76ersPhiladelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
and Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, along with the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
.
CSN Philadelphia debuted on October 1, 1997, replacing the old PRISM Network in the Philadelphia area. The Phillies own a minority share of the channel.
CSN Philadelphia's studios and offices are located inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. CSN Philadelphia also has a small studio inside Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
, which is used sporadically during the baseball season.
In addition, Comcast owns CN8, which on occasion will air Phillies games in the Philadelphia metro area when a Flyers or 76ers game airs on CSN Philadelphia. WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
also carries a slate of games from each team. WPSG
WPSG
WPSG, channel 57, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WPSG is owned by the CBS Corporation and is the east coast flagship station for the CW Television Network, which is owned jointly by CBS and Time Warner...
formerly carried Phillies games, but WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV
WPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
took broadcasting rights in 2009.
San Diego Padres
Channel 4 San Diego is the exclusive cable television home of the San Diego PadresSan Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
baseball team since 1997, and has been the exclusive local TV home of the Padres since 2004. Since 2003, 4SD has broadcasted at least 100-140 Padres games annually in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
. Besides its award-winning Padres coverage, the station features shows about the area's other sports teams including the NFL Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, high school sports, and the athletic teams of San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
and the University of San Diego
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego is a Roman Catholic university in San Diego, California. USD offers more than sixty bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral programs...
. The channel was launched by Cox Communications as an outlet used as an experiment during the 1996 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Convention, as well as providing around-the-clock coverage for the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
festivities at Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
in 1998.
In 2001, the Padres and Cox Communications signed a 10-year extension for broadcast rights, as a result of the deal, Channel 4 has a state-of-the-art broadcast center located at Petco Park
PETCO Park
Petco Park is an open-air ballpark in downtown San Diego, California, USA. It opened in 2004, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the home park of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres. Before then, the Padres shared Qualcomm Stadium with the NFL's San Diego Chargers...
.
St. Louis Cardinals
Between 19841984 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres ; Alan Trammell, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Kirk Gibson*National League Championship Series MVP: Steve Garvey...
and 1989
1989 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Oakland Athletics over San Francisco Giants ; Dave Stewart, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Rickey Henderson*National League Championship Series MVP: Will Clark...
, the Cardinals aired 50 games a season, first on Sports Time
Sports Time
Sports Time was a regional sports network in the United States. It was owned by Anheuser-Busch and was launched on April 2, 1984. Sports Time was available in 15 states from Colorado to West Virginia.-Coverage:...
(1984), then on pay-per-view on Cencom. After being off cable television for four seasons (1990–93), the Cardinals returned to the cable airwaves in 1994 through Prime Sports Midwest, which became FSN Midwest
FSN Midwest
Fox Sports Midwest is a regional sports network that operates in eastern and central Missouri , central & southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Nebraska, and Iowa.-History:...
in November 1996. The Cardinals have been on FSN Midwest since then. The Cardinals will again air 130 regular-season games on FSN Midwest in 2010, with the other 32 on either ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
or NBC affiliate KSDK-TV 5. For many seasons, Joe Buck
Joe Buck
Joseph Francis "Joe" Buck is an American sportscaster and the son of legendary sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work with Fox Sports.-Education:...
and Al Hrabosky
Al Hrabosky
Alan Thomas "Al" Hrabosky is a former Major League Baseball player from - for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves and is currently the color commentator on Cardinals regular season broadcasts on FSN Midwest...
were the commentators, but Dan McLaughlin
Dan McLaughlin
Dan McLaughlin is a professional sports broadcaster who currently works on both St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues telecasts on the cable television channel Fox Sports Midwest.-Early life:...
has since replaced Buck, who now does MLB and NFL
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
games for Fox-TV.
Washington Nationals
When the Montreal ExposMontreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
were relocated to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for the new franchise
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
. Since at least 1981, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
had designated the Baltimore Orioles television territory to extend from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Orioles agreed to share its territory with the Nationals in return for the ability to present the Nationals games on the Orioles television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network is a regional sports network owned by two Major League Baseball franchises—the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals -- and televises every available game of both teams, live and in high-definition...
. The Orioles have a 90 percent stake in MASN and MLB paid the Orioles $75 million for 10 percent of the regional sports network. When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in July 2006 they became part owners in MASN. Over the next 23 years, the Washington Nationals’ stake in the network will increase to 33 percent. Under the current arrangement, MASN paid the Nationals $20 million to broadcast their games in 2005.
In relation to Major League Baseball on Fox
Home teams have the right to veto almost any request by Fox to pick up their games after the schedule is announced but before the final two weekends. During the final two weekends of the regular season, Fox must get approval from a team's regional sports network in order to carry it. This is unless that particular team has not used up all nine of its permitted appearances.See also
- List of current Major League Baseball announcers
- Major League Baseball on cable televisionMajor League Baseball on cable televisionMajor League Baseball has been covered on cable television since the 1960s.-1960s:On July 17, , a game out of Los Angeles between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers contest became the first Pay TV baseball game. Subscription television offered the cablecast to subscribers for money...
- Fox Sports Net#Regional FSN networks