NBC Sports Bay Area
Internet Protocol television |
NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in San Francisco, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. NBCS Bay Area's sister channel is NBC Sports California. The president of the network is Ted Griggs.
History
Pacific Sports Network
The Pacific Sports Network was launched in September 1989 as a joint-venture of
SportsChannel Bay Area
SportsChannel Bay Area was an owned-and-operated outlet of
Merger of two networks and new partnership
The two networks merged on July 12, 1991, to become SportsChannel Pacific.[3] The combined network operated as a premium service until June 1, 1997 when it moved to basic cable.[4] In 1991, SportsChannel Pacific picked up rights to the new San Jose Sharks NHL team with a 10 game agreement.[5]
On June 30, 1997,
The channel was then rebranded as Fox Sports Net Bay Area in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Bay Area, through the networks' de-emphasis of the brand.
Comcast ownership
On April 30, 2007, Comcast purchased a 60% interest in FSN Bay Area, along with a 50% stake in
Following Comcast's purchase of majority control of NBCUniversal, which already owned NBC owned-and-operated station KNTV (channel 11) and Telemundo O&O KSTS (channel 48), on April 19, 2011, the network announced plans to build an additional set specifically for use on sports segments seen on KNTV's newscasts. The revamp would also include in-depth interviews in addition to providing scores and highlights, and utilize CSN Bay Area's sports anchors and analysts.[16]
On March 22, 2017, Comcast announced that CSN Bay Area would be rebranded NBC Sports Bay Area on April 2, 2017, in a move meant to "better associate the prestigious NBC Sports legacy with the strength of our Comcast Sports Networks' local sports coverage in Northern California."[17]
Programming
NBC Sports Bay Area holds the regional cable television rights to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball and the NBA's Golden State Warriors. The network also airs athletic events from San Jose State University and the university's show The Charge.[18]
The channel also broadcasts college sports sanctioned by the West Coast Conference. Select high school sports events are also occasionally broadcast on the network.
Until 2004, the network also broadcast games involving the NBA's
Through its partial ownership by Fox, CSN Bay Area formerly carried programming distributed nationally for Fox Sports Networks affiliates, even after relinquishing controlling ownership of the network to Comcast and the Giants. This included access to a variety of college sports, notably Sunday telecasts of men's and women's basketball games from the
Current and former notable staff members
- Rich Aurilia – Giants studio analyst
- Kelenna Azubuike – Warriors color analyst
- Jim Barnett - Warriors color analyst
- Vida Blue – Giants studio analyst
- Brodie Brazil – SportsNet Central anchor and reporter
- Laura Britt – Multi-platform host and reporter[20]
- Dennis Brown – 49ers studio analyst
- Kerith Burke – Warriors sideline reporter[21]
- Shawn Estes – Giants studio analyst
- Ahmed Fareed – SportsNet Central anchor and reporter
- Dave Feldman – SportsNet Central anchor and reporter
- Bob Fitzgerald – Warriors play-by-play announcer
- Amy Gutierrez – Giants sideline reporter
- Kelli Johnson – SportsNet Central anchor and reporter
- Jim Kozimor – SportsTalk Live anchor
- Mike Krukow – Giants color analyst
- Duane Kuiper – Giants play-by-play announcer
- Bill Laskey – Giants studio analyst
- Matt Maiocco – 49ers Insider
- Greg Papa – Warriors pre-game and post-game host, Giants pre-game and post-game host, and substitute play-by-play announcer
- Ray Ratto – NBC Sports Bay Area Senior Insider
- Garry St. Jean – Warriors studio analyst
- Randy Winn – Giants studio analyst
- Henry Wofford – Warriors reporter, host of Race Week, and SportsNet Central anchor and reporter
- Monte Poole - Warriors insider, founding member and co-host of “Race In America: A Candid Conversation.”
References
- ^ a b "I TOP OF THE WEEK I i SportsChannel wraps up Bay Area baseball" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 117, no. 25. December 18, 1989. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "More sports for the Bay Area" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 22, 1990. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "SportsChannel, PSN merge". Newspapers.com. The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California. July 13, 1991. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Slusser, Susan (25 April 1997). "SUSAN SLUSSER ON THE AIR -- SportsChannel To Be Free With Basic Cable". SFGATE. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Local cable TV adds Sharks". Newspapers.com. The San Francisco Examiner. October 23, 1991. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Fox putting together national Sports Net // Changes ahead for SportsChannel". Chicago Sun-Times. June 24, 1997. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- Reed Business Information. Archived from the originalon September 10, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ^ Goldfisher, Alastair (Feb 1, 1998). "SportsChannel changes name following venture". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Susan Slusser (March 8, 1997). "BayTV Picks Up FoxSports". San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle Publishing Company.
- ^ Susan Slusser (January 22, 1998). "Is Cable Carrying Burden For NFL? / Operators fear cost will be passed on". San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle Publishing Company.
- ^ Steve Kroner (February 26, 1999). "FOX Provides an Exception". San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle Publishing Company.
- Reed Business Information. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
- ^ John Dempsey (December 10, 2007). "SF Giants take stake in FSN". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
- ^ "Authentic Opening Day". FSN Bay Area. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
- Sports Business Journal. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ "Comcast to provide sports content for KNTV". San Francisco Chronicle. April 19, 2011.
- ^ "CSN Bay Area, CSN California To Be Rebranded Under 'NBC Sports' Moniker". Sports Video Group. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "San José State Expands Partnership with NBC Sports Bay Area". sjsuspartans.com.
- ^ John Ourand (August 14, 2012). "NBC Sports Group Drops FSN Programming From Comcast RSNs". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ^ "LAURA BRITT JOINS NBC SPORTS BAY AREA, NBC SPORTS CALIFORNIA - NBCS Bay Area". nbcsports.com (Press release). 19 April 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "KERITH BURKE JOINS NBC SPORTS BAY AREA AS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS SIDELINE REPORTER - NBCS Bay Area". nbcsports.com (Press release). 11 October 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2018.