SportsChannel
Comcast SportsNet |
SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC.
Operating from March 1, 1979, to January 27, 1998, it was the country's first regional sports network, and along with
History
SportsChannel's origins date back to 1976, when Cablevision launched Cablevision Sports 3 (the "3" referencing its original channel slot on the provider), a sports network carried on the company's
The network expanded to other regions with the launches and purchases of additional networks throughout the 1980s; the first expansion occurred when Cablevision signed a deal to televise the
The NHL and partnership with NBC
In 1988, SportsChannel would make its largest television deal, gaining national television rights for the
In 1991, the one year-old San Francisco-based SportsChannel Bay Area merged with rival TCI's Pacific Sports Network to become SportsChannel Pacific. This would become the second regional sports network to affiliate both with SportsChannel and the Prime Network (Home Team Sports had done so since 1988). SportsChannel Los Angeles later ceased operations at the end of 1992 due to financial issues, with all of its sports broadcast contracts being acquired by the competing Prime Ticket.
Joint-venture with Prime and merger with Fox Sports Net
In 1993, Rainbow and Liberty Media formed Prime SportsChannels America, a venture in which the companies pooled programming and advertising sales between SportsChannel and Liberty's Prime Network regional sports group. Through this partnership, the two companies formed the sports news service NewSport, replacing SportsChannel America.
On April 25, 1995, NBC sold its 50% interest in SportsChannel New York to Rainbow Media for US$93 million; NBC cited that "owning a piece of SportsChannel New York made less sense" after Cablevision and ITT purchased competing regional sports network, MSG Network. NBC retained its ownership in the other networks.[11]
On June 30, 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks, a joint venture between News Corporation and Liberty Media, purchased a 40% interest in Rainbow's sports properties including the SportsChannel networks, Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. Through the deal, the SportsChannel networks would be integrated into Fox Sports Net, a group of regional sports networks launched in November 1996 through News Corporation's purchase of Liberty's Prime Network group; SportsChannel New York would also be rebranded as Fox Sports New York, with Cablevision-owned MSG also becoming a separately branded FSN outlet.[12][13][14][15] Weeks after the deal was announced, SportsChannel would discontinue its national programming in favor of Fox's programming and simultaneously discontinued NewSport, replacing it with American Sports Classics, a network focusing on replays of past sporting events and historical sports documentaries.
National Sports Partners, the venture formed through Cablevision's entry into the News Corporation/Liberty partnership to operate the existing and newly acquired owned-and-operated regional networks, later announced that it would relaunch the other SportsChannel networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.[16] SportsChannel New York was the first to rebrand, as Fox Sports New York, on January 27, 1998. Five of the seven other remaining SportsChannel networks relaunched as member networks of Fox Sports Net later that week.
Two of the SportsChannel networks would not become part of FSN, one of them not immediately, while a third was unable to carry FSN's national programming. After Comcast acquired a majority stake in Philadelphia-based entertainment company Spectacor to form
Aftermath
On February 22, 2005, Cablevision acquired News Corporation's ownership interests in Fox Sports Chicago and Fox Sports New York, and a 50% interest in Fox Sports New England (with Comcast retaining its existing 50% stake), in a trade deal in which News Corporation sold its interests in Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and Rangers in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Florida. However, News Corporation and Cablevision retained joint ownership of Fox Sports Bay Area.[20][21]
Fox Sports Chicago ceased operations in June 2006, after losing the regional cable television rights to local professional teams (including the
Networks
Owned-and-operated
Channel | Region served | Year joined/launched | Current owner/status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
SportsChannel Chicago |
northern Illinois northern Indiana eastern Iowa |
1984 | defunct; became Fox Sports Chicago; network ceased operations in 2006 after losing professional sports contracts to Comcast SportsNet Chicago (now NBC Sports Chicago, owned by NBCUniversal). | Acquired as SportsVision in 1984 and rebranded in 1989; An earlier version of SportsChannel Chicago also existed in 1981 but quickly folded when it lost rights to the White Sox. |
SportsChannel Cincinnati | southern Ohio Kentucky |
1990 | Bally Sports Ohio, owned by Diamond Sports Group | replaced with subfeed of Fox Sports Ohio |
SportsChannel Florida | Florida southern Alabama southern Georgia |
1987 | Bally Sports Florida, owned by Diamond Sports Group | Continued to operate as SportsChannel until 2000 |
SportsChannel Los Angeles | Southern California | 1989 | defunct, closed in 1992 | Replaced Z Channel which was acquired a few months before launch |
SportsChannel New England | Massachusetts eastern Connecticut central Connecticut Vermont Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island |
1983 | NBC Sports Boston, owned by NBCUniversal | Acquired as PRISM New England and rebranded in 1983 |
SportsChannel New York |
New York northern New Jersey northeast Pennsylvania southern Connecticut |
1976 | MSG Networks |
|
SportsChannel Ohio | Ohio eastern Indiana |
1989 | Bally Sports Ohio, owned by Diamond Sports Group | The Dolan family later established another Ohio RSN, SportsTime Ohio (now Bally Sports Great Lakes), which was later acquired by Fox |
SportsChannel Pacific | northern and central California northwestern Nevada parts of southern Oregon |
1990 | NBC Sports Bay Area, owned by NBCUniversal | Launched in 1990 as SportsChannel Bay Area. Merged with TCI's Pacific Sports Network in 1991, rebranded as SportsChannel Pacific and ran as a joint-venture of the two companies. |
SportsChannel Philadelphia | southeastern Pennsylvania southern New Jersey |
1990 | defunct; sports contracts acquired by Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (now NBC Sports Philadelphia, owned by NBCUniversal) | shared rights with co-owned PRISM |
PRISM | southeastern Pennsylvania southern New Jersey |
1983 | defunct; sports contracts acquired by Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (now NBC Sports Philadelphia, owned by NBCUniversal) | Carried SportsChannel programming until launch of SportsChannel Philadelphia; continued a sports/movies format after acquisition |
Affiliates
Channel | Region served | Year joined/launched | Current owner/status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Home Team Sports | Maryland Virginia Washington, D.C. |
1984 | Monumental Sports Network, owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment | Owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. Carried NHL package and nightly studio show. May not have carried other programming.[23] |
Midwest Sports Channel | Minnesota Wisconsin Iowa North Dakota South Dakota |
1989 | Bally Sports North, owned by Diamond Sports Group |
SportsChannel America
SportsChannel America was a national version of SportsChannel that launched in 1988 when SportsChannel gained rights to the NHL. The network was available to cable subscribers in areas that did not have a regional SportsChannel affiliate. At its peak it had 12 million subscribers nationwide.[24] It was replaced with NewSport in 1993. The name SportsChannel America was sometimes also applied to the group as a whole.
Notable programming
SportsChannel broadcast several Canadian Football League regular season games produced by SportsChannel Pacific during the 1993 season, later losing the broadcast rights to the upstart ESPN2 (at the time devoted most of programming to extreme sports) through a four-year contract in 1994.
The network was also notable for providing
SportsChannel America aired the professional wrestling show UWF Fury Hour on Monday nights from 1990 to 1991, and later aired the live UWF Blackjack Brawl special in 1994. SportsChannel Philadelphia carried ECW Hardcore TV, a syndicated wrestling program of the now-defunct Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion from the program's debut in 1993 until the channel shut down in 1997.[25]
From 1994 to 1997, SportsChannel America also aired NewSport Talk, a two-hour sports talk show produced by SportsChannel Chicago for sister network NewSport, that was syndicated to most of its SportsChannel-branded sister networks.
National Hockey League
SportsChannel America obtained the national cable television rights to the National Hockey League from ESPN in 1988; Rainbow Sports was able to secure the rights by offering the NHL a bid of US$51 million ($17 million per year) over three years, more than double what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for its 1985–1988 contract (a move not unlike the 2005 acquisition of NHL rights by Comcast/OLN over ESPN); SportsChannel America obtained a fourth year of the contract for just $5 million in 1992.
One problem that arose with the deal was that SportsChannel America was available only in a few major markets and reached only one-third of the households that ESPN covered, limiting the national availability of its NHL coverage. In smaller markets, especially those with cable systems whose headends had limited channel capacity, the channel was only made available on a gametime basis as a pay-per-view option and often limited telecast to only Stanley Cup playoff games. The NHL terminated its deal with SportsChannel America in 1992 and signed a new broadcast deal with ESPN, leaving SportsChannel America with very little sports content outside of outdoor sports shows and Canadian Football League games.[26]
The NHL rights deal proved for a disaster for SportsChannel, as even though it helped the national channel expand its coverage to 20 million homes within the first three years, Rainbow Sports lost as much as $10 million on the agreement, and SportsChannel America soon faded into obscurity.[26] Some regional SportsChannel networks – which carried NHL games in their local markets – were not affected by the national network's loss of league rights.
National Professional Soccer League
SportsChannel broadcast NPSL games at least as early as the
Besides Lee Zeidman and Dave Johnson, commentators for their Game of the Week coverage included Dave Phillips and Bob Bishop. For SportsChannel's coverage of the 1993 NPSL Finals between Cleveland and Kansas City, they employed the broadcast team of Dave Phillips (on play-by-play) and Dave Johnson.
Teams by network
Network | MLB | NBA | NHL |
---|---|---|---|
SportsChannel Chicago | Chicago White Sox | Chicago Bulls | Chicago Blackhawks |
SportsChannel Cincinnati | Cincinnati Reds | — | — |
SportsChannel Florida | Florida Marlins Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
Miami Heat | — |
SportsChannel Los Angeles | California Angels Los Angeles Dodgers |
Los Angeles Clippers | — |
SportsChannel New England | — | Boston Celtics | Hartford Whalers |
SportsChannel New York | New York Mets New York Yankees |
New Jersey Nets | New Jersey Devils New York Islanders |
SportsChannel Ohio | Cleveland Indians
|
Cleveland Cavaliers | — |
SportsChannel Pacific | Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants |
Golden State Warriors Sacramento Kings |
San Jose Sharks |
SportsChannel Philadelphia | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia 76ers | Philadelphia Flyers |
References
- ^ "About Rainbow Media – Our Story Timeline 80's". Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "White Sox add cable to lineup" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine: 70. December 8, 1980. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ "The Washington Post Co. announced Friday an agreement in..." UPI. February 25, 1983. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Mayer, Caroline E. (November 2, 1983). "Cablevision, Post to Buy Sports Network". Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ "Post, Cablevision Acquire Rights to SportsVision". Washington Post. December 15, 1983. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
- ^ Wiggins, Phillip H. (November 27, 1984). "CBS BUYS INTO SPORTS CHANNELS". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Sugawara, S and ra (June 19, 1987). "POST CO., CBS SELL STAKES IN SPORTSCHANNEL". Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Chad, Norman (November 26, 1988). "NHL AND SPORTSCHANNEL MORE IS LESS". Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ "SportsChannel America to launch Oct. 6" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine: 54–55. September 19, 1988. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ Geraldine Fabrikant (December 23, 1988). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; NBC and Cablevision Plan Joint Programming Venture". The New York Times.
- ^ "NBC SELLS OFF ITS SHARE OF SPORTSCHANNEL NEW YORK". Sports Business Journal. April 26, 1995. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "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 10, 2015.
- ^ John M. Higgins (June 30, 1997). "National net keys regional deal. (Fox Sports, Liberty Media Corp. challenge ESPN with stake in SportsChannel)". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "SPORTS LANDSCAPE ALTERED WITH FOX/LIBERTY-CABLEVISION DEAL". Sports Business Journal. June 23, 1997. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ John M. Higgins (June 23, 1997). "TCI/News Corp. $850M SportsChannel deal close. (Tele-Communications Inc, proposed acquisition of cable sports network)". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "About Rainbow Media – Our Story Timeline 90's". Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Steve Donohue (November 15, 1999). "Rainbow, Fox Deal for Florida Net". Multichannel News. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "Fox Sports Networks Inc 1998 Annual Report S-K Item 405 10-K405". SEC.gov. UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. March 31, 1999. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "Fox Sports Networks Inc 2000 Annual Report S-K Item 405 10-K405". SEC.gov. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. September 28, 2000. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ Richard Sandomir (February 23, 2005). "Cablevision Locks Up Garden". The New York Times.
- ^ Leon Lazaroff (February 23, 2005). "News Corp. exits Chicago Fox sports station". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "No need for FSN Chicago". The Daily Journal. June 27, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ Chad, Norman (November 26, 1988). "NHL AND SPORTSCHANNEL MORE IS LESS". Washington Post. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook (PDF). New Providence, NJ: R.R. Bowker. 1993. p. G-91. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "History of the National Wrestling Alliance". Angelfire.
- ^ a b "Welcome to the New Jersey Devils forums!". New Jersey Devils. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ Knowles, Joe (December 20, 1992). "4 GOALS BY KRAFFT DRIVE POWER PAST MILWAUKEE; MARGETIC HURT". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Summers, Robert J. (February 19, 1993). "THREE TO REPRESENT BLIZZARD IN NPSL ALL-STAR GAME". The Buffalo News.
- ^ Chad, Norman (April 21, 1989). "LUCKILY, OUR CABLE CUP RUNNETH OVER". The Washington Post.