YES Network
Internet Protocol Television |
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American
YES Network's offices are based at the
History
Beginnings
YES is the product of a
Two years earlier in 1997,
To exit its MSG/Cablevision deal, the Yankees would have to give them the right to match any new right agreement and show a judge that a third party was willing to purchase their rights and launch a channel. Thus, new YankeeNets CEO
Launch of a new network
The YES Network launched at noon on March 19, 2002, with a half-hour introductory show. The first game broadcast on YES was an exhibition game against in which the New York Yankees faced the Cincinnati Reds at 7 PM on the same day. At its launch, YES was available on DirecTV and to subscribers of all major New York area cable providers except Cablevision which would refuse to add the network for the 2002 season (see below).[7] The first regular season game broadcast on YES was played on April 1 against the Baltimore Orioles.[8]
In late 2003, the Yankees and Nets decided to part ways, with the Nets being sold to a group led by real estate developer Bruce Ratner. The sale did not include the Nets' ownership stake in YES (NJ Holdings), which remained with the pre-merger owners of the team. As part of the sale, the Nets signed a long-term deal to keep the team's game telecasts on YES. In 2004, YankeeNets was renamed Yankee Global Enterprises, which owns the Yankees and the minority share in YES as separate companies.[9] Therefore, the Yankees technically don't own YES. The Yankees, however, receive a rights fee from YES that is somewhat higher than MSG previously paid.
Fox ownership, FSN affiliation
In 2007, Goldman Sachs' and former Nets owner Ray Chambers' share in the network was put up for sale.[10] In November 2012, News Corporation agreed to terms on acquiring a 49% stake in YES. As a consequence, each of the network's previous owners had their ownership stakes reduced. As a result of the sale to Fox, the Yankees agreed to keep their games on the network through 2041, which would be the network's 40th year of existence.[11] News Corporation's interest in YES was transferred to 21st Century Fox (owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also remained the owner of News Corporation), when the former company spun off its U.S. entertainment holdings into a separate company in July 2013.
In September 2013, rights to
In 2014, the YES Network announced an average 223,000 households in Yankees game broadcasts.[13] On May 14, 2017, YES Network aired Derek Jeter's number retirement ceremony. It got an average 724,000 viewers and a 5.79 rating in the New York City area, the highest non-game program for the network.[14]
Disney/Fox acquisition, reacquisition by the Yankees
On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company (which owned ABC owned-and operated station WABC-TV) announced plans to acquire 21st Century Fox following the divestiture of certain assets.[15] While it originally included the Fox Sports Networks chain and YES Network, the Department of Justice ordered that they be sold on antitrust grounds due to Disney's ownership of ESPN.[16]
On March 8, 2019, Fox News reported that the Yankees had reached a deal to re-purchase Fox's share in the network for $3.5 billion, with Sinclair (who ended up being the final suitor for Fox Sports Networks, and is also collaborating with the
In April 2020 during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, WCBS-TV briefly broadcast its local newscasts from the YES Network studio set due to the unavailability of the CBS Broadcast Center.[25]
In March 2023, YES launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service that included access to a 24/7 feed of YES Network and all New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty games appearing on YES. The service is only available in areas where YES is also featured on local cable. The service costs $24.99 per month or $239.99 a year, but was initially offered for an introductory price of $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year.[26]
Programming
Original programming
In addition to live coverage of Yankees and Nets games, their respective
- Boston vs. New York Poker Challenge – a New England Sports Network(NESN).
- CenterStage – a weekly program hosted by Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay, featuring in-depth interviews with various celebrities.
- The Michael Kay Show – a video simulcast of the radio show from ESPN Radio affiliate WEPN-FM (98.7 FM), featuring Michael Kay, Don La Greca, and Peter Rosenberg.
- The Feed – Athletes share the stories behind their social media posts. The Feed won a New York Emmy Award for best Sports Interview/Discussion show in 2020.[27]
- Forbes SportsMoney – a financial magazine program produced as a joint venture between YES and Forbes, focusing on the financial aspects of the sports industry.
- Homegrown: The Path to Pinstripes – a reality show that showcases the development of future Yankees players on their Class-AAA team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. As of 2019 the series has expanded with the addition of a spinoff, Homegrown: The Bridge to Brooklyn, a look into the lives of the players of the Nets' NBA G League team the Long Island Nets.
- The Mike Francesa Show – a video simulcast of the popular WFAN (660 AM) radio show Mike's On with host Mike Francesa (2008–2014). YES also simulcasted Francesa's nationally syndicated radio show The NFL Now under the title Football Sunday with Mike Francesa.
- Nets Magazine – a weekly program featuring news, analysis and feature segments focusing on the Brooklyn Nets.
- Yankees Classics – rebroadcasts of marquee New York Yankees games from previous years.
- Yankees Magazine – a weekly program featuring news, analysis and feature segments focusing on the Yankees.
- Biography-style program focusing on notable current and former Yankees personalities.
- Yankees on Deck (formerly Kids on Deck) – a children's program in which younger Yankee fans are given an inside look at what it is like to be a member of the Yankee organization.
- Yankees-Steiner: Memories of the Game – a reality series based around Yankee-related, and other baseball and sports memorabilia; co-produced by Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, a joint venture of the Yankees and Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia.
- YES' Ultimate Road Trip (2005–2007) – a reality show that combined elements of The Real World and Road Rules, following a group of Yankee fans following the team around the country throughout an entire 162-game season.
- Yogi and a Movie – A showcase of sports movies featuring wraparound commentary segments hosted by Yankee Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra.
Minor league baseball and college sports
Since the network's debut, YES has aired select telecasts of the Yankees'
From 2002 to 2006, YES also broadcast games from the Yankees' former Class-AAA team, the Columbus Clippers of the International League. Those games were produced locally in Columbus, Ohio. After the 2006 season, the Yankees ended their affiliation with the Clippers, and became affiliated with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (formerly the Yankees and Red Barons). YES has only televised one RailRiders game, Masahiro Tanaka's minor league rehab start, the team also has local coverage within its Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market.
Currently YES Network airs college athletic events from
Relationships with New York Giants and Manchester United
In 2000, YankeeNets entered into a marketing agreement with the New York Giants; this included awarding YES the exclusive rights to the NFL franchise's magazine programs (including Giants Online and Giants on Deck, which continued to air on the network after the YankeeNets breakup). The Giants' relationship with YES Network ended in 2007, at which time its team-related programming moved to Fox owned-and-operated station WNYW (channel 5) and MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WWOR-TV (channel 9), a duopoly owned by Fox Television Stations (whose sister company, the Fox network, owns broadcast rights to most games from the Giants home conference, the National Football Conference).[29]
YankeeNets also maintained a similar relationship with English
Other sports programming
The YES Network also produces Yankees game broadcasts shown on Streaming Service Amazon Prime Video using the same on-air talent seen on the cable network. From 2002 to 2004, WCBS-TV carried the Yankees broadcasts, with WWOR taking over those rights later. WLNY-TV held the local broadcast television rights to the Nets but no longer does. The Yankees package is also simulcast on other television stations in the team's designated market region.
YES also offers a Spanish-language feed of all of its Yankees game telecasts through the second audio program; this feed can also be heard on New York radio station WADO (AM), which current holds the contract to carry the Yankees' Spanish-language broadcasts.
The network attempted to secure television rights to the New Jersey Devils, formerly owned by an affiliate of YankeeNets; after the team was sold to a different ownership group, the Devils opted to renew their contract with MSG Network and FSN New York in 2005, under a long-term agreement.
YES broadcasts NBA TV's daily news and fantasy basketball shows (usually in the form of rebroadcasts, but occasionally showing live telecasts in the early morning drive time hours) and The Marv Albert Show. For a couple of years during the early 2000s, YES and NBA TV also both aired reruns of the basketball-centered drama series The White Shadow. The network also previously aired This Week in Baseball during the week throughout the Major League Baseball regular season, following each episode's original Saturday broadcast on Fox. The network had previously carried Major League Baseball: An Inside Look during the week throughout the league's regular season.
As part of a multi-year agreement with MP & Silva, YES aired tape delayed broadcasts of
In December 2014, YES announced it had acquired local broadcast rights to New York City FC of Major League Soccer, a subsidiary of Manchester City FC. Yankee Global Enterprises owns a 20% minority stake in the club, which is majority-owned by City Football Group.[30][31] This continued until 2022 when Major League Soccer signed a 10-year broadcast deal to air all matches of MLS on Apple TV+ through the MLS Season Pass.[32]
YES also acquired the local broadcast rights to the
In August 2022, it was announced that the YES Network would start airing
On-air staff
Current on-air staff
- Vince Carter – Brooklyn Nets game analyst
- David Cone – lead Yankees game analyst
- Jack Curry – Yankees studio analyst/fill-in clubhouse reporter
- Chris Carrino – alternate play-by-play broadcaster for Nets
- Ian Eagle – lead play-by-play broadcaster for Nets games
- Noah Eagle - alternate play-by-play broadcaster for Nets games
- Todd Frazier - Yankees studio analyst
- John Flaherty – Yankees studio/game analyst
- Richard Jefferson — Nets game analyst
- Michael Kay– lead play-by-play broadcaster for Yankees games; host of CenterStage; host of "The Michael Kay Show" simulcast on YES
- Sarah Kustok – Brooklyn Nets primary game analyst/fill-in Yankees sideline and clubhouse reporter
- Don La Greca – co-host of "The Michael Kay Show" simulcast on YES
- Bob Lorenz – lead studio host/fill-in play-by-play
- Meredith Marakovits – Yankees sideline and clubhouse reporter
- Jeff Nelson — fill-in Yankees game analyst
- Nancy Newman– studio host and host of Yankees Magazine
- Paul O'Neill – lead Yankees game analyst
- Peter Rosenberg – co-host of "The Michael Kay Show" simulcast on YES
- Ryan Ruocco – host of This Week in Football; alternate play-by-play voice for both the Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets; back-up Yankees studio host/sideline and clubhouse reporter. Filled in for Michael Kay in the summer of 2019 for Yankees play-by-play
- Chris Shearn – producer/on-air wrap-around host of The Michael Kay Show; host of Yankees Batting Practice Today; sideline reporter for college game broadcasts; Liberty play-by-play
- John Sterling – host of Yankeeography and Yankees Classics and radio play-by-play for Yankees games
Since the network's launch in 2002, longtime
Former on-air staff
- TNT & CBS Sports. Retired)
- TNT, CBS Sports & NBA TV
- Michelle Beadle – Nets sideline reporter, correspondent, Yankees on Deck, host, YES' Ultimate Road Trip (2005–2009; now a part of the San Antonio Spurs broadcast team
- Keith Byars – co-host of This Week in Football
- Tim Capstraw – Nets game analyst
- Mike Fratello – Nets studio analyst
- Joe Girardi – Yankees sideline reporter and game/studio analyst (2004, 2007)
- Fred Hickman – studio host (2002–2004; former sports director at Fox affiliate WVUE-DT in New Orleans; died November 9, 2022)
- Mark Jackson – Nets game analyst (2005–2008; now at ESPN)
- Kimberly Jones – Yankees sideline/clubhouse reporter (2005–2012; was at NFL Network)
- Ian Joy — NYCFC game analyst
- David Justice – Yankees studio analyst; host of Yankees on Deck (2005–2007)
- Jim Kaat – Yankees game analyst (2002–2006)
- Al Leiter – Yankees game analyst (2006–2018; left the booth to focus on his family, including highly rated pitching prospect son, Jack)
- Donny Marshall – Nets game analyst
- Tino Martinez – Yankees game analyst (2010; served as hitting coach for the Miami Marlins for part of the 2013 season)
- Bobby Murcer – Yankees game analyst/studio analyst (2002–2008; died on July 12, 2008)
- Lou Piniella – Yankees game analyst
- Jen Royle – Yankees sideline/clubhouse reporter (2003–2006; now a private chef)
- Chris Russo – former co-presenter of Mike and the Mad Dog (2002–2008)
- Charley Steiner – occasional host of Yankees-related programs (2002–2004; now a radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers)
- Buck Showalter – Yankees studio analyst (now a manager)
- Ken Singleton – Yankees game analyst/alternate play-by-play
- Joe Tolleson — lead play-by-play broadcaster for NYCFC matches
- MSG Network)
- Suzyn Waldman – Yankees clubhouse reporter (2002–2004; now the game analyst for WFAN-AM/FM radio)
Related services
YES2
YES2 is a gametime-only overflow feed of YES Network, which broadcasts select Nets games on rare occasions when the Nets and Yankees are scheduled to play at the same time. The feed is carried in both standard and high definition on most cable providers in the New York metropolitan area and nationwide on DirecTV.[35]
YES Network HD
YES Network HD is a
When it launched in mid-July 2004, YES HD initially only televised all Yankees home games, as well as away games involving the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, in high definition. In 2005, YES began televising all Yankees games played east of the Mississippi River in high definition, with the network's HD telecasts expanding to encompass virtually all of the Yankees and Nets games in 2006. In addition to game telecasts, the network now also broadcasts all of its studio shows in HD. All YES-produced Yankees and Nets game telecasts aired on WWOR-TV began broadcasting in HD in September 2006; however while the HD feed of the games is available to these outlets, the HD telecasts were not necessarily distributed to television stations outside of the New York City area that simulcast WWOR's game broadcasts.
In April 2007, YES converted the
.YES Network borrowed time on Cablevision's "iO TV 1300" service and on DirecTV to carry the first baseball game ever transmitted in 3D on July 10 and 11, 2010, when the Yankees faced the Seattle Mariners; the 3D telecast of the game was also distributed to other cable providers.
National feed
YES Network maintains a national feed available to select cable providers outside of the New York City market – including
YES in Connecticut
In 2009, the network launched a feed for Connecticut: YES-CT.
Direct-to-consumer streaming service
In March 2023, YES launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service that included access to a 24/7 feed of YES Network and all New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty games appearing on YES. The service is only available in areas where YES is also featured on local cable. The service costs $24.99 per month or $239.99 a year.[26]
Controversies
Carriage disputes
At its launch, YES became embroiled in a carriage dispute with Cablevision (which attempted to purchase the Yankees in 1998 and carried the team's games on MSG Network at the time of the channel's launch), leaving the Yankees' game telecasts not available to the provider's game telecasts for an entire year; this led the New York state government to intervene and serve as negotiator for a temporary carriage agreement between YES and Cablevision. In 2003,[37] the two sides eventually signed a long-term contract to carry the network on Cablevision's New York area systems. This situation was very similar to another lengthy dispute that Cablevision entered into with MSG Network, after that network assumed the regional cable television rights to the Yankees in 1989 from Cablevision-owned SportsChannel New York.
Time Warner Cable relocated YES from channel 30 to channel 53 on its New York City area systems in March 2008, soon after the New York City Council approved a measure to provide the Yankees public funding to build a new stadium. Simultaneously, Time Warner Cable moved business news channel Bloomberg Television to YES' former channel 30 slot, all while renegotiating its ten-year contract with Mayor Michael Bloomberg (owner of Bloomberg Television parent Bloomberg L.P.) and the city of New York.[39]
In 2016, Comcast (who are part owners of Sportsnet New York) dropped the YES Network.[40] The blackout ended on March 31, 2017, just in time for the start of the 2017 New York Yankees season.[41]
Coverage issues
In 2003,
In April 2005, YES declined to broadcast pre-game Opening Day festivities celebrating the Boston Red Sox' 2004 World Series championship win prior to its telecast of a Red Sox home game against the Yankees at Fenway Park. YES was roundly criticized for this move, including its decision to use a fixed camera shot focused tightly on correspondent Kimberly Jones as she described the events surrounding her in general terms. Yankees players not only witnessed the ceremonies, but graciously applauded them from the top steps of their dugout.[42] Perhaps due to this incident, YES broadcast the majority of the ceremonies honoring the Red Sox' celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park in 2012.
During the 2005 season, New York City area newspapers reported that the post-game questions asked to Yankees manager Joe Torre by Kimberly Jones were being sent to her by top-level team executives (quite possibly on directives from George Steinbrenner), and that Torre did not feel comfortable answering them. For the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Torre, who had been paid a fee by YES to give exclusive interviews after each Yankees game, ended his agreement with the network. YES now sends its reporter to the regular pre-game and post-game media sessions with other broadcast outlets.
Notes
- ^ "Sinclair, Amazon Back $3.5B Yankees Deal to Take Full Control of YES Network – The Hollywood Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. 29 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
- ^ Baysinger, Tim (August 29, 2019). "Yankees Buy Back the Rest of YES Network From Disney for $3.47 Billion". TheWrap. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (July 26, 2019). "YES Network, Former Fox RSNs Go Dark On Dish And Sling In Latest Carriage Schism". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ "We Are the Champions". Business New Haven. October 17, 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2005-11-18.
- ^ Mickle, Tripp (March 11, 2013). "An American Original". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (September 11, 2001). "YankeeNets Getting Own Cable Network". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (19 March 2002). "Now on YES, It's Dynasty, For Those Not in the Dark (Published 2002)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "About YES Network". yesnetwork.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "YankeeNets owners complete deal to separate". ESPN.com. AP. March 24, 2004. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- CNN Money. Turner Broadcasting System. Archivedfrom the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Darren Rovell (November 20, 2012). "News Corp. acquires stake in YES". ESPN. ESPN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
- ^ "21st Century Fox Acquires Majority Control of YES Network". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. January 25, 2014. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ "Yankees games get 15% increase in viewership on YES Network; Derek Jeter to thank?". NJ.com. 2014-10-08. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
- ^ AP (2017-05-15). "Nearly 1 million tune in to watch Derek Jeter's speech". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
- ^ Gartland, Dan (Dec 14, 2017). "ESPN Acquires Regional Sports Networks in Fox-Disney Deal". si.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Smith, Gerry; Ahmed, Nablia (August 11, 2018). "Fight for Fox Local Sports Channels Could Shake Up Broadcasting". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ^ "Yankees Consider Buying Back YES If Fox Sells Assets". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-14. Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
- ^ Morgan, Richard (November 11, 2018). "Yankees looking to buy back YES from 21st Century Fox". New York Post. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
- ^ Kosman, Josh; Morgan, Richard (2018-11-20). "Amazon said to be in talks to buy most of YES network". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
- ^ "Yankees TV Deal Attracts Ontario Fund, Mubadala, Amazon". 2019-07-22. Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
- ^ Soshnick, Scott (November 21, 2018). "Yankees TV Deal Attracts Ontario Fund, Mubadala, Amazon". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- ^ "Disney plans to split up Fox's local sports networks to sell". New York Post. December 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Gasparino, Charlie (2019-03-08). "Yankees buy back YES network from Disney in $3.5B deal". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (August 29, 2019). "YES Network Finalizes $3.5B Sale To New York Yankees, Sinclair And Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ Malone, Michael (March 20, 2020). "CBS' Owned Stations Pitch In with National Newscasts". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
- ^ a b "YES Network Introducing Direct-To-Consumer Subscription Product Today". YES Network (Press release). March 29, 2023.
- ^ "YES Network wins eight New York Emmys | YES Network". yesnetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
- ^ "Fairleigh Dickinson lands YES Network rights deal after Cinderella NCAA Tournament run". Awful Announcing. October 31, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
- ^ "Special Features – Story – 8.2 Fox 5 and My9 Expand Relationship – Giants.com". New York Giants. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ "New York City Football Club and YES Network reach multi-year agreement". YES Network. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
- ^ "New York City FC matches televised on YES Network? Yankees ownership stake will bring synergies". Major League Soccer. May 21, 2013. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ "Apple and Major League Soccer to present all MLS matches around the world for 10 years, beginning in 2023" (Press release). Apple, Inc., Major League Soccer. June 14, 2022.
- ^ Dixon, Ed (May 23, 2019). "New York Liberty makes YES Network their first local TV partner". SportsPro Media. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- ^ "AC MILAN ENTERS NEW AGREEMENT WITH YES NETWORK". AC Milan (Press release). September 2, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
- ^ "YES YES2 Broadcast Advisory | YES Network". yesnetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
- ^ "Yankee Global YES Network comes to Bright House Networks". Tampa Bay Business Journal. American City Business Journals. April 1, 2009. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (13 March 2003). "BASEBALL; Cablevision Agrees to Carry the YES Network". The New York Times.
- ^ "Echostar's Dish Network is lone holdout in Cablevision, YES Network". Long Island Business News. March 28, 2003. Archived from the original on May 14, 2006. Retrieved August 12, 2006 – via FindArticles.com.
- ^ Wayne Barrett (September 1, 2009). "Bloomberg Keeps His Billions Separate From His Mayoral Obligations? Yeah, Right!". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ Lieberman, David (2016-03-10). "Comcast And YES Network Play Hardball As Baseball Season Approaches". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
- ^ YES Network officially has a return date to Comcast after long blackout Archived 2017-03-24 at the Wayback Machine New York Daily News, February 28, 2017
- ^ Richard Sandomir (April 12, 2005). "Boston Holds Its Party, but YES Just Says No". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
External links
Preceded by MSG Network 1989–2001 |
Over-the-air (cable) Home of the New York Yankees 2002–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |