Fox Sports Networks

Fox Sports Networks
Launched November 1, 1996 (1996-11-01)
Owned by Fox Entertainment Group
(21st Century Fox)
(some affiliates owned by Cablevision and DirecTV Sports Networks)
Picture format 720p (HDTV)
(HD feeds downgraded to letterboxed 480i for SDTV sets)
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Nationwide
(through regional affiliates)
Headquarters Houston, Texas
Formerly called Fox Sports Net (1996–2004)
FSN (2004–2012)/Fox Sports Local (2010–2012)
Replaced SportsChannel
Prime Network
Sister channel(s) Fox Sports 1
Fox Sports 2
Fox Deportes
Fox Soccer Plus
Big Ten Network
Website FoxSportsLocal.com
foxsports.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Dish Network Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Cable
Available on most U.S. cable systems Consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability
Verizon FiOS Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
IPTV
AT&T U-verse Consult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Streaming media
Fox Sports Go www.foxsportsgo.com/
(U.S. cable internet subscribers only; requires login from participating providers to stream content; some events may not be available due to league rights restrictions)

Fox Sports Networks (FSN; formerly known as Fox Sports Net & simply FSN), is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the Fox Entertainment Group division of 21st Century Fox. Each of the networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various professional, collegiate and high school sports teams (with broadcasts typically exclusive to each individual network, although some are shown on multiple FSN networks within a particular team's designated market area), along with regional and national sports discussion, documentary and analysis programs.

Depending on their individual team rights, some Fox Sports Networks maintain overflow feeds available via digital cable, telco and satellite providers in their home markets, which may provide alternate programming when not used to carry game broadcasts that the main feed cannot carry due to scheduling conflicts. Fox Sports Networks is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with master control facilities based in both Houston and Los Angeles; FSN also maintains production facilities at Stage 19 at Universal Studios Florida (which formerly served as home of Nickelodeon Studios until its closure in 2005).

History

Beginnings

Former Fox Sports Net headquarters in Los Angeles.

At the dawn of the cable television era, many regional sports networks (RSNs) vied to compete with the largest national sports network, ESPN. The most notable were the SportsChannel networks, which first began operating in 1976 with the launch of the original SportsChannel (now MSG Plus) in the New York City area and later branched out into channels serving Chicago and Florida; Prime Network, which launched in 1983 with Home Sports Entertainment (now Fox Sports Southwest) as its charter member network and later branched out onto the West Coast as "Prime Sports"; and SportSouth, an RSN operated by the Turner Broadcasting System.

On October 31, 1995, News Corporation, which ten years earlier launched the Fox Broadcasting Company, a general entertainment broadcast network that formed its own sports division in 1994 with the acquisition of the television rights to the National Football Conference of the National Football League, entered into a joint venture with TCI's Liberty Media, acquiring a 50% ownership interest in the company's Prime Sports affiliates.[1] On July 3, 1996, News Corporation and Liberty Media/TCI announced that the Prime Sports networks would be rebranded under the new "Fox Sports Net" brand;[2] the Prime Sports-branded affiliates were officially relaunched as Fox Sports Net on November 1 of that year.[3][4][5] That same year, Fox purchased SportSouth from Turner and rebranded that network as Fox Sports South.

On June 30, 1997, the Fox/Liberty joint venture purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties including the SportsChannel America networks, Madison Square Garden, and the New York Knicks and New York Rangers professional sports franchises, a deal worth $850 million; the deal formed the venture National Sports Partners to run the owned-and-operated regional networks.[6][7][8][9] In early 1998, SportsChannel America was integrated into the Fox Sports Net family of networks; SportsChannel Florida, however, remained as the lone SportsChannel America-branded network before it joined FSN as well in 2000 after News Corporation and Cablevision purchased Florida Panthers owner Wayne Huizenga's controlling interest in that network.[10]

On July 11, 2000, Comcast purchased a majority interest in the Minneapolis-based Midwest Sports Channel and Baltimore-based Home Team Sports from Viacom.[11] News Corporation, a minority owner in both networks, wanted to acquire them outright and integrate the two networks into Fox Sports Net. The company filed a lawsuit against Comcast ten days later on July 21, in an attempt to block the sale.[12][13] On September 7, 2000, as part of a settlement between the two companies, Comcast traded its equity interest in Midwest Sports Channel (which became Fox Sports Net North) to News Corporation in exchange for exclusive ownership of Home Team Sports (which subsequently joined competing regional sports network Comcast SportsNet as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic).[14]

Ownership realignments

In September 2004, Fox Sports Net became known simply as "FSN"; however the former name remained in common use until 2010, when "Fox Sports Local" was adopted for use in referencing its regional networks. On February 22, 2005, Fox's then-parent company, News Corporation, acquired full ownership of FSN/Fox Sports Local, following an asset trade with Cablevision Systems Corporation, in which Fox sold its interest in Madison Square Garden and the arena's NBA and NHL team tenants in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Florida. Cablevision simultaneously gained sole ownership of Fox Sports Chicago and Fox Sports New York, and a 50% interest in Fox Sports New England (with Comcast retaining its existing 50% stake); Fox and Cablevision, however, retained joint ownership of Fox Sports Bay Area.[15][16]

Fox Sports Chicago ceased operations in June 2006, after losing the regional cable television rights to local professional teams (including the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox) two years earlier to the newly launched Comcast SportsNet Chicago.[17]

On December 22, 2006, News Corporation sold its interest in four Fox Sports regional networks – FSN Utah, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain – as well as its 38.5% ownership stake in satellite provider DirecTV to Liberty Media for $550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for Liberty's 16.3% stake in News Corporation.[18][19] On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, with plans to spin off certain properties into a separate company under the DirecTV name, which would operate the four acquired FSN-affiliated networks through DirecTV Sports Networks,[20] a new division formed on November 19, 2009, upon the spin-off's completion.[21]

On April 30, 2007, Cablevision sold its 50% interests in the New England and Bay Area networks to Comcast for $570 million;[22] both networks became part of Comcast SportsNet, with FSN New England relaunching as Comcast SportsNet New England in July 2007 and FSN Bay Area relaunching as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area March 2008. Despite Cablevision's sale of the networks, the channels continued to use "Fox Sports Net/National Sports Partners" in its copyright tag until 2008 (the copyright used has since changed to "National Sports Programming").

On April 1, 2011, DirecTV Sports Networks rebranded its FSN regional affiliates under the Root Sports brand.[23] In 2012, FSN/Fox Sports Local relocated its headquarters from the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California to Houston, Texas. It was also in 2012 when FSN/Fox Sports Local was re-branded to its current branding. The FSN owned-and-operated networks were spun off along with most of News Corporation's U.S. entertainment properties into 21st Century Fox on July 1, 2013.

On-screen graphics

Former Fox Sports Networks logos
FSN logo from 1996 to 2000.
FSN logo from 2000 to 2004.
FSN "pillbox" logo from 2004 until 2008 (remained in use until 2011 by networks that would become part of Root Sports)
FSN logo from 2008 to 2012.

FSN has often served as the testing ground for innovations in sports broadcast graphics developed by Fox and the source of inspiration for the graphical appearances adopted by other networks. The Fox Sports Networks were the first U.S. sports channels to introduce a banner graphic to display the game's score and remaining length placed on the top of the screen (initially known as the FoxBox). Since FSN implemented with the top-screen banner graphic, many other major networks have abandoned the corner box graphic in favor of the bar.

2001–2005

FSN first used the scoring banner for most of its broadcasts beginning in 2001, using a simpler layout than the versions used in more recent years. It was designed as a transparent black rectangle, with abbreviations of the participating teams displayed in white and scores placed in yellow boxes (the white boxes for scores were used on some broadcasts until 2002), and the quarter or inning, time or number of outs, and a horizontal version of the Fox Sports Net logo (with the "FOX" in the logo rendered in a white box until sometime in 2004, later changing to blue) on the far right. For baseball broadcasts, a baseball diamond graphic was placed on the far left with the pitch count/speed on the right side. In mid-July 2003, Fox Sports Net adopted new graphics for its baseball broadcasts, which were later expanded to college football, hockey and basketball broadcasts, despite retaining the banner. Early in 2004, the logo was changed to reveal the FSN pillbox logo and "FOX SPORTSNET" in black; in July of that year, the "FOX SPORTSNET" logo was replaced with the region branding of the individual FSN channel. Fox Sports Net would formally become known as FSN in September 2004.

The score banner used for FSN telecasts was also used by Fox Sports for its Major League Baseball broadcasts on the Fox Broadcasting Company, albeit with a different graphics package, from 2001 until the 2004 postseason, with modifications to the banner in 2003 to more closely mirror the version used by FSN.

2005–2008

In mid-June 2005, the banner was given a cosmetic upgrade, although it otherwise continued to use the graphics introduced in July 2003. The team abbreviations were rendered in white or black text in the team's main color (depending on color contrast); the scores were also placed in white boxes, accompanied by a flash effect and a futuristic computer sound effect when one of the teams scored. During baseball telecasts, a flash effect was also used for the far-left diamond graphic (itself altered in 2006), to represent the bases being circled with an underside "HOME RUN" graphic below the banner and the team or player name in electronic lettering. The FSN logo at far right was also rendered in a black ovular shape with the region name rendered in white.

2008–2011

For the 2008 college football season, the scoring banner reverted to a box design at the top-left portion of the screen (with no FSN branding, other than the logo bug of the local network in the top-right corner), featuring a Collegiate-style typeface, with similarities to Fox's current graphic styling and the text style used by Big Ten Network. The box changes to the colors of the team in possession of the ball, with down information in the top portion and a text box with information such as punt hangtime extending from the bottom; the box flipped to indicate a score and the size of the possessing team's scoring area expanded with the possession arrow. Variations of the package were later implemented for professional sports events televised by FSN affiliates, beginning with NHL telecasts on October 11, 2008, NBA telecasts on October 28 (initially using a smaller score box placed at the bottom-right for the 2008–09 season, before switching to a horizontal "strip" design for the 2009–10 season), and Major League Baseball games on both FSN and Fox in April 2009.

New wordmark logos for each FSN owned-and-operated affiliate also debuted with the graphics package, featuring a bold "FS" abbreviation, followed by the region name (or a team name during professional sports events, also colored in the respective team's colors); the word "Net" was also dropped from the names of each channel. FSN affiliates owned by DirecTV Sports Networks retained the previous "pillbox" logo despite also adopting the new graphics; however, FSN New York and the Comcast-owned FSN affiliates were relaunched under the respective MSG Plus and Comcast SportsNet brands prior to the adoption of the new FSN package.

In 2010, FSN affiliates also began to increase their use of the standard Fox Sports brand through various means, including the use of the standard Fox Sports microphone flags, the introduction of localized versions of the Fox Sports frontcap before live broadcasts, and the incorporation of the Fox Sports logo into a new logo animation for the network's bug. In 2011, some FSN networks also followed the lead of the Fox network by framing its graphics for the 16:9 aspect ratio (which resulted in the logo bug being shifted farther to the right outside of the 4:3 safe area, and the corner score box to the far left) and converting its standard definition feeds to broadcast HD content in a letterboxed format.

2011–present

At the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, Fox's regional sports networks and national programming began using an on-air presentation identical to that used for national Fox Sports telecasts aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company. It also phased in a graphics package designed by Troika Design Group – however, in-game graphics still used the previous, metallic FSN designs until 2012.

Fox Sports introduced an updated logo across all of its properties on September 1, 2012, with its regional networks dropping the "FS" wordmark entirely and adopting individual logos combining the Fox Sports logo and the name of each channel's regional name (or team name in bugs shown during game broadcasts).

Networks

Owned-and-operated

Channel Region served Team rights Formerly operated as Year joined/launched Notes
Fox Sports Arizona Arizona
New Mexico
Utah
southern Nevada		 Phoenix Suns (NBA)
Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB)
Arizona Coyotes (NHL)
Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)		 Prime Sports Arizona (September–November 1996) 1996
Fox Sports Carolinas North Carolina
South Carolina		 Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Charlotte Hornets (NBA)		 2008 Launched in 2008, as a sub-feed of Fox Sports South.
Fox Sports Detroit Michigan
northwestern Ohio
northeastern Indiana
northeast Wisconsin		 Detroit Tigers (MLB)
Detroit Pistons (NBA)
Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
local coverage of the Michigan High School Athletic Association		 1997 Created through Fox Sports' acquisition of the local television rights to most of Detroit's professional sports teams from PASS Sports, resulting in Post-Newsweek Stations (owner of that market's NBC affiliate WDIV-TV) shutting down the latter in 1997.
Fox Sports Florida Florida
southern Alabama
southern Georgia		 Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)
Orlando Magic (NBA)
Miami Marlins (MLB)
Florida Panthers (NHL)		 SportsChannel Florida (1987–2000) 2000 Shares broadcast rights with sister network Sun Sports; it was the last FSN network acquired by News Corporation through its joint venture with Liberty Media to retire the SportsChannel name, upon becoming Fox Sports Net Florida in 2000.
Fox Sports Indiana Indiana Indiana Pacers (NBA)
Indiana Fever (WNBA)		 2006 Broadcast area originally served by Prime Sports Midwest and Fox Sports Midwest; Fox Sports Indiana became a separate channel in 2006, after Fox Sports acquired the regional broadcast rights to the Indiana Pacers. It is still considered as a subfeed of Fox Sports Midwest in some markets. Fox Sports South carries select Indiana Pacers games aired by Fox Sports Indiana in Kentucky.
Fox Sports Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Royals (MLB) 2008 Broadcast area originally served by Prime Sports Midwest and Fox Sports Midwest; Fox Sports Kansas City was created as a spin-off of FSN Midwest, after it acquired the broadcast rights to the Kansas City Royals from the defunct Royals Sports Television Network in a long-term deal with the team. Fox Sports Midwest remains available in the region, carrying St. Louis Cardinals game telecasts that Fox Sports Kansas City is unable to broadcast due to conflicts with Royals telecasts. Some of the channel's programming is produced by Fox Sports Midwest.
Fox Sports Midwest Missouri
southern Illinois
southern Indiana
eastern Nebraska
eastern Kansas
western Kentucky
northern Arkansas		 St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
St. Louis Blues (NHL)
local coverage of the Big 12 Conference, A-10 Conference, Ohio Valley Conference , and Conference USA		 Prime Sports Midwest 1996 Cardinals games carried by Fox Sports Midwest are respectively broadcast by Fox Sports South in West Tennessee and Fox Sports Tennessee in northern Mississippi. Fox Sports Midwest re-acquired the local television rights to the Royals in 2008, following the shutdown of the Royals Sports Television Network, resulting in the creation of spin-off channel Fox Sports Kansas City.
Fox Sports New Orleans Louisiana New Orleans Pelicans (NBA) 2012 Launched in October 2012, and created through Fox Sports' acquisition of the local broadcast rights to the then-New Orleans Hornets.[24]
Fox Sports North Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
North Dakota
South Dakota		 Minnesota Twins (MLB)
Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA)
Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Minnesota Swarm (NLL)
Minnesota Lynx (WNBA)		 WCCO II (1986–1989)
Midwest Sports Channel (1989–1996)		 1996 Fox Sports North operates regional subfeeds for the Minnesota/Dakotas region. The Wisconsin feed, which is not available in areas of the state adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, was spun off in April 2007 into the separate Fox Sports Wisconsin, which also carries select game broadcasts from Fox Sports North.
Fox Sports Ohio Ohio
eastern Indiana
Kentucky
northwestern Pennsylvania, southwestern New York		 Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Cincinnati Reds (MLB)
Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) 		SportsChannel Ohio 1998 Reds games broadcast by Fox Sports Ohio are televised on local origination cable channels in portions of Tennessee (including the Nashville market) and western North Carolina. Root Sports Pittsburgh broadcasts select Cavaliers games televised by Fox Sports Ohio. Separate subfeeds also exist for the Cincinnati and Cleveland markets.
Fox Sports Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) 2008 Broadcast area formerly served by Fox Sports Southwest; Fox Sports Oklahoma launched on October 29, 2008, created through a broadcast agreement in which Fox Sports Southwest and then-independent station KSBI (which carried select games produced by Fox Sports) acquired the television rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Select Dallas Mavericks NBA games televised by Fox Sports Southwest are broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma in areas within 75 miles of the Oklahoma City market. The channel also carries Big 12 Conference and occasional Texas Rangers games from Fox Sports Southwest; some Fox Sports Southwest-televised games are available through the Fox Sports Oklahoma Plus overflow feed.
Fox Sports San Diego San Diego San Diego Padres (MLB) None 2012 Launched in March 2012, obtaining the local broadcast rights to the San Diego Padres, which owns 20% of Fox Sports San Diego, from Cox Communications-owned cable channel 4SD.
Fox Sports South Georgia
Mississippi
Alabama
Kentucky		 Atlanta Hawks (NBA)
Atlanta Braves (MLB)		 SportSouth (original; 1986–1996) 1996 Sister network Fox Sports Southeast shares Atlanta Braves and Hawks broadcast rights with Fox Sports South. Production of the Braves game telecasts aired by Atlanta independent station WPCH-TV was transferred from Turner Sports to Fox Sports South in 2011 (a byproduct of the Turner Broadcasting System's local marketing agreement with the Meredith Corporation that consolidated WPCH's operations with CBS affiliate WGCL-TV). On February 28, 2013, Fox Sports South and the then-SportSouth reached a deal with the Braves to acquire the 45-game package held by WPCH, rendering the team's game telecasts cable-exclusive beginning with the 2013 season and ending the station's 40-year relationship with the Braves.[25]
Fox Sports Southeast Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee
North Carolina
South Carolina		 Atlanta Braves (MLB)
Atlanta Hawks (NBA)
Charlotte Hornets (NBA)
Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
Nashville Predators (NHL)		 Turner South (1996–2006)
SportSouth (2006–2015)		 2006 Formerly known as Turner South, and operated as a general entertainment cable channel, from 1996 to October 13, 2006, when it adopted the name SportSouth following its sale by Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary to then Fox Sports Networks parent News Corporation. SportSouth and Fox Sports South aired Atlanta Thrashers games until the team's relocation to Winnipeg, Manitoba (as the Winnipeg Jets) in 2011. Fox Sports South carries select Memphis Grizzlies games aired by SportSouth in Kentucky. SportSouth was rebranded as Fox Sports Southeast on October 5, 2015, citing viewer confusion caused by the Fox Sports Networks' 2012 rebranding that replaced the "FS" with "Fox Sports" as a prefix for the regional outlets.[26][27]
Fox Sports Southwest Northern and Eastern Texas
northern Louisiana
New Mexico
Arkansas
Oklahoma		 Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Dallas Stars (NHL)
Houston Texans (NFL)
(team-related programming)
Texas Rangers (MLB)
San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA)
San Antonio Stars (WNBA)
local coverage of Big 12 Conference and Conference USA		 Home Sports Entertainment (1988–1994), Prime Sports Southwest (1994–1996) 1996
Fox Sports Sun Florida Orlando Magic (NBA)
Miami Heat (NBA)
Miami Marlins (MLB)
Tampa Bay Rays (MLB)
Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)		 Sunshine Network (1988–2004)
Sun Sports (2004–2015)		 1996 Originally a Prime Network affiliate, Fox Sports and Liberty Media acquired the network in 1996.
Fox Sports Tennessee Tennessee
northern Alabama		 Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
Nashville Predators (NHL)		 2008 Launched in 2008, as a sub-feed of Fox Sports South.
Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket Southern California
Southern Nevada
Hawaii		 Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (MLB)
Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
local coverage of the Pac-12		 Fox Sports West: Prime Ticket (original; 1987–1993), Prime Sports West (1993–1996)
Prime Ticket: FSN West 2 (2002–2008)		 1996 Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket operate as separate channels, pooling the broadcast rights to the teams and collegiate conferences listed. Fox Sports West lost the broadcast rights to the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2011-12 NBA season, as a result of a 20-year agreement with Time Warner Cable to broadcast the team's games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, which both launched in October 2012;[28] TWC SportsNet and TWC Deports subsequently acquired the rights to the Los Angeles Sparks and the Los Angeles Galaxy from Fox Sports West. Prime Ticket aired Los Angeles Dodgers games from 1997 to 2013 when Fox lost the broadcast rights to SportsNet LA, a joint venture between the team and Time Warner Cable that launched in April 2014.[29]
Fox Sports Wisconsin Wisconsin
western Upper Peninsula of Michigan
eastern Minnesota
northwestern Illinois
Iowa		 Milwaukee Brewers (MLB)
Milwaukee Bucks (NBA)
Minnesota Wild (NHL, see note)
Wisconsin Badgers hockey		 Wisconsin Sports Network (1996–1998) 2007 Formerly operated as a sub-feed of Fox Sports North beginning in 1998, Fox Sports Wisconsin became a separate channel in 2008 after Fox Sports North acquired the broadcast rights to the Milwaukee Brewers. It is still considered a sub-feed of Fox Sports North in some markets, and carries a limited schedule of Minnesota Wild hockey games. Fox Sports Wisconsin maintains master control and certain back office operations shared with Fox Sports North at the latter channel's headquarters in Minneapolis, but maintains separate production operations based in Milwaukee.
SportsTime Ohio Ohio
eastern Indiana
Kentucky
northwestern Pennsylvania
southwestern New York		 Cleveland Indians (MLB)
Cleveland Browns (NFL)
(team-related shows)
Ohio Machine (MLL)
local coverage of the Mid-American Conference		 2012 Launched in 2006, after the Cleveland Indians declined to renew its broadcast contract with Fox Sports Ohio; Fox would eventually purchase the network on December 28, 2012.
YES Network New York
northern New Jersey
northeast Pennsylvania
southern Connecticut		 New York Yankees (MLB)
Brooklyn Nets (NBA)		 2013 Launched in 2002, News Corporation acquired a 49% stake in YES in November 2012, in a deal that included an option to allow the company to expand its interest in the network to 80% within three years.[30] The option carried over to 21st Century Fox, following its founding through the subsequent 2013 spin-off of News Corporation's entertainment assets, which exercised the option for Fox Sports to acquire 80% majority control of YES (with the network's founding parent Yankees Global Enterprises retaining the remaining 20%) in January 2014.[31] YES later began carrying Fox Sports-sourced programming in September 2013; prior to the Fox Sports purchase, YES had carried (and still produces) select Yankees game telecasts over-the-air broadcast on Fox-owned MyNetworkTV station WWOR-TV and the Tribune-owned station WPIX.

Affiliates

Channel Region served Team rights Formerly operated as Year joined Notes
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Delaware, Maryland, south-central Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia Washington Capitals (NHL)
Washington Wizards (NBA)
Washington Mystics (WNBA)
D.C. United (MLS)
local coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Colonial Athletic Association		 Home Team Sports (1984–1997) 1997 Resumed carriage of select Fox Sports programming (mostly games from the Atlantic Coast Conference) in September 2013.
MASN2 Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware Baltimore Orioles (MLB)
Washington Nationals (MLB)		 2013 Airs most Fox Sports-sourced programming, with the exception of select ACC games to which Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic holds rights.
MSG Plus New York
northern New Jersey
northeast Pennsylvania
southern Connecticut		 New Jersey Devils (NHL)
New York Islanders (NHL)
local coverage of the Big East Conference		 SportsChannel New York (1976–1998)
FSN New York (1998–2008)		 1998 Operates as a sister network of MSG Network; Cablevision Systems Corporation acquired full ownership of the channel in 2007, and rebranded as MSG Plus on March 10, 2008.[32][33] As of September 2013, MSG Plus now airs a reduced schedule of Fox Sports programming, with certain other programs airing on YES Network.
New England Sports Network Massachusetts, eastern and central Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island Boston Bruins (NHL), Boston Red Sox (MLB) 2013 NESN began carrying Fox Sports-produced ACC games in September 2013, following Comcast SportsNet New England's relinquishing of the regional television rights.
Root Sports Pittsburgh
Southwest
Rocky Mountains
Utah
Northwest		 Various, see Root Sports for more information 1996 Acquired by Liberty Media in 2008 as part of an asset swap with then-Fox Sports owner News Corporation, these networks were spun off into the DirecTV Sports Networks division of DirecTV in 2009.[34] DirecTV's Fox Sports affiliates were rebranded as Root Sports on April 1, 2011.[23] Root Sports Southwest is the only network in the group that does not air Fox Sports-sourced programming.

Former networks

Channel Region served Team rights Formerly operated as Tenure with FSN Notes
FSN Bay Area Northern and central California, northwestern Nevada and parts of southern Oregon San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Oakland Athletics (MLB)
San Jose Sharks (NHL)
Golden State Warriors (NBA)
San Jose Stealth (NLL)
San Jose Sabercats (AFL)
local coverage of the Pacific-10, West Coast, Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences.		 Pacific Sports Network (PSN) (1984–1990), SportsChannel Bay Area (1990–1993), SportsChannel Pacific (1993–1998) 1998–2007 In April 2007, Cablevision sold its 60% interest in FSN Bay Area to Comcast. The network was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area on March 31, 2008 and continued to carry select FSN programming until August 2012. Fox Sports retains 25% ownership in the network.
Fox Sports Houston Southern Texas and southern Louisiana Houston Astros (MLB)
Houston Rockets (NBA)
Houston Dynamo (MLS)
Houston Texans (NFL)
(team-related analysis programming)
local coverage of Big 12 Conference and Conference USA		 2009–2012 Originally launched as a subfeed of Fox Sports Southwest; became a 24-hour channel on January 12, 2009.[35] Fox Sports Houston was the television home of the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets until Comcast SportsNet Houston acquired the rights to both teams in 2012;[36] that deal resulted in the shut down of Fox Sports Houston on October 5, 2012, with the main Fox Sports Southwest feed replacing it on area cable providers.[37]
FSN Chicago Northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and eastern Iowa Chicago Cubs (MLB)
Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Chicago Fire (MLS)
Chicago Rush (AFL)
Chicago White Sox (MLB)
local and national collegiate sports (included some events sourced from Fox Sports Detroit)		 Sportsvision Chicago (1979–1984), Hawkvision (1984–1987; rights shared with ONTV), SportsChannel Chicago (1987–1998) 1998–2006 FSN Chicago served as the production hub for the Chicago Sports Report, Ohio Sports Report and Bay Area Sports Report (all of which were 50% owned by Rainbow Sports/Cablevision). Comcast SportsNet Chicago now airs FSN's national programming, and occupies FSN Chicago's former facilities at 350 North Orleans Street, which also houses the offices of the Chicago Sun-Times. The former Chicago Sports Report set was purchased by NBC affiliate WREX in Rockford, Illinois for use as that station's main news set. FSN Chicago shut down on June 23, 2006.
FSN New England Massachusetts, eastern and central Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island Boston Celtics (NBA)
local college sports		 SportsChannel New England (1986–1998) 1998–2007 In April 2007, Cablevision sold its 50% interest in FSN New England to Comcast, effectively giving the latter full ownership of the channel. It was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet New England on July 1, 2007, and continued to carry select FSN programming until August 2012.

Partner services

Comcast SportsNet

From its inception in 1997 until July 31, 2012, Comcast maintained an agreement to carry select programming sourced from Fox Sports Net on its six Comcast SportsNet regional networks: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Comcast SportsNet California, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast SportsNet New England and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.[38]

From September 2012 to September 2013, Fox syndicated select college football games produced by the Fox Sports regional networks to broadcast television stations in some of these markets. Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic resumed airing select Fox Sports-produced ACC games in 2013; however, Fox Sports programming has not returned to any other CSN network. As of 2015, most of Fox Sports Networks' other programming is presently carried in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. markets on MASN2 and in the Boston market on the New England Sports Network (NESN), however Fox Sports does not have distributors for its national RSN programming in the Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco markets.

Fox College Sports (FCS)

Main article: Fox College Sports

Fox Sports Networks also operates Fox College Sports (FCS), a slate of three digital cable channels (Fox College Sports Atlantic, Fox College Sports Central, and Fox College Sports Pacific) featuring programming divided by region (primarily collegiate and high school sports, as well as minor league sports events) from each individual FSN network; the FCS networks also carry each affiliate's regional sports news programs and non-news-and-event programming (such as coaches shows, team magazines, and documentaries). The three networks are, more or less, condensed versions of the 22 FSN-affiliated networks (including Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic), though the channels also show international events that do not fit within the programming inventories of FSN or Fox Soccer Plus (and prior to 2013, the latter's now-defunct parent Fox Soccer), such as the Commonwealth Games, World University Games and the FINA World Swimming Championships.

The three FCS channels offer FSN feeds from the following channels, including live Big 12 Conference football, Pac-12 Conference football and basketball and Atlantic Coast Conference basketball games. The channels also rebroadcast shows originally produced by and shown on the following listed networks:

Fox College Sports also broadcasts high school and Independent Women's Football League games, and college magazine and coach's shows. Fox College Sports formerly partnered with Big Ten Network to provide programming.

High definition

All of the Fox Sports Networks regional affiliates maintain high definition simulcast feeds presented in 720p (the default resolution format for 21st Century Fox's broadcast and pay television properties). All sports programming broadcast on each of the networks (including most team-related analysis and discussion programs, and non-event amateur sports programs) is broadcast in a format optimized for 16:9 widescreen displays, with graphics now framed within a widescreen safe area rather than the 4:3 safe area, intended to be shown in a letterboxed format for standard definition viewers.

National programs

Programming strategy

The programming strategy adopted by most of the Fox Sports Networks is to acquire the play-by-play broadcast rights to major sports teams in their regional market (this does not include NFL games, since the league's contracts require all games to be aired on broadcast television in each participating team's local markets). In addition to local play-by-play coverage, the FSN networks also broadcast and produce pre-game shows, post-game shows, and weekly "magazine" shows centered on the teams that maintain rights with the individual network. In some markets, FSN competes directly with other regional sports networks for the broadcast rights to team-specific programming.

FSN has competed directly with ESPN in acquiring the conference rights to various collegiate sports events. One notable agreement is that with the Pac-12 Conference, in which packages of football and men's basketball regular season games are broadcast across all FSN networks within the regions served by each Pac-12 member university. Fox Sports Networks broadcasts the majority of the Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, except the tournament final, as well as a few Pac-12 matches from other conference-sanctioned sports (such as baseball and volleyball).

Besides play-by-play game rights, FSN provided a common set of programming that was available to all its regional sports networks, most notably The Dan Patrick Show, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Final Score (TBDSSP and Final Score eventually ceased production, while The Dan Patrick Show later moved to the NBC Sports Network). Until August 2012, in some of regions served by that RSN, member channels of the competing Comcast SportsNet (as mentioned above) carried FSN programming through broadcast agreements with Fox Sports.

Fox Sports Networks' national sports telecasts were formerly marketed under the "FSN" brand; these national programs began to use more generic branding with fewer references to FSN or Fox in 2008, as a result of a number of Fox Sports Net affiliates being rebranded or realigned with other RSN chains (including FSN New England and FSN Bay Area, which both became part of Comcast SportsNet; FSN New York's relaunch as MSG Plus, the sister to MSG Network; and the eventual relaunch of several FSN affiliates acquired by DirecTV Sports Networks under the Root Sports brand), however these networks have since reverted to utilizing Fox branding on their FSN-syndicated broadcasts.

National prime time programming

In addition to regional programming, the Fox Sports Networks carry some prime time programming distributed to all of the regional networks (including past and present series such as The Best Damn Sports Show Period and Chris Myers Interviews). FSN has tried to compete with ESPN in regards to original programming, most notably with the Fox Sports National Sports Report, a daily sports news program designed to compete with ESPN's SportsCenter, which debuted on FSN in 1996. Originally a two-hour program, the running time of National Sports Report was steadily cut back (eventually dwindling to 30 minutes) as its ratings declined and the cost of producing the program increased. FSN hired popular former SportsCenter anchor Keith Olbermann and used him to promote the show heavily; ratings continued to slide, however, leading Fox Sports to cancel the National Sports Report, which aired its last edition in February 2002.

In some markets, FSN aired the Regional Sports Report (whose headline title was usually customized with the name of the region in which the particular program was broadcast, such as the Midwest Sports Report or Detroit Sports Report), a companion news program focusing primarily on regional sports as well as highlights and news on other sports teams that debuted in 2000 to complement the National Sports Report; many of the regional reports were cancelled in 2002 due to increasing costs of producing the individual programs.[39]

Live national play-by-play

Other sports

Other shows

In addition, FSN airs an extensive lineup of poker shows, including Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament and MansionPoker.net PokerDome Challenge. Recently, the World Poker Tour broadcast its seventh season on FSN as well.

Former programming

Teams by network

Network NBA MLB NHL Other
Fox Sports Arizona Phoenix Suns Arizona Diamondbacks Arizona Coyotes Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)
Fox Sports Carolinas /
Fox Sports Southeast		 Charlotte Hornets – Carolina Hurricanes —
Fox Sports Detroit Detroit Pistons Detroit Tigers Detroit Red Wings —
Fox Sports Florida Orlando Magic Miami Marlins Florida Panthers —
Fox Sports Indiana Indiana Pacers – – Indiana Fever (WNBA)
Fox Sports Kansas City – Kansas City Royals – —
Fox Sports Midwest – St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Blues —
Fox Sports New Orleans New Orleans Pelicans – – —
Fox Sports North Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Twins Minnesota Wild Minnesota Lynx (WNBA)
Fox Sports Ohio Cleveland Cavaliers Cincinnati Reds Columbus Blue Jackets —
Fox Sports Oklahoma Oklahoma City Thunder – – —
Fox Sports San Diego – San Diego Padres – —
Fox Sports South /
Fox Sports Southeast		 Atlanta Hawks Atlanta Braves – Atlanta Dream (WNBA)
Fox Sports Southwest Dallas Mavericks
San Antonio Spurs 		Texas Rangers Dallas Stars San Antonio Stars (WNBA)
Fox Sports Sun Miami Heat Tampa Bay Rays Tampa Bay Lightning —
Fox Sports Tennessee /
Fox Sports Southeast		 Memphis Grizzlies – Nashville Predators —
Fox Sports West /
Prime Ticket		 Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Los Angeles Kings
Anaheim Ducks 		—
Fox Sports Wisconsin Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee Brewers – —
SportsTime Ohio – Cleveland Indians – —
YES Network Brooklyn Nets New York Yankees – —

Pay-per-view

FSN distributed its first pay-per-view event on November 10, 2006, a boxing match in which former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield defeated Fres Oquendo in a unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The fight was also streamed free of charge on the FoxSports.com website outside the United States.

Americans in Focus

In February 2008, FSN launched a public service initiative called "Americans in Focus", with the sponsorship support of Farmers Insurance. This initiative consists of one-minute vignettes profiling persons of non-Caucasian ethnicity, with segments airing on the FSN networks in February 2008 and 2009 during Black History Month, from September 15 to October 15, 2008 for Hispanic Heritage Month and in March 2009 for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The Americans in Focus vignettes and the companion sub-site on the Fox Sports website were discontinued in April 2009.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FOX AND LIBERTY OUTLINE PLANS FOR NEW CABLE VENTURE". Sports Business Journal (Advance Publications). November 1, 1995. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ "FOX GIVES NEW NAME TO SPORTS ALLIANCE: FOX SPORTS NET". Sports Business Journal (Advance Publications). July 3, 1996. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ R. Thomas Umstead (July 8, 1996). "Liberty Sports regionals will become Fox Sports net". Multichannel News. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  4. ↑ "FOX SPORTS NET DEBUTS ON NOV. 1". The Columbian (Columbian Publishing Company). Associated Press. September 13, 1996. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  5. ↑ "FOX SPORTS NET ANNOUNCES DEBUT FOR NOVEMBER 1". Sports Business Journal (Advance Publications). September 13, 1996. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Fox putting together national Sports Net // Changes ahead for SportsChannel". Chicago Sun-Times (Sun-Times Media Group). June 24, 1997. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  7. ↑ John M. Higgins (June 30, 1997). "National net keys regional deal. (Fox Sports, Liberty Media Corp. challenge ESPN with stake in SportsChannel)". Broadcasting & Cable (Reed Business Information). Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. ↑ "SPORTS LANDSCAPE ALTERED WITH FOX/LIBERTY-CABLEVISION DEAL". Sports Business Journal (Advance Publications). June 23, 1997. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ 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. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  10. ↑ Steve Donohue (November 15, 1999). "Rainbow, Fox Deal for Florida Net". Multichannel News. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  11. ↑ Judd Zulgad (May 12, 2000). "BROADCAST SPORTS; Local teams could be interested in buying MSC.(SPORTS)". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  12. ↑ Judd Zulgad (July 12, 2000). "Comcast agrees to buy MSC; Announced deal appears to be a setback for Fox Sports Net.(SPORTS)". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  13. ↑ Linda Moss; R. Thomas Umstead (July 24, 2000). "Fox Sports Net Suing to Block HTS Sell-Off.(Home Team Sports)(Brief Article)". Multichannel News. Cathers Business Information. Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  14. ↑ Judd Zulgad (September 8, 2000). "BROADCAST SPORTS; Fox Sports' agreement to acquire MSC now final.(SPORTS)". Star Tribune (The Star Tribune Company). Retrieved April 7, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  15. ↑ Richard Sandomir (February 23, 2005). "Cablevision Locks Up Garden". The New York Times (The New York Times Company).
  16. ↑ Leon Lazaroff (February 23, 2005). "News Corp. exits Chicago Fox sports station". Chicago Tribune (Tribune Publishing). Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ "No need for FSN Chicago". The Daily Journal. June 27, 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "News Corp. Reaches Deal with Liberty Media". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). December 22, 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Liberty Media to Unite Assets With DirecTV". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Reuters. May 4, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ Todd Spangler (May 4, 2009). "DirecTV, Liberty Media Announce Spin-Off Plan". Multichannel News (Reed Business Information). Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  21. ↑ Mike Reynolds (November 20, 2009). "Liberty Sports Rebrands As DirecTV Sports Networks". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  22. ↑ Cynthia Littleton (April 30, 2007). "Comcast sports new cable networks". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  23. 1 2 "'Root Sports' new name for sports networks". Denver Business Journal (American City Business Journals). December 17, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Hornets, FOX Sports announce TV deal". Houma Today. June 26, 2012.
  25. ↑ "FOX Sports South and SportSouth acquire 45 additional Braves games beginning this season". Fox Sports South. News Corp. Digital Media. February 28, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  26. ↑ Rodney Ho (August 24, 2015). "SportSouth becomes Fox Sports Southeast". Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Cox Enterprises). Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  27. ↑ Joe Lucia (August 25, 2015). "SportSouth is rebranding to Fox Sports Southeast". Awful Announcing. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Time Warner Scores L.A. Lakers Regional Sports Network Rights". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. February 14, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Dodgers announce deal with Time Warner, launch of SportsNet LA". CBS Sports. January 28, 2013.
  30. ↑ "News Corp. Acquires 49% of YES Network, Yankees". Deadline.com. November 2012.
  31. ↑ "21st Century Fox Acquires Majority Control of YES Network". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. January 2014.
  32. ↑ Neil Best (February 26, 2008). "FSNY to be renamed MSG Plus". Newsday (Cablevision Systems Corporation). Archived from the original on April 26, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  33. ↑ R. Thomas Umstead (February 29, 2008). "FSNY To Morph into MSG Plus". Multichannel News. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  34. ↑ "News Corp sells DirecTV stake to Liberty Media for News Corp stake, 550 mln usd". Forbes. December 22, 2006.
  35. ↑ "Fox Sports Houston set for new identity". Houston Business Journal (American City Business Journals). January 7, 2009.
  36. ↑ "Astros, Rockets reach deal on new network". MLB.com. August 3, 2010.
  37. ↑ "Fox Sports Houston signs off with familiar face". Houston Chronicle (Hearst Corporation). October 2, 2012.
  38. ↑ John Ourand (August 14, 2012). "NBC Sports Group Drops FSN Programming From Comcast RSNs". Sports Business Journal (Advance Publications). Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Fox Sports Net cancels 'National Sports Report'". Enquirer. January 17, 2002.
  40. ↑ "Roggin Gives Up Radio Talk Show". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Publishing). June 9, 2006. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008.
  41. ↑ "The Dan Patrick Show Syndicated to More Than 85 Million Homes! – Fox Sports Net Will Distribute the Popular Sports Talk TV Series Beginning October 25". DirecTV (Press release). October 4, 2010.
  42. ↑ "Shaun Alexander 1977–". Biography Today (Omnigraphics, Inc.) 16 (2): 9. 2007. ISSN 1058-2347.

External links

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