Comcast SportsNet
Comcast SportsNet (or CSN) is a group of four regional sports networks. The group is owned by the Comcast cable television company.
The channels, CSN-Chicago, CSN-Philadelphia, CSN-Mid-Atlantic, serving Baltimore/Washington, and CSN-West, serving northern and central California have rights to carry the local professional teams.
In Philadelphia, Comcast distributes the signal only by land line. By doing so, it is able to avoid an FCC regulation that requires most television channels to be offered to direct broadcast satellite companies. Thus DBS customers in the Philadelphia region do not get access to the local team's games. However, cable companies other than Comcast within the CSN-Philadelphia market do have access to the channel. CSN-Philadelphia debuted on October 1, 1997, replacing the old PRISM Network in the Philadelphia area. CSN-Mid-Atlantic, Chicago, and West however are equally available on DBS and cable. CSN-Mid-Atlantic is the former network HTS (Home Team Sports) that was partly owned by CBS.
CSN-Chicago is jointly run by Comcast, the Tribune Corporation (owners of the Cubs), and Jerry Reinsdorf (owner of the Bulls and White Sox). The channel airs most of the games for those three teams, along with road games for the NHL Blackhawks, and many MLS Fire soccer games. If any two of the teams play at the same time, a second alternate channel (called Comcast Sportsnet Plus, and aired on CLTV) is utilized to show both events, although WCIU and WGN carry many Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls games. Comcast SportsNet Chicago was created so the teams mentioned could have editorial control over their broadcasts, unlike the past 'produced by' arrangements with FSN Chicago. In the Chicago area, Comcast operates a separate Comcast Network, a general entertainment channel that also airs the entire schedule of the AHL Wolves.
CSN-Philadelphia and CSN-Mid-Atlantic are FOX Sports Net affiliates, offering access to a variety of college sports and filler programming. CSN Chicago is rumored to be getting a similar affiliation in 2006.
Comcast is part owner (with St. Louis, Missouri-based Charter Communications) of CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast), a regional network serving the southeastern portion of the nation, based in Atlanta. CSS carries primarily collegiate and high school sports in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. CSS is not directly related to Comcast SportsNet.
Comcast also co-owns (with Fox Sports Net) the Sun Sports cable television network based in Orlando, Florida and serving the state of Florida. Comcast is also co-owner of FOX Sports Net New England, which carries Boston Celtics and New England Revolution games, along with regional and national college sports.
Comcast also owns a local sports network in Detroit and across Michigan, CL (Comcast Local). CL carries collegiate and prep sports from their area, as well as minor league sports throughout the state.
Similarly, Comcast owns local channels, branded CN8, based in the Philadelphia and Boston metropolitan areas. CN8 is aired on most Comcast cable systems along the East Coast from Boston to Richmond, Virginia. The CN8 channels are primarily local news channels, but carry some local area sports programming, including some Phillies games within the Phillies' home market.
In March, 2006, Comcast (along with Time Warner Cable and The New York Mets) launched SportsNet New York. The network is following the format of CSN stations with Mets games and New York Jets-related programming as the primary professional sports content, along with sports news programs and talk shows.
