Misplaced Pages

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77-637: It was the first such network of its kind in the United States, preceding similar efforts that would emerge from the Big Ten , Pac-12 , SEC , and ACC . The network was a joint venture between the conference's two rightsholders, CBS Corporation and NBCUniversal (initially via parent company Comcast ). The MountainWest Sports Network launched as part of the conference's new television deals with CSTV and Versus (later known as CBS Sports Network and NBCSN, respectively), which jointly replaced ESPN. It

154-465: A Colorado Springs Gazette report suggested that some MWC games might be picked up by CBS Sports Network or NBCSN, or offered to a third party such as ESPN . The conference ultimately renewed with CBS Sports Network, and reached seven-year agreements with ESPN and regional network Root Sports Rocky Mountain beginning in the 2013–14 season. The "Mountain West Network" name remains in use for

231-525: A 720p high definition simulcast. All of its original programs and studio shows are broadcast in HD, as well as nearly all of its sports telecasts and some of its university-produced coaches and campus shows. The channel has produced all of its football games in HD since 2009. In September 2017, BTN revealed plans to televise selected games from the 2018 Big Ten men's basketball tournament in 4K . Every tournament from then on has included 4K coverage. BTN2Go

308-588: A Detroit -based sports network that was distributed throughout Michigan and central Indiana . The network provided coverage of local collegiate and high school sports events, as well as minor league sports throughout its broadcast area. Comcast Local ceased operations in February 2008, as every major professional or college team in the region had its programming tied to FSN Detroit and/or the Big Ten Network . Most NBC Sports Regional Networks maintain

385-477: A 30% stake in the network on December 10); subsequently, FSN New England rebranded as Comcast SportsNet New England in July 2007, while FSN Bay Area was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area on March 31 of that year. As the result of the acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast in February 2011, the operations of CSN, along with sister national sports networks Versus and Golf Channel , were integrated into

462-609: A conference game. The network holds national television rights to all men's basketball conference home games; all non-conference and exhibition games are either televised or streamed on bigtennetwork.com. Each of the conference's men's basketball teams appear on the network approximately 10-20 times a season; it carries approximately 60–65 in-conference match-ups, as well as select tournament contests. Big Ten Network also televises approximately 50-60 regular season women's basketball games annually, along with approximately nine Big Ten Basketball Tournament games. Each Big Ten team appears on

539-541: A digital platform carrying conference events not broadcast on television, which relies upon on-campus productions. The network covered over 800 live sporting events in its first four years of operation. Details of football and basketball telecasts are listed in the events section below . Also on the schedule are current and former Olympic sports like baseball , softball , soccer , volleyball , and track and field . The Mtn. aired pregame and post game shows from its suburban Denver, Colorado studios in support of most of

616-553: A dispute leading up to the expiration of the satellite provider's contract with the network in August 2012, a day before that year's college football season began. The network was temporary blacked out for eight days beginning on September 14, giving way to a new agreement that restored BTN on Dish Network on September 22. In July 2017, as part of a new six-year agreement that made Fox the primary television rightsholder of regular season Big Ten football games, Fox's contract to run BTN

693-564: A factor. BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe stated that "We have a national base. We can go all over the country and people can see that. That is a very important thing to us right now—exposure." BYU announced its exit from the MWC as expected on August 31, 2010, and reached an agreement with ESPN to carry its games. In 2011 Comcast-owned Xfinity began expanding its carriage of the channel, especially in non-Mountain West markets, after Boise State joined

770-446: A lot of interest in sort of building an event together." In January 2017, BTN and Riot announced that it would hold a season of conference competition between teams representing 12 Big Ten schools, culminating with a championship whose winner would receive an invite to Riot's college championship. The competition was primarily streamed online, but later rounds were televised on BTN. In January 2018, Riot and BTN announced an extension of

847-607: A minority interest and handled its operations. The network was positioned to be the first ever cable channel dedicated to a single collegiate conference. The network also has a commitment to "event equality", stating it would produce and distribute an equal number of men's and women's events across all platforms, within three years of its launch. The deal was meant to replace the Big Ten's television contract with ESPN's ESPN Plus regional television package. ESPN Plus games were typically only seen on one broadcast television station in

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924-636: A minority stake; NBC Sports Washington was relaunched as the Monumental Sports Network in September 2023 after Monumental Sports & Entertainment acquired full control of the network. Sports Business Journal reported that the transaction was a "one-off" due to Monumental being an "aggressive and willing" buyer, and that Comcast had no plans to sell off its other regional sports networks. NBC Sports Chicago shut down operations on September 30, 2024 after NBCUniversal's partners in

1001-737: A panel of students from different institutions across the Mountain West Conference, was rolled into Around the Mountain, presented by Jeep roughly once per month. Information on specific programs comes from the half-hour special This is the Mtn. , which aired in conjunction with the DirecTV launch. See also: Big Ten Network Big Ten Network ( BTN ) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois . The channel

1078-693: A partial ownership interest in SportsNet New York , which is co-owned with Charter Communications and the New York Mets . Each of the networks carries 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 more than one network within a particular team's designated market area), along with regional and national sports discussion , documentary and analysis programs. After their realignment with NBC Sports,

1155-557: A relationship that traced back to the launch of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (which took over the FSN programming rights from SportsChannel Philadelphia). CSN quietly dropped all FSN-supplied programming on August 1, 2012, after failing to reach an agreement to continue carrying FSN's nationally distributed programs. On March 22, 2017, the division announced that it would rebrand CSN Bay Area and CSN California to NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California on April 2, 2017, coinciding with

1232-503: A reorganization plan (with DirecTV as majority owner at 60%). The network was then integrated into DirecTV-operated Root Sports group, which relaunched it as Root Sports Southwest on November 14, 2014. In markets that didn't have an affiliate of that group, Comcast SportsNet also carried national programming distributed by competing regional sports network chain FSN (which included various college sports and UEFA Champions League soccer),

1309-802: A request by Shaw Communications to allow carriage of BTN in Canada on its specialty television services. While CTVglobemedia filed a concern that it would create undue competition (which is prohibited between foreign and domestic services) with its mainstream sports channel TSN , the CRTC determined that Big Ten Network's specific scope in coverage did not create undue competition with domestic mainstream sports services such as TSN. The network became available to Shaw Cable customers on December 3, 2008. The channel became available on Rogers Cable systems in Ontario and New Brunswick on October 22, 2009. As of 2020

1386-555: A result, BTN began to black out event telecasts involving the Oregon Ducks , UCLA Bruins , USC Trojans , and Washington Huskies for Xfinity subscribers in the regions. The blackout ended on October 10, 2024, when Fox reached an agreement for in-market carriage of BTN on Comcast's basic tier in western markets. In September 2008, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved

1463-476: A second feed with its own schedules of programming – under the Plus brand (with the network's regional name suffixed preceding the "Plus" title) to be able to simultaneously broadcast two events involving teams the respective network holds the broadcast rights to carry. For example, NBC Sports Philadelphia uses NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus as its sister channel. Regional channels (and in some cases, their "Plus")

1540-482: A sports tier, with the providers only wanting to charge customers who wanted to subscribe to it; Big Ten Network, however, wanted providers to carry it on their extended basic tiers so that subscribers would not have to pay an extra fee to receive the network. Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S., reached a deal to carry the network on June 19, 2008, and began adding the channel to its systems on August 15, 2008; other major providers in states with universities in

1617-507: A team's local market (for example, the Illinois Fighting Illini aired its games on Champaign , Illinois CBS affiliate WCIA (channel 3)). Big Ten Network was launched at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 30, 2007, with Big Ten Tonight as its inaugural program. The network aired its first live telecasts two days later on September 1, which included a football game between Appalachian State and Michigan –

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1694-539: A unit of Comcast's cable television business , beginning with a network in Philadelphia which launched in 1997. Their operations were aligned with the national NBC Sports division following the 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast. NBC Sports Regional Networks' business and master control operations are based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. The group operates four regional networks; Comcast also has

1771-552: Is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference , including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, and other content focusing on the conference's member schools. It is a joint venture between Fox Sports and the Big Ten, with Fox Corporation as 61% stakeholder and operating partner, and the Big Ten Conference owning a 39% stake. It is headquartered in

1848-643: Is offered in standard-definition and high-definition feed. NBC Sports Northwest currently does not maintain a high-definition simulcast in the Seattle market. Each of the NBC Sports regional network outlets have acquired the play-by-play broadcast rights to major sports teams in their regional market (exempting NFL regular season or playoff 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,

1925-460: The 1997 season – about entering into a broadcast deal, indicating it would launch an RSN. After short-lived discussions between Rainbow Media and Comcast about the latter possibly becoming a part-owner in PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia, on April 25, 1996, Comcast Spectacor formally announced plans to create a new Philadelphia-centric basic cable channel, which would carry sports events from

2002-845: The 1999–2000 season . The launch of the new network, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia , effectively shuttered PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia when it launched on October 1, 1997, with the network directly replacing the latter on Philadelphia area local cable systems. CSN began to expand with a series of acquisitions and new establishments: on July 11, 2000, Comcast acquired a 75% majority interest in Washington / Baltimore -area regional sports network Home Team Sports and Minneapolis -based network Midwest Sports Channel from Viacom for approximately $ 150 million. Minority owner News Corporation , which wanted to acquire full ownership of both networks to make them part of its Fox Sports Net group, sued Comcast and Viacom on July 21 in an attempt to block

2079-737: The 2017–18 NHL and NBA seasons . In June 2021, NBC lost the contract to the Portland Trail Blazers . They subsequently shut down NBC Sports Northwest in fall 2021. NBC reportedly explored selling the remaining networks or converting them to streaming services, with Sinclair Broadcast Group being cited as a likely bidder. A sale to Sinclair would see the networks' integration with Sinclair-owned Bally Sports (the former Fox Sports Networks ) as well as possibly Stadium . In August 2022, NBCUniversal announced it would sell NBC Sports Washington to Capitals and Wizards owner Monumental Sports & Entertainment , which already owned

2156-660: The BTN Invitational , between teams representing Michigan State and Ohio State. The event was held at PAX East in Boston , alongside the semi-finals and finals of Riot's own college championship. Michael Sherman, head of Riot's collegiate competitions, stated that "there was actually a student group at Penn State that was looking to run a Big Ten tournament, and the Big Ten Network got word of it and through that we actually connected to each other and saw that we had

2233-489: The Fox network , Fox News , Fox Business , FS1 , and FS2 . The deal was approved by Disney and Fox shareholders on July 27, 2018, and was completed on March 20, 2019. The network introduced a new logo on October 23, 2020, coinciding with the start of the delayed 2020 football season . The new logo returns to using "Big Ten Network" as the primary name of the channel, and incorporates the conference's "B1G" wordmark. In 2021,

2310-536: The MountainWest Sports Network one year prior to its launch. BTN was later followed by rival cable channels by the Pac-12 , SEC and ACC with a similar array of programming. The network's foundation traces back to 2004, following negotiations between the Big Ten and ESPN on an extension of the conference's broadcast contract with the network. With three years remaining in the existing deal,

2387-769: The NBC Sports division. CSN adopted the new NBC Sports branding that was launched in January 2012 alongside the relaunch of Versus as NBC Sports Network. While there were plans for the channels to also take on the NBC branding at this time, they were scrapped in favor of maintaining the Comcast SportsNet name. In April 2012, NBC Owned Television Stations took over responsibilities of selling national advertising on behalf of four CSN networks ( New England , Mid-Atlantic, Northwest , and Philadelphia). For "unwired sales",

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2464-601: The NCAA announced that Big Ten Network had acquired rights to the Women's Frozen Four —the NCAA national championship of Women's ice hockey, beginning in 2017 under a four-year deal. BTN broadcast the finals in 2017, and began airing the semi-finals beginning 2018. ESPN (who televises all other NCAA national championships outside of men's basketball) took over the rights in 2021. Big Ten Network launched in both standard definition and

2541-465: The University of Iowa , is located) was reported by Cedar Rapids newspaper The Gazette to have reached an agreement in principle to carry the network according to sources close to negotiations; the deal was announced on August 28. On August 25, Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network announced in a joint statement that the two parties had reached a carriage deal. Time Warner Cable carries

2618-448: The 2011 college football season, the network unveiled a new logo that made "BTN" the primary name of the channel, and introduced a new TV Everywhere service known as "BTN2Go," which offers live streaming of BTN telecasts and other programming through a web browser or mobile app . The service was initially available to subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, DirecTV and Dish Network. BTN and Dish Network were involved in

2695-642: The Big Ten Conference (including Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable) would soon follow suit. Additionally, the Big Ten Network is an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative. DirecTV and AT&T U-verse were the only major television providers to carry the channel at launch; however, 250 smaller cable systems (including those that are members of the National Cable Television Cooperative) also carried BTN at launch. Dish Network added

2772-407: The Big Ten sold part of its stake to Fox. As a result of the sale, the Big Ten's ownership stake decreased to 39% while Fox's increased to 61%. Big Ten Network holds national broadcast rights to all of the conference's home football games and televises approximately 35-40 football games each season. Each team is guaranteed to appear a minimum of two times annually on the network, one of which must be

2849-413: The Big Ten's footprint. In August 2024, issues between BTN and Comcast would emerge again with the Big Ten's expansion to the west coast. With California, Oregon, and Washington now part of the conference's in-market footprint, Fox sought higher carriage fees and basic tier carriage for the channel. However, Comcast wished to continue offering the channel on its "More Sports and Entertainment" tier. As

2926-524: The Flyers (whose contract with PRISM and SportsChannel was set to end that fall and was extended by one year on October 4, 1996, the day before its season home opener, after strained contract negotiations) and the Phillies. On July 21, 1997, Comcast acquired the local television rights to the Philadelphia 76ers, with the team opting out of its contract with PRISM and SportsChannel that was set to run until

3003-547: The Group will be continue to be represented by Home Team Sports. The arrangement is an extension of one that it had established with New England Cable News in 2011. In early 2012, Comcast signed a contract worth $ 1 billion with the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets , which formed a new joint venture in which the two teams would own a 77.307% ownership interest in a new Houston-based sports network (with Comcast holding

3080-702: The Mountain West , Utah moved to the Pac-10 . In mid-August 2010, after Fresno State and Nevada were invited to the MWC, it was reported that CBS and Comcast wanted to expand distribution of MountainWest Sports Network. It was also reported that BYU was contemplating becoming a football independent and joining the West Coast Conference (WCC) in all other sports, with dissatisfaction with the MountainWest Sports Network being

3157-553: The agreements limited the number of events BYU TV could air, the MWC did promote that the deals would result in more televised events. In June 2007, the presidents of BYU and the University of Utah issued a joint press release, stating that the schools had "retained a sports broadcasting attorney to explore all possible options in improving the distribution of athletic broadcasts to their fans." In an interview with KUTV , University of Utah president Michael K. Young stated that "President Samuelson and I have been clear about this for

MountainWest Sports Network - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-499: The all-sports network SportsChannel Philadelphia (both owned by Rainbow Media ) – run out and create a sports network of its own, buy the existing networks or reach a complex deal with Rainbow to have PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia retain the broadcast rights to the 76ers and Flyers. Comcast immediately approached the Philadelphia Phillies – whose contract with PRISM and Sports Channel Philadelphia ended after

3311-586: The assumption of a collective $ 170 million in debt; the new Comcast Spectacor (which appointed the company's previous majority owner, Edward M. Snider , as its chairman ) also immediately purchased a 66% interest in the Philadelphia 76ers . Immediately after the purchase was announced, there was speculation that Comcast would let Spectacor's television contracts with two local premium services that had long been carrying their games – PRISM (which carried movies and specials, in addition to sports events) and

3388-496: The channel is carried by Cogeco , Eastlink , Rogers Cable , Shaw Cable , Shaw Direct and VMedia . Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast . The networks were originally established as Comcast SportsNet ( CSN ),

3465-418: The channel on its expanded basic service in the eight states where Big Ten universities are located. These deals were later followed by carriage agreements with Charter Communications on August 26 and Cox Communications on August 28. Also on August 26, 2008, The Indianapolis Star reported that Bright House Networks was "very close to a deal" to carry the channel. On September 30, Broadstripe added

3542-407: The channel one week later in early September 2007. During the late summer and early fall of 2008, several larger cable companies within states where a Big Ten university was located reached agreements to carry Big Ten Network, expanding its carriage to every major cable provider in those areas. On August 23, 2008, Mediacom (which services most of Iowa , including Iowa City , where Big Ten member,

3619-524: The channel to its systems in Michigan. On June 23, 2009, Cablevision added the channel in standard and high definition to its Optimum systems. The following month on August 25, the network reached a carriage agreement with Atlantic Broadband , which added the network's standard and high definition feed on September 1, 2009, to its systems in central and northern Pennsylvania. On December 28, 2009, Charter Communications reached an agreement to provide

3696-404: The conference sought a significant increase in rights fees. ESPN, however, balked, causing Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to begin exploring the creation of his own network. The launch of the Big Ten Network was announced on June 21, 2006, as a 20-year joint project between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Entertainment Group . At launch, the conference owned 51% of the network, while Fox owned

3773-705: The conference's major markets via the San Diego State Aztecs and the UNLV Rebels ) nor on satellite television , at launch. The lack of national distribution proved particularly frustrating for the BYU Cougars , as the team has a notable national fanbase via the LDS Church . The MountainWest Sports Network had narrower distribution than Brigham Young University 's own BYU TV , and the conference's television partners CSTV and Versus. While

3850-490: The conference. On April 5, 2012, amid further uncertainty surrounding the conference (including the possibility of an alliance or merger with Conference USA ), it was announced that the MountainWest Sports Network would shut down on May 31, 2012. Its employees were offered severance pay, and positions at the Comcast SportsNet regional networks. The MWC had not announced formal broadcast plans for 2012–13, though

3927-401: The event. Big Ten Network televises approximately 25 of the conference's baseball games each spring, with each team making approximately 5 to 8 appearances annually. In 2009, the network televised the entirety of the Big Ten baseball tournament . In the 2013–14 season, Big Ten Network expanded its coverage of college ice hockey due to the Big Ten Conference beginning to officially sponsor

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4004-482: The former Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House building at 600 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago. Big Ten Network is carried by most major television providers and as of 2022, had an estimated 50 million U.S. subscribers. By June 2023, this number has dropped to 48.7 million households. Big Ten Network was the second U.S. sports network to be devoted to a single college sports conference, having been preceded by

4081-510: The game gained national attention for its upset victory; being the first win by a Division I FCS team over a ranked Division I FBS team since Division I was split into two subdivisions by the NCAA in 1978. On September 2, the network aired its first women's sports event (a soccer match between Syracuse University and Michigan State ) and its first men's non-revenue sports event (a soccer match between UCLA at Indiana ). The new network suffered from limited carriage on its launch, as it

4158-406: The last year and a half that it is absolutely essential that we get on satellite to make our games available to our fans. Anything short of that is unacceptable." He then added that "We are passionately committed to our having our football games being on TV this year." The MountainWest Sports Network reached a carriage agreement with DirecTV in 2008. In 2010, as part of a larger re-alignment of

4235-518: The main Fox Sports website and apps. The BTN2Go app was transitioned to an app for Big Ten Plus (also stylized B1G+)—a subscription over-the-top streaming service for non-televised Big Ten events. On many Saturdays during the football season, the Big Ten Network produces multiple games that air at the same time. The network designates one game as its national game, which is shown on the main channel on satellite providers. The remaining games air on

4312-506: The main channel in the local markets and on the extra overflow channels in the remaining markets. Most cable systems inside the Big Ten's eight states offer these Big Ten Network overflow or "out-of-market" feeds to provide additional football games. All of the additional overflow feeds for the network's various football telecasts are available nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network; and regionally on AT&T U-verse, many Comcast systems, and several other cable providers. Some providers only carry

4389-402: The name of the network was narrowed, with CSN Mid-Atlantic renamed "NBC Sports Washington", and CSN New England renamed "NBC Sports Boston". In addition, The Comcast Network channels were also rebranded, with TCN Mid-Atlantic becoming NBC Sports Washington Plus, and TCN Philadelphia becoming NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus. The rebranding took effect on October 2, 2017, coinciding with the start of

4466-466: The network approximately 8 to 10 times during the season. The network streams dozens of games live on its website, giving Big Ten women's basketball the most exposure of any conference in the country. The network maintains a set on-site during the Big Ten men's and women's basketball tournaments in Indianapolis , Indiana with anchors providing coverage and analysis of each day's game action during

4543-533: The network on May 10, 2018. This notably included the 23,000 Comcast customers in New York, despite the recent addition of Rutgers University in New Jersey having been used to market the conference and BTN in neighboring New York City . On August 24, 2018, Comcast reached an agreement to renew its carriage of BTN, and stated that the channel would be reinstated on its sports and entertainment tier outside of

4620-478: The network to its systems in St. Louis and Southern Illinois on the provider's expanded basic-digital tier. On July 24, 2017, the Big Ten Network announced they would be available on Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV . On April 11, 2018, Comcast's Xfinity dropped Big Ten Network in a number of "out-of-market" states that fall outside of the conference's direct geographical footprint, with other selected markets dropping

4697-582: The network's live event coverage, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball and softball. Halftime shows took place for all football and men's and women's basketball game telecasts. The Mountain View (final show 9/3/10), The Mountain Cap , Mountain Peak Performances (final show September 1, 2010) and On Campus Cam have been canceled. On Campus Cam , which featured

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4774-653: The network, owners of the Chicago Blackhawks , Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox did not renew rights. The teams established a new channel, Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) with Standard Media Group to broadcast their games instead. Four years earlier, the Chicago Cubs also left NBC Sports Chicago and launched the Marquee Sports Network . Meanwhile, the remaining NBC RSNs began to deploy new on-air presentation that month, which

4851-625: The networks initially continued to operate primarily under the Comcast SportsNet name. Although Comcast originally considered dropping its name from the networks in favor of NBC Sports following the merger, they still operated under the CSN brand for at least six more years. The group's two networks in California were then re-branded under the NBC Sports brand in April 2017, while the remaining networks were renamed on October 2, 2017. Since 2021, three of

4928-468: The overflow feeds in standard definition, and providers outside of the U.S. provide them in out-of-market subscription packages. Since 2019, all Big Ten Network football games are also available via the Fox Sports app, regardless of geography and wireline restrictions. Carriage negotiations with several major cable providers were stalled for several months due to their interest in placing the channel on

5005-687: The partnership through 2019, complete with scholarship funds for teams ($ 35,000/team yearly) and the addition of Penn State and Nebraska, bringing all full conference members to the partnership. ESL became a partner with BTN's competition for 2019. The Big Ten Network televises 21 Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country , field hockey , men's and women's golf , men's and women's gymnastics , rowing , men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving , men's and women's tennis , men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field , and wrestling . In February 2017,

5082-526: The remaining 22.693% interest); Comcast SportsNet Houston launched on October 1, 2012, assuming the rights to the Rockets and Astros from Fox Sports Houston , which shut down three days later. After filing an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the network on September 27, 2013, to "resolve structural issues affecting CSN Houston's partnership," DirecTV Sports Networks and AT&T acquired Comcast SportsNet Houston on August 6, 2014, as part of

5159-639: The sale. On September 7, 2000, as part of a settlement between the two companies, Comcast traded its equity interest in Midwest Sports Channel to News Corporation in exchange for sole ownership of Home Team Sports. HTS was later relaunched as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on April 4, 2001. On October 1, 2004, Comcast SportsNet Chicago was launched to replace FSN Chicago , as the local teams wanted to have editorial control over their broadcasts. Also in October 2004, Comcast SportsNet West

5236-551: The seven NBC Sports branded networks (Northwest, Washington and Chicago) were either closed or sold as part of the transformation of the regional media rights market. The origins of Comcast SportsNet are traced to Comcast's March 19, 1996 purchase of a 66% interest in Spectacor and its primary assets – the Philadelphia Flyers , The Spectrum and the then-recently completed CoreStates Center – for $ 240 million and

5313-409: The sport, broadcasting 27 games as well as the Big Ten tournament , and adding associated studio programs. The Big Ten Network televises more than 170 NCAA-sponsored Olympic events in both men's and women's sports such as hockey, soccer, volleyball, track and field, swimming and diving. In April 2016, it was announced that BTN and Riot Games would organize a collegiate League of Legends event,

5390-481: The start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season . Division president David Preschlack stated that the re-branding was meant to "better associate the prestigious NBC Sports legacy with the strength of our Comcast Sports Networks' local sports coverage in Northern California." On August 22, 2017, it was announced that the other networks, besides SNY, would migrate to the NBC Sports name. In some regions,

5467-665: Was Big Ten Network's TV Everywhere service, which offers online streaming of BTN programming to subscribers on qualifying television providers. Beginning in the 2017–18 season, BTN2Go content became available within Fox Sports' main TV Everywhere app Fox Sports Go . In July 2019, due to the Fox Sports Go platform being divested with the Fox Sports Networks as part of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney , BTN content moved from Fox Sports Go to

5544-403: Was adapted from the new college football graphics that NBC debuted in 2023, and marked a transition to a cloud -based workflow using Ross Video systems. (team-related programs only) Philadelphia Big 5 basketball (NCAA) Atlantic 10 Conference football and basketball (NCAA) Colonial Athletic Association (NCAA) New England Cable News , a regional news channel owned by Comcast,

5621-414: Was extended through 2032. On December 14, 2017, 21st Century Fox announced it would sell a majority of its assets to The Walt Disney Company , owners of ESPN, SEC Network and the then-upcoming ACC Network , in a transaction valued at over $ 52 billion. 21st Century Fox's stake in the Big Ten Network was not included in the deal and was spun off to the significantly downsized Fox Corporation , along with

5698-604: Was launched conjunction with Maloof Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Sacramento Kings . The channel was renamed Comcast SportsNet California in 2008. On April 30, 2007, Cablevision Systems Corporation sold its 50% ownership interests in FSN Bay Area and FSN New England to Comcast for $ 570 million (the San Francisco Giants were added as a partner in FSN Bay Area, when the team acquired

5775-454: Was only carried by two major television providers. By the following year, the network had reached its goal to attain carriage on the "extended basic" tiers of cable providers in all Big Ten markets. While no specifics were revealed, Fox increased its stake in the Big Ten Network to 51% in June 2010, acquiring majority control, using a provision in its contract with the conference. To coincide with

5852-527: Was operated as a part of Comcast Sports Group and CSN prior to Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal. In July 2013, as part of a corporate reorganization, NECN had its operations transferred to NBC Owned Television Stations (the unit of NBCUniversal Television Group responsible for running NBC and Telemundo 's owned-and-operated stations), and eventually became the journalistic foundation of NBC's new Boston O&O, WBTS-LD (since relocated to WBTS-CD ), in January 2017. Comcast also owned Comcast Local (CL),

5929-498: Was the first cable sports network in the United States to be devoted to a single college athletic conference —a business model that would later be emulated by Power Five conferences such as the Big Ten , Pac-12 , SEC , and ACC . The channel initially struggled to gain carriage; at launch, it was available to approximately one million subscribers, but it was unable to gain carriage on providers in Las Vegas and San Diego (two of

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