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62-565: The Pacific Sports Network was launched in September 1989 as a joint-venture of TCI and Viacom . It initially held rights to the Golden State Warriors and various college sporting events, including those from Pac 10 conference through its associate with Prime Network . The network was available as a basic cable service. SportsChannel Bay Area was an owned-and-operated outlet of SportsChannel that launched on April 2, 1990, under

124-593: A dispute over a proposed increase in retransmission consent fees during carriage agreement negotiations. Comcast rebranded the network as NBC Sports Boston on October 2, 2017, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand. NBC Sports Boston holds the regional cable television rights to the NBA's Boston Celtics (the only remaining sports property that has aired its games on

186-447: A gorilla costume to represent his status as " second banana " to Malone. Yet he had a reputation as "a shrewd and sometimes vicious negotiator". In 1995, TCI acquired the cable television assets of Viacom . In May 1991 United Artists announced a merger deal with their largest shareholder TCI (now Liberty Media ) to form the largest cable operator in the US, a deal valued at $ 142.5m for

248-597: A 10 game agreement. On June 30, 1997, News Corporation and Liberty Media – which formed Fox Sports Net the year prior through News Corporation's partial acquisition of the Liberty-owned Prime Network group of regional sports networks – purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties including the SportsChannel networks (as well as Madison Square Garden and its NBA and NHL team tenants,

310-644: A comeback, and Michael Mahoney of GT Capital expected the proposed deregulation of the cable and telephone industries to increase cable company revenues. Both expected TCI to benefit, especially since TCI owned 30 percent of a joint venture that included Sprint and 10 cable companies with the ability to serve 40 percent of American homes. Cable and phone companies could both offer each other's services, benefiting both companies and customers with product bundling . TCI had plans to upgrade to digital cable and offer more channels and services. Satellite TV providers would be competing to offer digital service, but TCI owned

372-860: A gradual rebranding of most of the SportsChannel networks that began that month (the lone exception being SportsChannel Florida , which did not become an owned-and-operated outlet until 2000), SportsChannel New England officially rebranding as Fox Sports New England on January 28, 1998. That month, MediaOne acquired a 50% interest in the network. However, despite the new name, it did not become an FSN affiliate at that time. The competing New England Sports Network had been an affiliate of FSN since it launched and still had two years left in its affiliation agreement, blocking Fox Sports New England from actually carrying any FSN programming. While Fox had hoped to negotiate an early termination of this agreement, this did not happen. Instead Fox Sports New England did not become an FSN affiliate until January 1, 2000. Later that year,

434-553: A major threat yet, represented a possible problem in the future. The good news: satellite companies could not offer local channels or phone service, and individual dishes served only one TV. The new technologies had two benefits for TCI. First, customers would need set-top boxes, which TCI already had ordered from General Instrument. Another advantage was technology developed by a new company called Imedia which would allow four times as many channels to be delivered using existing technology, even in areas not getting fiber-optic service. On

496-504: A minority partner in the network. As a result of Comcast becoming the majority interest holder, the network (after the sale was finalized in February 2008) was integrated into the company's own regional sports network group Comcast SportsNet , rebranding as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area on March 31, 2008. CSN Bay Area became the first Comcast SportsNet-branded network to use a logo style (utilizing Comcast's then-universal corporate logo), based on

558-469: A nationwide system upgrade. The Bell Atlantic deal also fell victim to new federal regulations that reduced cable bills up to 16 percent, costing TCI $ 300 million over two years. Higher spending coupled with lower cash receipts made TCI less attractive to investors, and the stock price dropped to $ 17 a share, half what experts believed the company was worth. Bill Nygren of Harris Associates , known for profiting from TCI's Liberty Media, said TCI could make

620-535: A partner with Magness in establishing a partnership for cable TV in Montana. George C. Hatch and Brian Glasmann were also partners in the companies known as Community Television Inc. and Western Microwave Inc. The Magness family moved to Bozeman. Six systems were built, serving a total of 12,000 homes. In 1962, Magness purchased Collier Electric Company, which had subscribers in Wyoming , Colorado , and Nebraska , bringing

682-410: A plan to buy TCI, second to Time Warner among cable operators with 13 million customers, for $ 32 billion in stock and $ 16 billion in assumed debt. This marked the first major merger between phone and cable since deregulation. The new company, to be called AT&T Consumer Services, planned to "significantly accelerate" efforts to offer digital telephone , data and video services as the companies combined

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744-464: A regional FSN affiliate. This includes access to a variety of college sports, notably Pac-12 Conference basketball games on various nights, as well as Saturday telecasts of football games from the Pac-12 and Big 12 Conferences during their respective seasons. The channel also aired studio shows produced by Fox Sports Networks (such as The Best Damn Sports Show Period and FSN Final Score ), prior to

806-657: A share of Primestar , and predicted a 28 percent share of the satellite market by the end of 1995. In Fall 1995, Time Warner agreed to exchange $ 8 billion in stock for 82 percent of Turner Broadcasting System . TCI would trade its 21 percent interest in Turner for the third largest stake in Time Warner, or 9 percent. Since the resulting companies would have 40 percent of cable households, enough to cause anti-trust concern, TCI agreed to let Time Warner's Gerald Levin represent TCI. This did not satisfy federal regulators. Malone ended

868-787: A trade deal 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 FSN Florida , FSN Ohio , and FSN's national programming and advertising division. Comcast retained its 50% stake in FSN New England, at the time, analysts speculated that Comcast would eventually acquire full control of the network for integration into its Comcast SportsNet group of regional sports networks. On April 30, 2007, Comcast announced that it would purchase Cablevision's stakes in FSN New England and FSN Bay Area from Cablevision, giving it full ownership of FSN New England. The network

930-638: Is also available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV . NBC Sports Boston, along with NBC owned and operated WBTS-CD (channel 15), Telemundo O&O WNEU (channel 60), and New England Cable News (NECN), are all based at the NBCU Boston Media Center on B Street in Needham . NBC Sports Boston originally launched on November 6, 1981, as PRISM New England . A spin-off of the Philadelphia -based film and sports-oriented premium service PRISM , it

992-591: Is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal , and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks . The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events throughout New England with a major focus on Boston area teams, as well as several original analysis, magazine and entertainment programs. It is available on cable providers throughout Massachusetts , eastern and central Connecticut , Vermont , Maine , New Hampshire and Rhode Island ; it

1054-470: The Atlantic Coast Conference , Pac-12 basketball games on various nights, as well as Saturday telecasts of football games from the Pac-12 and Big 12 Conferences during their respective seasons. Most of that programming has shifted to Fox Sports' national sports network Fox Sports 1 or Fox College Sports , with Comcast SportsNet having dropped FSN-distributed programming in September 2012 after

1116-661: The Carolina Hurricanes ) in 1997 . The network also served as the television home of the Boston Breakers of the United States Football League , broadcasting the team's games that were not nationally televised by ABC or ESPN for one season in 1983. The network also carried select Hartford Wolf Pack games from 1997 to 2006. The network formerly aired games for the New England Revolution first in

1178-500: The New York Knicks and New York Rangers ); the three companies formed the venture National Sports Partners to run the owned-and-operated regional networks. The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Bay Area on January 28, 1998, at which time most of the SportsChannel networks (with the exception of SportsChannel Florida , which did not join the network until 2000) underwent a near-groupwide rebranding as part of their integration into

1240-458: The University of San Francisco , San Jose State , and California and Stanford games that were not part of Prime's PAC 10 package. The two networks merged on July 12, 1991, to become SportsChannel Pacific . The combined network operated as a premium service until June 1, 1997 when it moved to basic cable. In 1991, SportsChannel Pacific picked up rights to the new San Jose Sharks NHL team with

1302-520: The 15 percent discount on Turner programming that would have lasted 20 years, and Time Warner had to pay $ 67 million to cover TCI's taxes due. Magness died in November 1996, with a 26 percent share of the company. No one believed this meant the end of Malone's tenure as head of TCI, even though Malone called Magness his "mentor" and "father figure". Still, TCI had $ 15 billion in debt and negative cash flow of $ 400 million for 1996. Malone believed he could turn

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1364-697: The 2000s and became its exclusive television provider in 2010 until the pandemic shortened 2020 season when the Revolution moved its broadcasts in Boston on both CBS Affiliate WBZ-TV on select games and MyNetworkTV Affiliate WSBK-TV on most games. For people in Rhode Island they were offered by the MyNetworkTV subchannel of WPRI-TV . As of 2023, there is no local broadcast outside of WFXT 's national FOX games since Apple TV assumed global MLS rights. NBC Sports Boston HD

1426-426: The 50% not already owned by TCI. TCI and US West announced a joint venture, and in 1992 the joint venture company became Telewest Communications . By June, the deal was approved. A week later on June 8 the deal was finalized with TCI acquiring the remaining 46% of United Artists, to allow full control. During the autumn of 1993 talks were also held with Flextech (a British television programming provider). Under

1488-599: The CATV provider for the city of Denver, Colorado and the city of Glendale, Colorado . Mile-Hi Cablevision had been in business since 1983. And prior to the merger, TCI served only the suburbs around the city & county of Denver. In Spring 1993, Bell Atlantic began looking at merger partners, including cable companies. TCI and Liberty Media would be acquired for $ 11.8 billion in stock and assumption of $ 9.8 billion in debt. And $ 5 billion in Liberty properties could likely be added to

1550-660: The FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Bay Area , through the networks' de-emphasis of the brand. On April 30, 2007, Comcast purchased a 60% interest in FSN Bay Area, along with a 50% stake in FSN New England , from Rainbow Media for $ 570 million. Then on December 10, the San Francisco Giants acquired a 30% stake in FSN Bay Area, with News Corporation becoming

1612-574: The Fox Sports Net family. Prior to the Cablevision decision to affiliate with Fox Sports, some FSN programming had been airing on BayTV , a local cable channel operated by KRON-TV and Liberty Media's sister company TCI ; the deal which was signed in March 1997 was to last three years. Fox Sports News continued airing on BayTV until March 31, 1998, when it was moved to Fox Sports Bay Area. However, most of FSN's Pac-10 telecasts also remained on BayTV until

1674-451: The Liberty-owned Prime Network – purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties including the SportsChannel networks (as part of a deal that included partial ownership of Madison Square Garden and its NBA and NHL team tenants, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers ). Cablevision, News Corporation and Liberty Media formed the venture National Sports Partners to run the owned-and-operated regional networks. As part of

1736-525: The Pacific Sports Network, but didn't want their games shown on basic cable. At launch, SportsChannel Bay Area was offered as a premium channel in-market and as a basic cable service in the outer market which included southern Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona. Other programming included SportsChannel's national programming which featured its NHL package . Additionally, SportsChannel Bay Area televised local college and high school sports, including

1798-614: The United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone . The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Community Television, Inc. , two firms with common ownership. The companies merged in 1968 and operations moved to Denver , taking the name Tele-Communications Inc. It was the largest cable operator in the United States at one time. After going public in 1970,

1860-531: The West Coast Conference. Select high school sports events are also occasionally broadcast on the network. Until 2004, the network also broadcast games involving the NBA's Sacramento Kings . Following the expiration of their contracts with the then-FSN Bay Area, the owners of the Kings partnered with Comcast to create CSN Bay Area's sister channel, Comcast SportsNet West (now NBC Sports California). CSN Bay Area

1922-460: The affiliation agreement expired in January 2000. Fox Sports Bay Area aired only a limited number of games featuring local and state teams (usually when there was a scheduling conflict). This led to viewers complaints since the better games were often on BayTV which had limited distribution. The channel was then rebranded as Fox Sports Net Bay Area in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of

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1984-497: The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Net New England , as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner. That year, AT&T Corp. bought MediaOne, including its stake in the network; in January 2001, AT&T proposed to sell the stake, along with its interest in seven other cable networks, in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission . Comcast acquired

2046-498: The company around. This meant higher rates for customers as well as programmers. Malone even succeeded in getting Fox News Channel to pay $ 200 million for his companies to add the network. At the same time, cost cutting had to take place, and many of the cable customers were in rural areas with old equipment and limited offerings. Upgrading to fiber optic service, which could be used for Internet and telephone service, would be cost-effective only in urban areas. Satellite TV, while not

2108-430: The company grew rapidly, and became the top cable provider in the United States. After a failed merger attempt with Bell Atlantic in 1994, it was purchased in 1999 by AT&T , whose cable television assets in select markets were later acquired by Charter Communications , Cox Communications , and then Cablevision and Comcast Corporation . After graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State University , Bob Magness

2170-537: The deal. Numerous regulatory concerns made the deal tricky; regional telephone companies could not offer long distance service or transmit satellite television services such as Discovery Channel . TCI would also have to sell operations in Bell Atlantic territory. As for antitrust concerns, Bell Atlantic argued that competing telephone services could be offered where TCI had cable systems, and video services could compete with TCI. Vice President Al Gore supported

2232-667: The idea of improving the nation's infrastructure , and the business community took his statement to mean administration approval of the merger. The $ 33 billion deal, based on a $ 54 per share price for Bell Atlantic stock, would have been the largest in American telecommunications history, the resulting company serving one in four cable TV customers. But it fell apart for many reasons, including declining stock prices for both companies. Malone, who would have made over $ 1 billion, wanted more shares of Bell Atlantic when its price dropped below $ 54, which Ray Smith refused to do because it would lessen

2294-437: The largest cable company in the United States. In 1982, Malone hired Peter Barton, who called himself the company's " Jimmy Olsen " because he just did whatever was needed, fresh from Harvard Business School . Barton went on to become president of TCI's Cable Value Network (later QVC ) in 1986, and in 1991, president of TCI spinoff Liberty Media . Barton had a playful side and even kept toys in his Liberty Media office, and

2356-532: The logo for SportsNet New York , that was later adopted by all the other CSN regional networks on October 1, 2008. Shortly after the rebranding in April 2008, Fox agreed to sell its interest in CSN Bay Area to Comcast. Following Comcast's purchase of majority control of NBCUniversal , which already owned NBC owned-and-operated station KNTV (channel 11) and Telemundo O&O KSTS (channel 48), on April 19, 2011,

2418-563: The long distance, wireless and dial-up Internet service of AT&T with the cable, high-speed Internet and telecommunications services of TCI. For the first time, AT&T would be able to offer local telephone service. To do this, the company could have bought a Baby bell such as SBC Communications (which purchased AT&T in 2005 and took the AT&;T name), but this would have meant regulatory problems. Liberty Media stockholders would receive separate tracking stock . Federal regulators and

2480-427: The network announced plans to build an additional set specifically for use on sports segments seen on KNTV's newscasts. The revamp would also include in-depth interviews in addition to providing scores and highlights, and utilize CSN Bay Area's sports anchors and analysts. On March 22, 2017, Comcast announced that CSN Bay Area would be rebranded NBC Sports Bay Area on April 2, 2017, in a move meant to "better associate

2542-758: The network since its launch in 1981 ), the WNBA's Connecticut Sun , the New England Free Jacks of the Major League Rugby , the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse and the Maine Celtics of the NBA G League (which have aired its games on the network since the team's formation in 2011). Until 2012, Comcast SportsNet New England also carried programming distributed nationally by Fox Sports Networks in lieu of

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2604-541: The new NBC Sports Group , culminating with the addition of the peacock logo and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network. That year, the network reached an extension of their rights deal with the Boston Celtics that saw the team acquire a 20% equity stake in Comcast SportsNet New England. On August 6, 2014, satellite provider Dish Network dropped Comcast SportsNet New England in

2666-459: The original terms of the proposed deal, Flextech would acquire TCI's European programming business in exchange for shares. By January the deal was complete with TCI acquired 40-60% of Flextech while Flextech acquired 100% of Bravo, 25% of UK Gold , and 31% of UK Living and 25% of the Children's Channel which increased its share in that channel. In Spring of 1995 TCI purchased Mile-Hi Cablevision,

2728-492: The other hand, digital service had its disadvantages. Customers who did not even want a box would still lose channels so that digital channels could be added. And General Instrument only reluctantly agreed to allow multiple suppliers to bring TCI's costs down. In 1997 TCI sold ten of its cable systems in NJ and NY to Cablevision . TCI improved its fortunes, hiring Leo Hindery as president and making Malone chairman and CEO. Still, it

2790-572: The ownership of Rainbow Media , the broadcasting subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation . The new network was formed when both the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants reached an agreement with SportsChannel to televise their games. The Athletics' contract included 50 games and while the Giants' had 55 games, an increase of 20 games from the team's previous pay-per-view service GiantsVision . Both teams had also been in negotiations with

2852-595: The premiere of the network's own sports news program, SportsNet Central , in December 2009. Comcast SportsNet New England, along with four other CSN networks, dropped FSN programming on August 1, 2012, after the NBC Sports Group could not reach a deal to continue carrying FSN programming. The network formerly carried games from the NHL's Hartford Whalers from its launch in 1981 until the team's relocation to North Carolina (as

2914-585: The prestigious NBC Sports legacy with the strength of our Comcast Sports Networks' local sports coverage in Northern California." NBC Sports Bay Area holds the regional cable television rights to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball and the NBA's Golden State Warriors . The network also airs athletic events from San Jose State University and the university's show The Charge . The channel also broadcasts college sports sanctioned by

2976-581: The second network of what would become the SportsChannel group (after SportsChannel New York ). In addition, to the Celtics and Whalers, Cablevision added select New York area sports telecasts to the network which were produced by SportsChannel New York. On June 30, 1997, News Corporation and Liberty Media – which had created a new group of regional sports networks, branded as Fox Sports Net , in November 1996, through News Corporation's partial acquisition of

3038-532: The stake in November 2002 as part of its merger with AT&T Broadband . The network's name was shortened to FSN New England in 2004, through the de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand by the regional networks. In later years, the network carried selected New York Mets games in parts of Connecticut that were not served by MSG or FSN New York (now MSG Plus ), which then produced the games. In February 2005, Cablevision acquired News Corporation's interest in FSN New England, FSN New York, and FSN Chicago in

3100-436: The third-tier rights to their games moved to Pac-12 Network upon its launch in 2012. Through its partial ownership by Fox, CSN Bay Area formerly carried programming distributed nationally for Fox Sports Networks affiliates, even after relinquishing controlling ownership of the network to Comcast and the Giants. This included access to a variety of college sports, notably Sunday telecasts of men's and women's basketball games from

3162-470: The time, it was the 10th largest cable company in the United States. By 1972, with 100,000 subscribers, Magness needed someone with more business knowledge to run the operation. He decided on John Malone, president of Jerrold Electronics , a division of General Instrument . Malone took on the bankers who wanted to call in their loans, and effectively saved the company from bankruptcy . Magness made Malone CEO but remained as chairman. By 1982 Malone had made TCI

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3224-480: The total number of subscribers to 18,000. Magness later moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska . Over time, Magness acquired more systems but remained in Bozeman. By 1965, Daniels told him the companies needed to be located in a larger city. Salt Lake City and Denver, Colorado , were both considered. In 1968, the companies moved to Denver and became Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications Inc. went public in 1970. At

3286-464: The two companies' shareholders approved the merger February 17, 1999. By that time, the value of the stock portion of the deal had increased to $ 43.5 billion. The Federal Communications Commission did not require TCI to give other companies access to its cable lines, despite requests by America Online and others. TCI had made its cable lines capable of providing Internet access, and AT&T wanted those same lines to provide local phone service, which it

3348-422: The two parties were unable to renew their program content agreement. This arrangement was formed to secure national coverage for its lineup of collegiate sports events. The channel also aired simulcasts of radio shows such as The Dan Patrick Show until those programs were inherited by NBC Sports Network . Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications, Inc. ( TCI ) was a cable television provider in

3410-401: The value of existing shares. The two companies also had different cultures. Bell Atlantic paid dividends and was used to being regulated, while TCI tended to invest in the business rather than pay dividends. And thus ended a $ 20 billion project to expand the information superhighway , though other mergers promised to put the project back on track, with a more local emphasis rather than attempting

3472-484: The wires himself. Two years later Magness sold the system and was looking for a way to invest the sales proceeds. Another cable pioneer, Bill Daniels , told him about a community antenna system in Bozeman, Montana . The Kearns-Tribune Corp., publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune , which owned a cable system in Reno, Nevada , began relaying signals by common carrier microwave from Salt Lake City in 1956. In 1958 it became

3534-501: Was a cotton seed salesman and cattle rancher . In 1956, he met two men who were stranded and needed a ride. Learning that they wanted to build a community antenna system in Paducah, Texas , he decided to raise the money for a similar system in Memphis, Texas . He sold his cattle, took out a mortgage on his home and borrowed $ 2,500 from his father. His wife did the office work while Bob put up

3596-426: Was already doing in another agreement with Time Warner. AT&T completed its acquisition March 9, 1999, and TCI became AT&T Broadband and Internet Services, the company's largest unit, with Hindery its chief executive. Malone moved over to Liberty Media, which remained a separate stock and included newer TCI businesses under the heading of TCI Ventures. Comcast SportsNet New England NBC Sports Boston

3658-532: Was also home to the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball franchise until the end of the 2008 season, when the team's games also moved to CSN California; similarly, CSN Bay Area was the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks until the end of the 2008–09 NHL season when their games also moved to Comcast SportsNet California . CSN Bay Area also televised select California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal sports not on national television before

3720-487: Was founded by that channel's parent company, Spectacor . Along with carrying entertainment programming, the network also served as the cable television home for the NHL 's Hartford Whalers and the NBA 's Boston Celtics , as well as various college sports teams. In late 1982, Spectacor sold PRISM New England to Cablevision Systems Corporation . On January 1, 1983, the network was rebranded as SportsChannel New England , becoming

3782-461: Was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet New England on October 1, 2007. CSN New England, along with the other Comcast SportsNet-branded networks, was revamped with a new logo and graphics package (similar to that first used by sister network Comcast SportsNet Bay Area after it dropped the FSN brand) in August 2008. With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into

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3844-487: Was regarded as a company likely to be taken over. TCI was acquired by AT&T in 1999 and in 2002, Comcast acquired the rest of TCI's cable television systems. In 1997 TCI merged with the Kearns-Tribune Corp., publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune , Utah's largest newspaper. Kearns-Tribune Corp. was a large holder of TCI stock. On June 24, 1998, AT&T, the nation's largest provider of telephone service, announced

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