SportsNet New York

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SportsNet New York

Type	Regional cable television network
Country	United States
Availability	NY metro area; nationwide
Slogan	Get Your New York Sports Here!
Owner	New York Mets, Time Warner, Comcast
Launch date	March 16, 2006
Website	SNY.tv

SportsNet New York, also known as SNY, is a New York City-based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and nationwide via satellite. Owned by the New York Mets, Time Warner, and Comcast, SNY rivals the other three sports networks in the area, MSG, FSN New York, and the YES Network.

Contents 1 About 2 Difficulties 3 Sports coverage 4 Original programming 5 Personalities 6 Availability 7 Controversy 8 Note 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] About

SNY began transmission at 5:00 PM EST on March 16, 2006, airing the show Daily News Live!. SNY produces all in-studio programs in high-definition as well as all Mets home games. SNY studios are located at the former CNN studios at 110 W. 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, with their offices also located at 75 Rockefeller Center.

SNY has drawn comparisons with the New York Yankees-owned YES Network, which popularized the team-owned regional sports network in the United States.

Unlike the YES Network, which only produces live studio-shows centered on Yankees and Nets games, SNY has a regular sports-news program built on the same model as the other Comcast-owned Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks in Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Maryland/Washington, and Northern California. This provides the basis for one of SNY's slogans: "The Home of All Things NY Sports."

[edit] Difficulties

• During the network's very first program, Daily News Live!, there were technical difficulties with the audio. WOR-TV, which had also carried Mets games during its history, had similar problems when it signed on back in 1949.
• The first regular season baseball game carried by SNY on April 3, 2006, experienced technical difficulties that knocked out the broadcast during the third inning for nearly twenty minutes. This was attributed to an electrical spike.

[edit] Sports coverage

• Mets - SNY will carry up to 125 Mets games during the year (with the remainder airing on WPIX, FOX, and ESPN).

• Jets - The New York Jets signed a three-year television deal with SportsNet New York on November 2, 2005, in which SNY will carry more than 230 hours of Jets-related content, including in-season and offseason programming with access to players, coaches and management. This is similar to the agreement that the New York Giants has with the YES Network, although SNY's coverage will include live press conferences, which YES and the Giants do not offer.

• NHL - SNY might also have the rights to show out of market National Hockey League games as part of the deal that puts NHL games on Comcast-owned Versus. [1] So far, no games have aired.

• College and High School Sports - SNY has said it will carry Big East and Big Ten college sports (from ESPN Plus), including exclusive rights to ESPN Plus' "Big Ten Game of the Week." SNY's website indicates that it will televise about 85 college basketball games in 2006-07, and produce a weekly studio show.

[edit] Original programming

• 1st and Goal with Mike Tannenbaum: A weekly show featuring the Jets General Manager, in which analysts review the Jets last game.
• Daily News Live!: hour-long show with sports writers and celebrities, produced in cooperation with the Daily News, hosted by Gary Apple weekdays at 5:00 PM, with encores at 11:00 PM & 1:30 AM.
• Dunkin' Donuts Jets Post Game Live: A live post-game show following every Jets game; featuring head coach Eric Mangini's press conference, player press conferences/interviews, highlights and studio analysis.
• Geico SportsNite: daily sports highlights show at 6:00 PM (half-hour), 10:00 PM (hour), & 1:00 AM (half-hour, titled Sports NY and repeated 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM & 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, the latter not on weekends or when there is an afternoon Mets game at 1:00 PM)
• Jets Open Mic: Live coverage of head coach Eric Mangini's two weekly press conferences.
• Jets Nation: weekly half-hour Jets coverage and interviews hosted by Brian Custer; premieres Saturdays at 11:00 AM
• Kids Clubhouse: weekly half-hour kids' baseball education and coverage hosted by Amanda Cole; premieres Saturdays at 12:00 PM
• Mets Classics: classic Mets games from past seasons and the current season (UltiMet Classics)
• Mets Fast Forward: hour-long condensed version of the previous night's Mets game at 5:00 AM & 9:00 AM following a Mets game on SNY or CW11
• Mets Weekly: weekly half-hour Mets coverage, interviews, and stories hosted by Julie Donaldson and Siafa Lewis; premieres Saturdays at 12:30 PM unless there is a Mets game on SNY at 1:00 PM
• Nissan Post Game Live: about a half-hour following every Mets game on SNY & CW11, except games that start at 9:00 PM or later; game review, interviews, MLB news and highlights, and next game preview
• North Fork Bank Pre Game Live: half-hour preceding every Mets game on SNY; last night's game review, game preview, interviews, and MLB news and highlights
• Simply Amazin': hour-long special discussing the 1986 Mets championship season, which premiered Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 10:00 PM

[edit] Personalities

• Gary Apple: Lead host of Daily News Live!; SportsNite anchor
• Steve Berthiaume: Lead SportsNite anchor; fill-in Mets pre- and post-game host
• Greg Buttle: Studio analyst on Jets Nation.
• Kenny Choi: Reporter; SportsNite anchor
• Gary Cohen: Mets game play-by-play announcer on SNY & CW11
• Amanda Cole: Host of Kids Clubhouse.
• Chris Cotter: Mets game sideline reporter & pre- and post-game reporter
• Brian Custer: Lead SportsNite anchor; host of Jets Nation
• Ron Darling: Mets game color announcer on SNY & CW11; Mets studio analyst
• Julie Donaldson: Co-host of Mets Weekly; Reporter
• Keith Hernandez: Mets game color announcer on SNY & CW11
• Ralph Kiner: Friday Mets game middle innings guest color announcer on SNY & CW11
• David Lee: Reporter; SportsNite anchor
• Siafa Lewis: Co-host of Mets Weekly; Reporter
• Ray Lucas: Studio analyst on Jets Nation.
• Steve Overmyer: Secondary Mets pre- and post-game host; SportsNite anchor on weekends
• Howie Rose: Fill-in Mets game play-by-play announcer on SNY & CW11
• Matt Yallof: Host of Mets pre- and post-game shows; Fill-in Mets game sideline reporter; SportsNite anchor

[edit] Availability

Provider Channel HDTV Blue Ridge 71/74/821 Cablevision 60/622 7303 Charter 42 Comcast 77/494 2075 DirecTV 625 90-976 Dish Network 438 Patriot Media 56/767 188 RCN 33 Time Warner 22/24/26/44/46/ 54/58/66/708 741 Verizon FiOS 67 815

Notes: 71 for Tunkhannock, 74 for Hawley and Milford, 82 for Stroudsburg and Lehighton. 60 for all, except those in Litchfield, Conn. 730 will mainly be INHD2, but will be interrupted for select Mets games. 77 for most; 49 for Port Murray, N.J. Select Mets HD games will air via an INHD2 preemption. Select games will be available in HD on one of the designated RSN HD Channels (90-97). 56 only in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township. Elmira–22; Binghamton–24; NYC–26; N.J.–44; Rochester–46; Syracuse-54; Mt. Vernon–58; Capital Region–66; Hudson Valley–70.

[edit] Controversy

The network had been expected to have problems being carried by cable systems owned by Cablevision, as Mets games were moved to the network from FSN New York and the MSG Network, both of which are owned by Cablevision, similar to the situation that the Yankees and Cablevision had with the launch of the YES Network. Cablevision sued on the grounds that the Mets might have violated their contract, under which Cablevision theoretically had a year left on the deal, as well as last-refusal rights. However, a Judge ruled in favor of SportsNet New York, essentially holding the Mets had voided their deal with Cablevision entirely by paying a specified buyout fee, believed to exceed $50 million.[2]

SNY and Cablevision agreed on terms for both standard and high-definition coverage soon after the channel launched, and prior to the start of the 2006 regular season. Even DISH Network, which has never agreed to a carriage deal with YES, signed a contract with SNY within two months of the channel's launch.

A smaller controversy arose when Comcast and Cox Communications announced that their systems in Connecticut (outside of Comcast's systems in New Haven, Danbury, and the Northwest Corner--all areas considered to have a sizeable number of Mets fans) would not be adding SNY in 2006, if ever, for varying reasons not fully explained. Though a distant third behind the dominant Yankees and Red Sox, this came to the anger of Mets fans who would need to switch to satellite to watch games due to all of the state being in the Mets' designated territory (thus, games would not be available through MLB Extra Innings, and most ESPN telecasts would be blacked-out). Comcast's purchase of Adelphia's systems in the state and Cox's skeptical eye towards RSN carriage in regards to fan loyalties (also done with YES and NESN in the past) also could be factors.

[edit] Note

• Mets games on SNY and post-games delay other programming, such as the 10:00 SportsNite, and preempt all or parts of shows at midnight when a 7:00 game runs long.
• There is no 10:00 SportsNite when the Mets play a game on SNY starting at 8:00 or later
• Mets games on WPIX are produced by SNY.
• All times given in Eastern Time Zone, as SportsNet New York is based in New York City

[edit] See also

• Media of New York City
• List of New York City sports teams

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• Comcast
• Time Warner