Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Launched April 4, 1984 (1984-04-04)
Network Comcast SportsNet
Owned by NBC Sports Group
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Slogan Washington's Sports Leader
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Maryland
Virginia
Washington, D.C.
southern Pennsylvania
eastern West Virginia
southern Delaware
Hampton Roads
Outer Banks
National (via satellite)
Headquarters Bethesda, Maryland
Formerly called Home Team Sports (1984–2001)
Sister channel(s) Cable/satellite:
Comcast Network
Broadcast:
WRC-TV/Washington, D.C.
Website www.csnmidatlantic.com
Availability
(some events may air on overflow feed Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus due to event conflicts)
Satellite
DirecTV CSN Mid-Atlantic:
642 (SD/HD)
CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus:
643 (SD)
643-1 (HD)
Cable
Comcast (Baltimore) CSN Mid-Atlantic:
7 (SD)
846 (HD)
CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus:
8 (SD)
856 (HD)
Comcast (Washington, D.C.) CSN Mid-Atlantic:
10 (SD)
846 (HD)
CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus:
21 (SD)
856 (HD)
Verizon FiOS CSN Mid-Atlantic:
76 (SD)
576 (HD)
CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus:
78 (SD)
578 (HD)
Available on most other cable systems in designated broadcast area Consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (officially abbreviated as CSN Mid-Atlantic) is an American regional sports network that is owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of Comcast SportsNet. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout the Mid-Atlantic United States, with a focus on professional sports teams based in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., as well as sports news and entertainment programming.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is available on approximately 25 cable providers throughout Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, as well as parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and West Virginia; it is also available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV. The channel reaches more than 4.7 million households in the Mid-Atlantic region.

History

The network was launched as Home Team Sports (HTS) on April 4, 1984. Originally owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting, it was one of the first regional sports networks in the United States. In 1990, HTS became an affiliate of the Prime Network.

In 1996, the network was folded into CBS Cable, a cable television division formed through Westinghouse's merger with CBS. Along with most of its sister networks, in 1997, the channel became an affiliate of Fox Sports Net, a group of regional sports networks formed the previous year through News Corporation's partial acquisition of Prime through a joint venture with that network's parent Liberty Media. News Corporation subsequently purchased a 34% ownership interest in HTS. CBS Corporation, which remained majority owner, eventually merged into Viacom in 1999, in a deal worth $91 billion.

Shortly after Viacom completed its merger with CBS, on June 10, 2000, Viacom announced that it would sell Home Team Sports and Minneapolis-based regional sports network Midwest Sports Channel.[1][2] One month later on July 11, Comcast agreed to acquire a 75% ownership stake in HTS and the Midwest Sports Channel from CBS, in a deal worth approximately $150 million.[3][4] News Corporation, which wanted to acquire full ownership of both networks, filed a lawsuit ten days later on July 21 in an attempt to block the sale of MSC and Home Team Sports.[5][6]

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.[7] The transaction was completed seven months later in mid-February 2001.[8] The channel was relaunched as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on April 4, 2001, exactly seventeen years after the network's original launch.[9] The channel continued to carry national programming supplied by Fox Sports Net after the sale.

In 2010, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic split its website into two regional websites, and rebranded them as "Comcast SportsNet Baltimore" and "Comcast SportsNet Washington". While the websites were rebranded, the network still maintains a singular feed that is transmitted throughout its entire coverage area. 5 years later, CSN Mid-Atlantic consolidated the two regional websites back together again as CSNMidAtlantic.com.

With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into the new NBC Sports Group unit, culminating with the addition of the peacock logo and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network. The updated graphics were implemented on CSN's live game coverage and all studio shows, with the exception of SportsNet Central.

In September 2012, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and its sister Comcast SportsNet outlets ceased carrying Fox Sports Networks-supplied programming, after failing to reach an agreement to continue carrying FSN's nationally distributed programs.[10] SportsNet Central would ultimately implement a new on-air look of its own and on April 14, 2014, in conjunction with that change, the program switched to the updated graphics package introduced three years earlier.

In September 2015, the network phased out almost all verbal references to "Comcast SportsNet" and is now referred to on-air and in marketing as CSN Mid-Atlantic. Also that September, CSN Mid-Atlantic (and all of its sister CSN networks) began implementing its most recent NBC Sports graphic set used since January 1, 2015 on the network's live game coverage and all of its studio shows, including SportsNet Central.

Programming

Live game coverage

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic televises more than 500 live professional and collegiate sporting events per year. The network holds the exclusive regional cable television rights to the NHL's Washington Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards – airing all games that are not nationally exclusive – as well as the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. The network formerly held the television rights to the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League, broadcasting the team's games from 2011 until the UFL folded in 2012. D.C. United of Major League Soccer had its games televised by CSN Mid-Atlantic from the team's first season in 1996 until 2015, after which the team signed a multi-year deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8.

The network also serves as the official cable partner of the NFL's Washington Redskins, holding the rights to televise the team's preseason games; until the consummation of the 2012 merger between NBC and Comcast, which placed Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and NBC owned-and-operated station WRC-TV (channel 4) under common ownership, games broadcast on WRC-TV were transmitted in 480i standard definition to provide high-definition exclusivity for the regional network. After the merger, both WRC and CSN Mid-Atlantic carry Redskins games in HD.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic also maintains the regional television rights to the Atlantic Coast Conference and Colonial Athletic Association, and broadcasts numerous men's and women's college sporting events sanctioned by those conferences, often featuring the Virginia Tech Hokies and Virginia Cavaliers. The network also carries college sports events from Conference USA, the Pac-12 Conference and the Big 12 Conference distributed by Fox Sports Networks.

News and entertainment programming

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic produces news, analysis, opinion and entertainment programs focusing the region's sports landscape. The network also features special pre-game and post-game shows, as well as numerous specials and original programs:

On-air staff

Anchors and reporters

Game announcers

Washington Wizards

Washington Capitals

Chesapeake Bayhawks

Former on-air staff

Other services

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus is an overflow channel of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, which broadcasts select sports events that cannot be carried on the main channel due to a concurring live event. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus is carried by DirecTV, and on most cable providers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

References

  1. ↑ Judd Zulgad (May 12, 2000). "BROADCAST SPORTS; Local teams could be interested in buying MSC.(SPORTS)". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Retrieved April 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  2. ↑ Kenneth Bredemeier (May 5, 2000). "Viacom Puts HTS Network on the Block". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved April 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  3. ↑ Mark Guidera (July 12, 2000). "Comcast to buy HTS sports channel". Baltimore Sun. Tribune Publishing.
  4. ↑ Eric Fisher (July 12, 2000). "Purchase of HTS Continues Comcast's Foray into Area Sports". The Washington Times. News World Communications. Retrieved April 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  5. ↑ 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 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  6. ↑ 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 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  7. ↑ Judd Zulgad (September 8, 2000). "BROADCAST SPORTS; Fox Sports' agreement to acquire MSC now final.(SPORTS)". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Retrieved April 9, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  8. ↑ Kristine Henry (March 3, 2001). "Nevins leaves PR post for presidency of HTS". Baltimore Sun. Tribune Publishing.
  9. ↑ "HTS now Comcast SportsNet, adding sports news coverage". Baltimore Sun. Tribune Publishing. April 4, 2001.
  10. ↑ John Ourand (August 14, 2012). "NBC Sports Group Drops FSN Programming From Comcast RSNs". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
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