NBC Sports Washington is an American

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...

owned by

Ted Leonsis Theodore John Leonsis (born January 8, 1957) is an American businessman, investor, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and former politician. He is a former senior executive with America Online (AOL), and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monument ...

's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of

NBC Sports Regional Networks 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 origina ...

. Headquartered in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout the Mid-Atlantic, with a focus on professional sports teams based in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and Washington, D.C., as well as sports news and entertainment programming. NBC Sports Washington is available on approximately 25

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

providers throughout Maryland,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and the District of Columbia, as well as parts of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

; it is also available nationwide on

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

via

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

. 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 The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...

, it was one of the first regional sports networks in the United States with rights to the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. In 1988, the network affiliated with

SportsChannel SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC. Operating from March 1, ...

picking up their NHL package. In 1989, HTS additionally became an affiliate of the

Prime Sports Network Prime Sports (originally known as the Prime Sports Network (PSN), and also known as Prime Network or simply Prime) is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that were owned by Liberty Media, ope ...

. In 1996, the network was folded into

CBS Cable CBS Cable was an early cable television network operated by CBS, Inc., dedicated to the lively arts (i.e. symphony, dance, theatre, opera, etc.). It debuted on October 12, 1981 and ceased operations on December 17, 1982. CBS Cable was a persona ...

, a cable television division formed through

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

's merger with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. In February 1997, Home Team Sports became an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks, a group of regional sports networks formed the previous year through

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

's partial acquisition of Prime through a joint venture with that network's parent Liberty Media. In 1996, Fox/Liberty had tried to secure rights to the Bullets, Capitals, and Orioles which would have led to the launch of a new RSN. Fox/Liberty originally outbid HTS but previous contracts gave HTS the

right of first refusal Right of first refusal (ROFR or RFR) is a contractual right that gives its holder the option to enter a business transaction with the owner of something, according to specified terms, before the owner is entitled to enter into that transactio ...

. Fox/Liberty filed a lawsuit against HTS which ultimately was settled. 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 Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

-based regional sports network Midwest Sports Channel. 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. 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. 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. The transaction was completed seven months later in mid-February 2001. The channel was relaunched as Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on April 4, 2001, exactly seventeen years after the network's original launch. 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. 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. In October 2016, CSN Mid-Atlantic announced that it would extend its broadcast rights to the

and

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

through a long-term deal with the teams' owner,

. As a result, Monumental Sports & Entertainment took an equity stake in the network, while NBCUniversal took an equity stake in the Monumental Sports Network—an over-the-top subscription service focusing on other teams owned by the company. CSNMidAtlantic

Comcast rebranded the network as NBC Sports Washington on October 2, 2017, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand. On August 23, 2022, Monumental announced it would acquire full control of the network from Comcast for an undisclosed price. While Monumental plans to rebrand the network in time for the 2023–24 NBA and NHL seasons, NBCUniversal will provide transitional corporate, technical, and distribution support for up to eighteen months after the sale completion. The '' Sports Business Journal'' reported that the sale is a "one-off" transaction for Comcast, which has no interest in selling its other regional sports networks. The sale was completed on September 20, 2022 and the network will be rebranded sometime during 2023.

Programming

Live game coverage

Caps-Habs (April 15, 2010) - 13 (4526727427)

NBC Sports Washington televises more than 500 live professional and collegiate sporting events per year. The network holds the exclusive regional cable television rights to the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and the NBA's

– airing all games that are not nationally exclusive – as well as the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

of the WNBA,

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

of Major League Soccer, and the

Chesapeake Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

. The network formerly held the television rights to the

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The tea ...

of the United Football League, broadcasting the team's games from 2011 until the UFL folded in 2012. D.C. United previously 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 Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

-owned

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/ MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also s ...

and

WJLA 24/7 News WJLA 24/7 News is an American regional cable news television channel in Washington D.C. by ABC-affiliated station WJLA-TV (channel 7) owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The channel provides 24-hour news coverage primarily focused on Washing ...

. The network also serves as the official cable partner of the NFL's

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

, 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 WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 44 ...

(channel 4) under common ownership, games broadcast on WRC-TV were transmitted in

480i 480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital television in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Laos, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The ...

standard-definition television to provide

high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

exclusivity for the regional network. After the merger, both WRC and CSN Mid-Atlantic carry Commanders games in HD. The Network also airs a variety of collegiate events from

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

(JMU),

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

(George Washington) and the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

News and entertainment programming

NBC Sports Washington produces news, analysis, opinion and entertainment programs focusing the region's sports landscape. The network also features special

pre-game show A pre-game, pregame, or pre-match show is a television or radio presentation that occurs immediately before the live broadcast of a major sporting event. They typically feature previews and analysis relating to upcoming games (either a larger fix ...

and

post-game show A post-game, postgame, or post-match show is a TV or radio presentation that occurs immediately after the live broadcast of a major sporting event. Contents may include: * replays of key moments in the game. * interviews with players, coaches and ...

, as well as numerous specials and original programs:

Current

* ''106.7 The Fan's Sports Junkies'' – Television simulcast of the

WJFK-FM WJFK-FM (106.7 MHz "106.7 The Fan") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Manassas, Virginia, and serving the Washington metropolitan area. WJFK-FM airs a sports radio format and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. WJFK-FM's studi ...

morning drive radio show; the program airs live from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Former

*
Redskins Nation
' – Hosted by Commanders radio voice Larry Michael, the program is dedicated exclusively to covering the Washington Commanders; the half-hour program airs weekdays at 5:30 and 11:30 p.m. * ''Sports Talk Live'' – A half-hour program featuring a mix of discussions, interviews and feature stories that cover all aspects of the area's sports scene; hosted by former NFL running back Brian Mitchell * ''SportsNet Central'' – The network's flagship program; a daily half-hour news program covering sports headlines and game highlights from across the region, similar to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's '' SportsCenter''

On-air staff

Anchors and reporters

Phil Chenier Philip Chenier (born October 30, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for ten seasons. He was also a television sports broadcaster for the NBA's Washingto ...

* Julie Donaldson * Brian Mitchell * Dave Johnson

Game announcers

D. C. United * Dave Johnson – play-by-play announcer * Devon McTavish – color analyst Washington Wizards * Chris Miller – play-by-play announcer * Drew Gooden – color analyst Washington Capitals *

Joe Beninati Joseph Edward Beninati (born November 14, 1965) is an American sportscaster who serves as the television play-by-play announcer for the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals. Along with Capitals television color analyst Craig Laughlin a ...

– play-by-play announcer * Craig Laughlin – color commentator * Al Koken – studio host *

Alan May Alan Randy May (born January 14, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current analyst. He played in the National Hockey League with five teams between 1988 and 1995. Playing career May began his NHL career when he was s ...

– "Inside-the-Glass" reporter * Brent Johnson – studio analyst Washington Mystics * Meghan McPeak – play-by-play announcer *

Christy Winters-Scott Christy Winters Scott is a basketball color analyst for college basketball games for ESPN, FSN, The Big Ten Network (BTN), NBC Sports Washington, and Raycom Sports. She has been the lead analyst for BTN Women’s Basketball since 2016. Some o ...

– color analyst * Dan Nolan – sideline reporter Washington Commanders *

Kenny Albert Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four ...

– play-by-play announcer * Chick Hernandez – secondary play-by-play announcer *

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...

– color analyst *

Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafted ...

– sideline reporter

Former on-air staff

* Steve Buckhantz (1996–2019; Wizards play-by-play announcer) *

Scott Hanson Scott Richard Hanson (born June 24, 1971) is an American television anchor and reporter for NFL Network. He has served as sports reporter and anchor for several regional stations and was hired by NFL Network in 2006. He is currently the host o ...

(2002–2006; now an anchor/reporter for the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...

) *

Sage Steele Sage Marie Steele (born November 28, 1972) is an American television anchor who is the co-host of the 12pm (ET) SportsCenter on ESPN. She also hosts SportsCenter on the Road from various sporting events such as the Super Bowl and The Masters. St ...

(2001–2007; now with

) * Michael Jenkins *

Justin Kutcher Justin Kutcher is a sportscaster with Fox Sports. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for Atlanta Falcons preseason games, and was formerly the play-by-play announcer for the Washington Wizards on NBC Sports Washington. Kutcher joined Fox Sports in ...

(2020–2022; Wizards play–by–play announcer)

Other services

NBC Sports Washington Plus

NBC Sports Washington Plus (formerly the

Comcast Network The Comcast Network (TCN) was an American cable television network owned by the Comcast Corporation, through NBCUniversal; it was carried mostly on Comcast cable systems in four states and 20 television markets in the Eastern U.S. from New Jers ...

) is an overflow channel of NBC Sports Washington, which broadcasts select sports events that cannot be carried on the main channel due to a concurring live event. NBC Sports Washington Plus is carried by

, and on most cable providers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:NBC Sports Washington

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Television stations in Washington, D.C. Television stations in Baltimore Sports in Washington, D.C. Prime Sports Television channels and stations established in 1984 1984 establishments in Maryland Former CBS Corporation subsidiaries 2022 mergers and acquisitions