Cox Sports was a
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.
...
that served the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
region until 2012. Cox Sports New England served as the local programming outlet for
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
, the cable service provider in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and parts of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
Cox Sports New England focused primarily on local high school and college sports, including
Providence College
Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...
Friars and
UConn
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...
Huskies
Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...
of the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...
and
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...
Rams of the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...
. Other college teams covered included:
Central Connecticut State University
Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut ...
,
Rhode Island College
Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Providence, Rhode Island. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown Uni ...
,
Bryant University
Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
History
Butler Exc ...
and more.
Professional teams included:
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
,
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...
and
Boston Cannons
The Cannons Lacrosse Club are a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) . Formerly based in Boston, Massachusetts, they played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) as the Boston Cannons from their inaugural 2001 sea ...
.
Cox Sports provided an extensive look at high school sports, broadcasting over 40 high school games annually. In addition, Cox Sports featured ''Varsity Life'', a show co-produced with
WJAR
WJAR (channel 10) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston, Rhode Island (shared with Telemundo owned-and-ope ...
focusing on highlights and issues of relevance to high school student athletes. Cox Sports also hosted the RI Sports Awards every June in Providence.
Cox Sports had also teamed up with Eric Scott Latek of Phantazma Pictures to produce two original documentary series. In 2007, they began producing an original documentary series
3 degrees which garnered two Telly Awards for Best Series and Best Cinematography. The show focuses on the struggle of 4 different local martial artists as they balance life inside and outside the ring. It returned for a second season of six episodes in 2009. The 2009 winter season also premiered Xposé, an eight show series featuring the people on the frontlines, goal lines and side lines in local traditional and adventure sports throughout Rhode Island. Featured episodes include
Darren Rizzi
Darren Rizzi (born July 21, 1970) is an American football coach who is the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to this, he was the Miami Dolphins special team ...
's (now an assistant coach for the Miami Dolphins) first and only season as head coach of the University of Rhode Island Football Team, The Women of Providence Roller Derby, the New England Collegiate Baseball League's Newport Gulls, the Rhode Island National Guard and "Driven," which highlights the attempt of two local businessmen to create a custom car business in Rhode Island that focuses on fundraising for charity and community involvement.
Also broadcast on Cox Sports were
ESPN Plus
ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Compa ...
college football and basketball games,
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
football, coaches' shows for the many teams, outdoors programming,
ESPNEWS
ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...
, and other select events and shows.
Cox Sports also simulcasted the 10 p.m. newscast from Boston
CW affiliate
WLVI
WLVI (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside WHDH (channel 7), an independent station. WLVI and W ...
, which is produced by
WHDH. This was the only access via cable to a Boston newscast available in Rhode Island; its addition to the network in January 2001 (when the network was programmed as a general
cable access
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
channel branded simply as Cox 3) came after Cox dropped
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (channe ...
from its systems.
Even though the network relaunched as a regional sports network on September 30, 2004 and the production of the newscast shifted from WLVI itself to WHDH in December 2006,
the arrangement had continued.
NESN+ was shown on Cox Sports when the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
were playing simultaneously.
On May 2, 2012, Cox and WJAR launched ''
Ocean State Networks
WJAR (channel 10) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston, Rhode Island (shared with Telemundo owned-and-ope ...
'' (OSN). As a result, Cox Sports was taken off the air and all of its programming was moved to the new network (excluding ESPNEWS and WLVI's 10 p.m. newscast). OSN also airs WJAR newscasts throughout the day and night. The network replaces ''
NewsChannel 5'' (formerly the ''Rhode Island News Channel''), operated by Cox and
WLNE
WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island area. The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms B ...
November 30, 1998 until February 1, 2012. Today, Cox Sports continues to operate as a production arm of OSN and produces live sports broadcasts and original programming for the channel.
Personalities
*
Dan Hoard
Dan Hoard is an American radio and television sportscaster who calls games for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals with Dave Lapham. He is also the play-by-play announcer for University of Cincinnati Bearcats football and men's b ...
- Pawtucket Red Sox play by play
*
Bob Montgomery - Pawtucket Red Sox color commentator
*
Brad Feldman
Brad Feldman (born 1967) is an American television/radio announcer, radio personality, and broadcasting executive. He is the radio play-by-play announcer for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.
Early life
Feldman was born in Ha ...
- New England Revolution play by play
*
Greg Lalas
Greg Lalas is a retired American soccer defender and the chief marketing officer at United Soccer League.
Biography
Perhaps best known as the brother of Alexi Lalas, he was previously site director of Goal.com, co-host of the twice-weekly intern ...
- New England Revolution color commentator
*
Jason Chandler
Jason Chandler (born March 24, 1969) is the lead vocalist for the rock band The Frustrators.
He attended King Philip High School in Wrentham, Massachusetts, where he met fellow future Frustrator, Art Tedeschi. Chandler and Tedeschi were both in t ...
- Boston Cannons play-by-play
[bostoncannons.com: Game Notes]
/ref>
* Jack Piatelli - Boston Cannons color commentator Don Orsillo
Don Orsillo (born December 16, 1968) is the play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres on Bally Sports San Diego and for the MLB on TBS. Orsillo was the television voice of the Boston Red Sox on NESN from 2001 to 2015. He was then hired by t ...
- Providence Friars basketball play by play
* Ron Perry - Providence Friars basketball color analyst
* Scott Cordischi - High School football play by play [www.UConnHuskies.com Mens Football]
* Mark Didio - UCONN football color commentator Andy Baylock
Andy Baylock (born June 22, 1938) is a college athletics coach and administrator, most notable for serving as the head coach of the UConn Huskies baseball team from 1980–2003, appearing three times in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, NCAA ...
- UCONN baseball color commentator
*
Shawna Hassett - "Inside Friartown" host
*
Don Coyne- URI Rams play by play
*Abu Bakr- URI Rams color analyst
*
Frank Carpano- Varsity Life host
References
External links
Official SiteCST New Orleans
{{Sports television in the United States
Sports television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 2004
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012
Cox Communications