MSG Sportsnet (visually branded on-air as MSGSN) 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
MSG Entertainment
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (also known as MSG Entertainment) is an American entertainment holding company based in New York City. The company was established in 2020 when The Madison Square Garden Company (now MSG Sports) spun off ...
; it operates as a sister channel to
MSG Network
The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provider ...
. The network serves the
New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cover the entire state of
New York, Northern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
,
Southwestern Connecticut
Western Connecticut is a geographic region of Connecticut located in the southwest corner of the state. Numerous towns are part of the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (or WestCOG), one 9 regional councils of governments in Connecticut ...
and
Northeastern Pennsylvania
Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...
; MSG Sportsnet carries sports events from several of the New York area's professional sports franchises, as well as college sports events.
History
SportsChannel New York
MSG+ originally launched in 1976 as Cablevision Sports 3, a local sports network owned by
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
and available to their subscribers on
Long Island (the "3" referenced the network's channel slot on Cablevision, where it remained through the 1990s). When it debuted, the network had agreements to carry the home games of the
New York Islanders and
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. The service was renamed SportsChannel New York in March 1979. The next month, both the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
signed agreements with SportsChannel. SportsChannel would also gain the
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
when the team relocated in 1982.
As the original SportsChannel was growing in popularity in New York City, Cablevision (through its then-broadcasting unit,
Rainbow Media
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York.
AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC Cen ...
) eventually decided to form a new group of regional sports networks under the
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, ...
brand, with SportsChannel New York serving as the flagship charter affiliate. The expansion began with Cablevision's purchase of
PRISM
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
New England, a
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
-based
premium channel
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
previously owned by
Spectacor
Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Phil ...
, which was rechristened as SportsChannel New England on January 1, 1983. Other SportsChannel networks launched between throughout the 1980s and early 1990s in markets such as
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
Throughout most of its history SportsChannel was operated as a joint-venture.
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
became a partner in SportsChannel in 1983, gaining 50% interest in the networks. In 1984,
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 ...
also entered the partnership in a deal that gave each of the three companies a one-third interest. The Washington Post and CBS sold back their shares to Rainbow in 1987.
In December 1988, Cablevision announced that it would form a joint venture with NBC to operate the cable networks owned by the respective companies, including SportsChannel. Through this partnership, SportsChannel acquired the cable television rights to the
National Hockey League
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 ...
, which aired several games involving non-New York area teams on the SportsChannel regional networks at times when no games involving local teams were set to air and served as the programming cornerstone for national sister network SportsChannel America.
SportsChannel New York lost the broadcast rights to the Yankees to the MSG Network, then its main competitor, after the
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
season. This led to a lengthy
dispute between Cablevision and MSG that resulted in the network being removed by the provider, resulting in many Cablevision subscribers not being able to see MSG's Yankees telecasts during the
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
season.
In March 1995, Cablevision and
ITT Corporation
ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...
purchased
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and its properties which included the
Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
, the
Rangers, and the MSG Network; giving Cablevision broadcast rights to all professional New York-area sports teams (except the
NFL). On April 25, 1995, NBC sold its 50% interest in SportsChannel New York to Rainbow Media for US$93 million, citing that "owning a piece of SportsChannel New York made less sense" after Cablevision and ITT purchased MSG.
FSN New York
On June 30, 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks – a joint venture between
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 Ne ...
(then the parent company of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' and
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
WNYW
WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship W ...
(channel 5) and
Liberty Media
Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula One ...
(a
spin-off of
TCI, an American
cable-television group) – purchased a 40% interest in the SportsChannel networks,
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
, the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
and the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
from Cablevision. The deal was intended to expand the reach of
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
– a group of regional sports networks launched by Fox/Liberty in November 1996 through News Corporation's purchase of Liberty's
Prime 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 ...
– by integrating the SportsChannel networks into the group; SportsChannel New York would also be rebranded as Fox Sports New York, while MSG would also become an FSN outlet, while retaining its existing brand.
National Sports Partners, the venture formed through Cablevision's entry into the News Corporation/Liberty partnership to operate the existing and newly acquired Fox Sports owned-and-operated regional networks, later announced that the other SportsChannel networks would be relaunched under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.
The last event broadcast on the network as SportsChannel New York aired on January 27, 1998, was an
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
game between the New Jersey Nets and
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
at the
McNichols Sports Arena
McNichols Sports Arena was an indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado. Located adjacent to Mile High Stadium and completed in 1975, at a cost of $16 million, it seated 16,061 for hockey games and 17,171 for basketball games.
Sports use
It was ...
in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
SportsChannel New York officially became Fox Sports New York the following day on January 28, with the first event aired as a Fox Sports Net outlet that evening being an NBA game between the Nets and the
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
at
Great Western Forum
Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and t ...
in
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...
. Prior to the conversion, FSN programming had aired on then-independent station WBIS-TV during its ''S+'' era, where it carried a hybrid of sporting and business programming; by June 1998 the station dropped the format and eventually became
WPXN-TV
WPXN-TV (channel 31) is a television station in New York City, airing programming from the Ion Television network. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Seventh Avenue in ...
(though it continued to air Fox-sourced programming until August). Five of the seven other remaining SportsChannel networks relaunched as member networks of Fox Sports Net later that week (SportsChannel Florida, which was rechristened
Fox Sports Florida
Bally Sports Florida is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the state of Florida, with a focus on professional sport ...
, was the last to join FSN in March 2000, after Rainbow bought
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
owner
Wayne Huizenga
Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. (; December 29, 1937 – March 22, 2018) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami ...
's controlling interest). The network was later rebranded as Fox Sports Net New York in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.
In April 2002, Fox Sports Net New York began sharing the broadcast rights to the Mets with MSG, as the newly launched
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (which owns 20%), A ...
took the regional television rights to the Yankees and Nets (both owned by their and the network's co-parent at the time,
YankeeNets
Yankee Global Enterprises, LLC, formerly YankeeNets, LLC, is an American limited liability company (LLC) which owns the New York Yankees baseball team, along with a plurality stake in YES Network and a 20% and 10% stake in New York City FC and AC ...
) from FSN. In 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN New York, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand.
On February 22, 2005, Cablevision and News Corporation agreed to trade several sports-related assets. Cablevision acquired majority control in Fox Sports New York, Fox Sports Chicago, Madison Square Garden and its associated properties, and a 50% share of Fox Sports New England; News Corporation, meanwhile, received Cablevision's ownership stakes in
Fox Sports Ohio
Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professio ...
and Fox Sports Florida (Fox Sports Bay Area was not included in the deal, as News Corporation and Cablevision chose to retain joint ownership of that network). Incidentally, News Corporation would later reverse course and purchase a 49% stake in YES Network in November 2012.
In 2005, the Mets announced that it would launch its own sports network to carry the team's games after FSN New York's contract with the team expired;
SportsNet New York
SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between the Fred Wilpon (which owns a controlling 65% interest) Sterling Equities, Charter Communications thr ...
became the Mets new cable home when it launched in April 2006, at the start of that year's
regular season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
. As a result of losing the Yankees, Nets and Mets over the span of three years, FSN New York and MSG went from being the sole rightsholders to seven of the New York area's major sports franchises (excluding the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
and
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, as the
NFL does not sell game broadcasts on an individual team basis or to regional cable outlets) to carrying games from only four of the teams.
MSG+
On February 26, 2008, Cablevision announced that it would rebrand FSN New York as MSG Plus (branded in logos as "MSG+"), restructuring it as a spin-off of MSG Network.
The last event to air under the FSN New York banner was a
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
game between the
Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers and the
Robert Morris Colonials
The Robert Morris Colonials are the athletic teams for Robert Morris University, in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The Colonials compete in NCAA Division I ( FCS, formerly Division I-AA, in football). In 2020, the school joi ...
from
Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Moon is a part of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 27,261 at the 2020 census.
History ...
on March 9.
The network was rebranded as MSG+ at 7:00 p.m. on March 10, beginning with its broadcast of an exhibition tennis match at Madison Square Garden between
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
and
Pete Sampras
Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
(which was also distributed nationally on the
Tennis Channel
Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of ...
).
In February 2010, Cablevision
spun off MSG Network and MSG+ into
The Madison Square Garden Company
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (also known as MSG Sports) is an American sports holding company based in New York City.
MSG Sports manages professional sports teams. These include the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks and t ...
. In September 2013, YES began carrying many national programs from Fox Sports Networks that were previously broadcast on MSG+; however, the network continued to maintain a reduced schedule of FSN-distributed programming until all the programs from FSN came to an end.
MSGSN
It was announced that MSG Plus would be rebranded as MSG SportsNet effective September 26, 2022, the first day of the
NHL's pre-season. The change was likely to prevent customer confusion involving the "Plus" suffix trademark, which has increasingly become synonymous with streaming services such as
Paramount+
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
and
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%). The ...
, rather than wireline cable channels.
Programming
Professional sports
MSGSN holds the regional broadcast 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 ...
's
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
and
New York Islanders. MSG Sportsnet also serves an overflow feed in the event that multiple local teams whose games would normally be televised on MSG (such as the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
's
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
and the NHL's
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
) are playing at the same time. In turn, through MSG's regional television rights agreements, MSG Sportsnet also broadcasts certain NHL games involving the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
and
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
games featuring the
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
not broadcast by its parent network. MSG Sportsnet also carries a large proportion of Buffalo Sabres games available to subscribers in most of
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
.
The network carries New York Rangers and Red Bulls games, which mainly air on MSG, in the event that its parent network is scheduled to air a Knicks (in the case of the Rangers) or Liberty (for Red Bulls and until 2018) game at times when MSGSN is not carrying games of its main local teams. Games respectively involving the Knicks and Liberty (which no longer airs on MSG as of 2018) earn higher ratings on MSG than those involving the Rangers or Red Bulls, and rarely air on MSGSN as a result. This is also the case with MSG, as the Islanders or Devils air on that network in lieu of MSGSN, when those teams play simultaneously at times none of MSG's main contracted teams are playing.
Since the start of 2006–07 NBA and NHL seasons, some Rangers telecasts have aired on MSGSN even when there is a conflict with an Islanders and/or Devils telecast, resulting in these games being relocated to MSG2 and/or MSGSN 2. In addition, when the Knicks are not in contention for the
NBA Playoffs and the Rangers are contending for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Rangers telecast usually airs on MSG and the Knicks telecast on MSG2, or vice versa in either case.
College sports
MSGSN also airs college sports events and local weekly college basketball magazine program for
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
. However, games involving teams in the Tri-State area are generally blacked out outside the New York City market. Some cable providers, such as
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
, acquire the rights to the local games for broadcast on local origination and regional sports channels in certain markets. MSGSN previously carried most college sports events televised by Fox Sports Networks (including football and basketball games from the
Pac-12 Conference
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
and
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
), before these rights were transferred to the YES Network in September 2013 as part of its affiliation with FSN through
21st Century Fox
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...
's ownership interest in the network. Nationally televised FSN games aired in all of MSGSN's broadcast zones, unless a local team was playing at the time of the national telecast. In such cases, the collegiate event would be joined-in-progress at the end of the local telecast (if the ended before the conclusion of the national game) on MSG, if there is no other live game telecast scheduled, or not at all.
Fox Sports Net programs
Since joining Fox Sports Net, MSGSN had also carried select non-sports programming distributed by FSN (such as ''
FSN Final Score
''Final Score'' (formerly ''FSN Final Score'') is an American nightly sports news program that aired on Fox Sports Net. The program debuted on July 3, 2006 and aired at 10:30 p.m. local time Monday through Friday, with replays at various time ...
'', ''
The Best Damn Sports Show Period
''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' was an American sports television show that aired on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertai ...
''
and ''
The Dan Patrick Show
''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepen ...
''). Even after the network's rebranding as MSGSN, it continued to carry these programs until there were discontinuance, similar to a programming agreement FSN maintained with
Comcast SportsNet
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 ...
affiliates in markets where there is no local FSN outlet (although CSN maintains a local affiliation with SportsNet New York). As FSN New York, MSGSN formerly aired some
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
games involving the
New York Dragons
The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...
as part of the ''AFL on FSN'' package.
Related services
MSGSN 2
MSGSN 2 is a gametime-only overflow feed of MSG Sportsnet, that – along with the MSG overflow MSG 2 – broadcasts in the event that three or four local games are scheduled to air simultaneously on the two main networks (for example, a Knicks or Rangers game would air on MSG2, while an Islanders or a Devils match would be shown on MSGSN 2). Normally, New York Knicks games are televised over MSG2 only during road games that start at least one hour later than a Rangers telecasts due to the fact that the Knicks (whose telecasts are the highest-rated sports events on MSG Network) normally take precedence on the main MSG network when played at Madison Square Garden. However, several Knicks home games originally scheduled to air on MSG were moved to MSG2 in 2008, in order for the former to carry the Rangers'
Stanley Cup Playoff
The season structure of the National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into the pre-season, regular season, and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the pre-season, which is generally held during the last two weeks of September, each team plays several not-fo ...
matches.
Previous names for this service were SportsChannel Plus, SportsChannel 2, Fox Sports New York 2 (FSNY2), and MSG Plus 2 (MSG+ 2). Traditionally cable providers mainly transmit MSG 2 and MSGSN 2 by preempting telecasts on other non-critical networks (such as a
Public-access channel, the
TV Guide Network
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network Pop (American TV channel), Pop was originally launched in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized electronic program guide, channel and program listings ...
,
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...
, or
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
); conversely, satellite providers carry both networks on alternate provider-assigned channels. With digital cable, many providers today now have dedicated channels for overflow games. For several years in the 1990s when Cablevision had the rights to seven professional sports teams, a SportsChannel 3 overflow feed was occasionally used.
From 1998 to 2005, Cablevision instead placed MSG's NBA and NHL telecasts on the
MSG Metro Channels, which had limited availability within the provider's systems in the New York metropolitan area. In high cases of overflow, partially caused by New Jersey Nets telecasts aired on the then-rebranded FSN New York at the same time, games were also aired on
Riverhead-based
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
WLNY-TV
WLNY-TV (channel 55) is an independent television station licensed to Riverhead, New York, United States, serving the New York City television market. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS flagship WCBS-TV (channel 2). Bot ...
(channel 55). During this era, when two of the teams that the MSG Networks held the rights to broadcast played against each other, only one broadcast would usually be produced using one of the team's announcing staffs. This was either due to stipulations in MSG's television contracts or a desire to show a different sporting event at the same time. Beginning in the
2005–06 NBA and
NHL seasons, after the Metro Networks ceased operation and the Nets telecasts moved to YES Network, MSG and the then-FSN New York relaunched MSG2 and FSN New York 2 (the present-day MSG+ 2) and began producing two separate broadcasts when two of their contracted teams play one another.
MSGSN HD
MSGSN HD is a
high-definition simulcast feed of MSGSN HD, which broadcasts in the
1080i
1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
resolution format. It is carried on Cablevision (except on its system in
Litchfield), Time Warner Cable (in New York and New Jersey),
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
(which has carried MSGSN HD full-time since October 15, 2009 in areas of northern and central New Jersey within the New York City market)
RCN,
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. It ...
and
Verizon FiOS. Sister network MSGSN 2 also maintains an HD simulcast, whose availability depends on geographic location and television provider. MSGSN HD carries all games involving the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and New York Red Bulls in high definition.
On January 22, 2009, hockey games broadcast by MSG HD and MSGSN HD were dropped from NHL's GameCenter Live service following a contract dispute between MSG and the National Hockey League; MSG HD and MSGSN HD returned to
NHL Center Ice
NHL Center Ice is an out-of-market sports package distributed by most cable and satellite providers in the United States and Canada. The package allows its subscribers to see up to forty out-of-market National Hockey League games a week using ...
on March 17, 2010, beginning with the former's telecast of a game between the New Jersey Devils and
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
, confirmed on-air by ''NHL Hour'' co-host Gary Bettman during the program.
On December 14, 2011, a three-judge panel of the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
denied MSG Holdings' petition to review an order by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
that Cablevision make the HD feeds of its regional sports networks available for distribution to AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS.
On-air staff
Current on-air staff
; Game broadcasters
*
Mike Breen
Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator for '' NBA on ABC'' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen also calls NBA games for ESPN and was formerly a play-by-play anno ...
– Knicks play-by-play announcer
*
Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's ...
– Knicks color analyst
*
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 ma ...
– fill-in Knicks play-by-play announcer
*
Mike Crispino – fill-in Knicks play-by-play announcer
*
Sam Rosen – Rangers play-by-play announcer
*
Joe Micheletti
Joseph Robert Micheletti (born October 24, 1954) is an American ice hockey analyst and reporter, and a former defenseman who played in 142 World Hockey Association (WHA) games with the Calgary Cowboys and Edmonton Oilers between 1977 and 1979, an ...
– Rangers color analyst
* John Giannone – Rangers sideline reporter; fill-in Rangers play-by-play announcer
*
Brendan Burke
Brendan Gilmore Burke (December 8, 1988 – February 5, 2010) was an athlete and student manager at Miami University for the RedHawks men's ice hockey team. The youngest son of Brian Burke, former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, lo ...
– Islanders play-by-play announcer
*
Butch Goring
Robert Thomas "Butch" Goring (born October 22, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. He is a four- ...
– Islanders color analyst
*
Shannon Hogan
List of New York Islanders broadcasters presents an excerpt as an overview of television and radio broadcasters sorted by year.
Television
The Islanders had very limited Historical NHL over-the-air television broadcasters, over-the-air televis ...
– Islanders sideline reporter, pre-game and post-game show and intermission report host
*
Rick DiPietro
Richard W. DiPietro Jr. (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current co-host of ESPN 98.7 FM's "DiPietro and Rothenberg" with Dave Rothenberg. He is also an analyst on National Hockey League (NH ...
– Islanders pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
*
Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler (born March 31, 1932) is a historian of hockey and the New York City Subway, as well as a broadcaster, author, and professor.
During his career, Fischler was best known for covering the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and New ...
– Islanders pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
* Chris King – fill-in Islanders play-by-play announcer
*
Jiggs McDonald
John Kenneth "Jiggs" McDonald (born November 28, 1938) is a sportscaster who has done play-by-play announcing for NHL games for more than 50 years. In 1990, McDonald received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Biograp ...
– fill-in Islanders play-by-play announcer
*
Steve Cangialosi – Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
*
Bill Spaulding – Devils play-by-play announcer
*
Ken Daneyko
Kenneth Stephen Daneyko (born April 17, 1964) is a Ukrainian–Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played his entire twenty-season career with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), winning three Stanley Cup ...
– Devils color analyst
*
Bryce Salvador
Bryce Chadwick Salvador (born February 11, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Salvador was drafted in the sixth round, 138th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. During his professional caree ...
- Devils pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
* Erika Wachter - Devils pre-game, post-game, and intermission analyst
*
Rick Jeanneret
John Richard Jeanneret (born July 23, 1942)Pergament, Alan (October 5, 2014)‘I feel like an American,’ Jeanneret says, as he gets cancer treatment here ''The Buffalo News''. Retrieved October 5, 2014. “Jeanneret received his first radiatio ...
– Sabres play-by-play announcer
*
Rob Ray
Robert John Ray (born June 8, 1968) is a Canadian sports broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player for the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators. He was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy by the National Hockey League in 1999 for ...
– Sabres sideline reporter
*
Mike Robitaille
Michael James David Robitaille (born February 12, 1948) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman and commentator. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wi ...
– fill-in Sabres color analyst
* Kevin Sylvester – fill-in Sabres play-by-play announcer
* Jason Horowitz – Liberty play-by-play announcer
*
Shep Messing
Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as the lead analyst for New York Red Bulls matches on the MSG Network. In 2021 he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena ...
– Red Bulls color analyst
; Studio show staff
*
Anson Carter
Anson Horace Carter (born June 6, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for eight teams, most notably with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. He was la ...
– Rangers studio analyst
*
Ron Duguay
Ronald Duguay (born July 6, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 through 1989, and served four seasons as a minor league coach. He appeared as an ...
– Rangers studio analyst; ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' panelist
*
Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler (born March 31, 1932) is a historian of hockey and the New York City Subway, as well as a broadcaster, author, and professor.
During his career, Fischler was best known for covering the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and New ...
– ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' contributor, occasional Devils or Islanders sideline reporter
* EJ Hradek – ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' panelist
* Scott Lasky – ''Inside the Rangers'' host
*
Brian Leetch
Brian Joseph Leetch (born March 3, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He has been called one of the to ...
– Rangers studio analyst
*
Dave Maloney
David Wilfred Maloney (born July 31, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 NHL season, 1974–75 until 1984–85 NHL season, 19 ...
– Rangers pre-game and post-game analyst; ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' panelist; and fill-in Rangers color analyst/sideline reporter
*
Bill Pidto
Bill Pidto (born April 20, 1965) is a former radio personality on Mad Dog Radio on the show ''The B-Team'' and is currently an anchor for MSG Network's coverage of New York Rangers road games and select New York Knicks games. He was formerly a jo ...
– Rangers and Knicks (road games) pre-game and post-game show and intermission report host; ''MSG150'' commentator; and ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' fill-in host
*
Al Trautwig
Alan Trautwig (born February 26, 1956) is a sports commentator who worked with MSG Network, ABC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA Network. He most recently did pre-game and post-game shows for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well a ...
– ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' host; and Rangers and Knicks (home and playoff games) pre-game and post-game show and intermission report host
*
Steve Valiquette
Stephen Valiquette (born August 20, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Valiquette played 46 games in the National Hockey League, nearly all for the New York Rangers, before finishing his playing career in Europe.
Valiq ...
– Rangers studio analyst; and ''MSG Hockey Night Live'' panelist
Awards
MSGSN (then MSG+) received
Promax Award The Promax Awards (also known as the PromaxBDA Awards) honor promotion, design, and marketing by a company or individual that is broadcast, published, or released in their respective markets.
Promax International/BPME (branded as "Promax") sponsor ...
s in 2009 for their October 2008 rebranding campaign, its promotional campaign for the network's high school sports telecasts, and Devils and Islanders tuners.
References
{{Madison Square Garden Company
New York Red Bulls
SportsChannel
Sports television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 1976
Sports in New York City
Fox Sports Networks
Madison Square Garden Sports
1976 establishments in New York City