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
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, t ...
, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the state of Florida, with a focus on professional sports teams based in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
and
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
.
Bally Sports Florida maintains production facilities and offices located in Fort Lauderdale, alongside sister network Bally Sports Sun. The channel is available on
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 broa ...
providers throughout Florida, and in parts of southern
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
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. It ...
.
History
Bally Sports Florida was launched on December 29, 1987 as SportsChannel Florida. It was originally owned by
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 ...
SportsChannel America
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, 1 ...
. The network originally featured coverage of local college teams, holding the broadcast rights to televise select games from the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
,
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
,
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
,
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
and
Jacksonville University
Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...
. In addition to national SportsChannel programming, the channel also showed a combined 100 baseball games that featured 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 ...
from
SportsChannel New York
MSG Sportsnet (visually branded on-air as MSGSN) is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cov ...
, and
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
games broadcast by
SportsChannel Chicago
Fox Sports Net Chicago (often branded as FSN Chicago) was an American regional sports network that was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was owned by Cablevision for most of its history (from 1987 to 2005). News Corporation acquired a minori ...
.
In the spring of 1988, SportsChannel Florida obtained the regional cable television rights to broadcast
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 ...
games from the
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...
, effective with the 1988–89 season. In 1992, SportsChannel lost the television contract to the Heat to then-rival
Sunshine Network
Bally Sports Sun is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local coverage ...
. Heat games would return to the channel in the late 1990s when both networks came under the ownership of Fox Sports parent
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 ...
.
In 1996,
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 ...
purchased a 70% controlling interest in SportsChannel Florida, with Rainbow Media (by that time, a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between Cablevision and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
) retaining a minority 30% interest. That led Huizenga to move 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 ...
franchise's game telecasts from Sunshine Network to SportsChannel Florida for the 1996–97 season. The following year in 1997, SportsChannel Florida obtained the rights to the Florida Marlins – also owned by Huizenga – which moved 35 games (half the schedule) from the Sunshine Network in that year's Major League Baseball season, with all games moving the following season. In 1998, SportsChannel Florida also gained the regional cable rights to the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...
Major League Baseball expansion team.
Unlike the other networks that were members of the SportsChannel America chain, Huizenga's control of SportsChannel Florida prevented the channel from joining Fox Sports Net. Shortly after Cablevision and Fox Sports announced the merger in 1997, Cablevision ceased production of its national SportsChannel programming in favor Fox Sports Net's programming (though the networks would not officially rebrand until early the next year). Since SportsChannel Florida did not have rights to the Fox Sports Net programming, SportsChannel Florida made an affiliation agreement with CNN/SI to carry its programming instead. Cablevision finally repurchased Huizenga's share of the network in November 1999. The network was relaunched as Fox Sports Net Florida on March 1, 2000, making it the last SportsChannel Network to adopt the Fox Sports Net brand. At this time Fox Sports Net programming was moved from the Sunshine Network (which Fox only had a minority-interest in) and CNN/SI programming was phased out.
In February 2005, News Corporation acquired Cablevision's ownership stakes in Fox Sports Florida and
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 ...
, following an asset trade in which Fox sold its interest in Madison Square Garden and the arena's NBA and NHL team tenants, 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
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 ...
, to Cablevision, in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of the two Fox Sports regional networks. News Corporation spun off most of its entertainment properties into
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 ...
in July 2013.
On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from
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 ...
, including Fox Sports Florida. However, on June 27, 2018, the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of
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 ...
. On May 3, 2019,
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, t ...
and Entertainment Studios (through their joint venture, Diamond Sports Group) bought
Fox Sports Networks
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 ...
from
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator Bally's Corporation to serve as a new
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the start of the
2021 Major League Baseball season
The 2021 Major League Baseball season began on April 1, while the regular season ended on October 3. The postseason began on October 5. The World Series then began on October 26 and ended on November 2 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the Houston ...
the next day, Fox Sports Florida and sister network Fox Sports Sun rebranded as Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sports Sun, which resulted in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions. The first live sporting event on Bally Sports Florida will be the Marlins home opener against the Rays on April 1.
Programming
Bally Sports Florida holds the regional cable television rights to the NBA's
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
, the NHL's
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 ...
, and the
Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
of Major League Baseball. It also carries coverage of college sports events from the Big East, Big 12,
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
and
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
s.
Bally Sports Florida shares the broadcast rights to the aforementioned professional sports teams with Bally Sports Sun (with Miami Heat games transmitted to cable providers in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
, and Orlando Magic games aired exclusively on Bally Sports Florida in Central and Northern Florida. The two channels do not focus on one region of Florida, but simply distribute games in accordance with each team's territorial rights, with both cable channels maintaining exclusivity over regional broadcasts of Lightning, Heat, Marlins, Rays, Magic and Panthers games.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, Miami Heat and Tampa Bay Rays are televised on Bally Sports Sun, while the Orlando Magic, Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers are televised on Bally Sports Florida. Additionally, each network televises exclusive shoulder programming highlighting the team, players and coaches on the corresponding network.
Notable on-air staff
Current
* David Steele - Orlando Magic play-by-play announcer
*
Jeff Turner
Jeffrey Steven Turner (born April 9, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player and broadcasting announcer. Turner played ten NBA seasons (1984–1987; 1989–1996), spending time with the New Jersey Nets as well as the Orlando M ...
- Orlando Magic color analyst
* Dante Marchitelli - Orlando Magic studio host and reporter
* Brian Hill - Orlando Magic studio analyst
*
Quentin Richardson
Quentin Lamar Richardson (born April 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Rich", he p ...
- Orlando Magic studio analyst
* Steve Goldstein - Florida Panthers play-by-play announcer
*
Randy Moller
Randall W. Moller (born August 23, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted in the first round, eleventh overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft. The majority of his ca ...
- Florida Panther color analyst
*
Craig Minervini __NOTOC__
Craig may refer to:
Geology
*Craig (landform), a rocky hill or mountain often having large casims or sharp intentations.
People (and fictional characters)
*Craig (surname)
*Craig (given name)
Places
Scotland
*Craig, Angus, aka Barony of ...
- Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers studio host and reporter
* Jessica Blaylock - Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers studio host and reporter
*
Ed Jovanovski
Edward Jovanovski (born June 26, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, and is of Macedonian descent.
Jovanovski played major junior ice hockey for two seasons with the Windsor Spitfires ...
- Florida Panthers studio analyst
*
Jeff Chychrun
Jeff Chychrun (born May 3, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers.
Playi ...
- Florida Panthers studio analyst
*
Paul Severino
Paul Severino (born October 5, 1983) is an American sportscaster and studio host appearing across MLB Network's programming, including ''MLB Tonight'', MLB Network's Emmy Award-winning daily studio show.Jeff Nelson - Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst
*
Tommy Hutton
Thomas George Hutton (born April 20, 1946), is an American former professional baseball infielder-outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos.
...
- Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst
*
Gaby Sánchez
Gabriel Sánchez (born September 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida/Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the ...
- Miami Marlins studio analyst and color analyst
*
Rod Allen
Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports ...
Alex Chappell
Alex Chappell ( Corddry) (born October 10, 1988) is an American journalist for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) covering the Washington Nationals. She also works as a sideline reporter for ESPN and for SEC Network for college football coverage ...
- Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with
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 ...
and
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between two Major League Baseball franchises, the Baltimore Orioles (which owns a controlling 77% interest) and the Washington Nationals (which ...
*
Laura Rutledge
Laura Rutledge (née McKeeman; born October 2, 1988) is a reporter and host for ESPN and the SEC Network. She is an American beauty pageant titleholder from St. Petersburg, Florida, who was named Miss Florida 2012.
Biography
She won the title of ...
- Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with
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 ...
/
SEC Network
The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
* Allison Williams - Miami Marlins in-game reporter, Formerly of
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 ...
Joe Magrane
Joseph David Magrane (born July 2, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broadcas ...
- Tampa Bay Rays analyst now with
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
* Kevin Kennedy - Tampa Bay Rays analyst
* Kelly Nash - Tampa Bay Rays pre and post-game reporter now with
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
*
Rich Waltz
Rich Waltz (born October 22, 1962) is an American television play-by-play commentator currently calling college football and basketball for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. Waltz also calls MLB for MLB Network's ''Showcase'' telecasts. In 202 ...
- Miami Marlins Announcer formerly with
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
,
MLB on TBS
''MLB on TBS'' is an American presentation of regular season and postseason Major League Baseball (MLB) game telecasts that air on the American pay television network TBS. The games are produced by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.
History
Pre-2 ...
, and
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
baseball play-by-play announcer now with College Football and Basketball play-by-play on
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
, and
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...
*
Todd Hollandsworth
Todd Mathew Hollandsworth (born April 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). In , he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, setting a record as the fifth consecutive Los Angeles ...
- Miami Marlins color analyst
*
J. P. Arencibia
Jonathan Paul Arencibia (born January 5, 1986) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball catcher. He is currently serving as the bench coach for the Syracuse Mets. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas ...
- Miami Marlins studio analyst
Carriage conflicts
Bright House
For its first 21 years of existence, the channel was not available to most cable subscribers in the Orlando area, as Bright House Networks, the largest cable system in
central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
, refused to carry the channel. The conflict stemmed from the system's previous existence as Cablevision (a brand unaffiliated with the
Bethpage, New York
Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...
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 ...
and, later, Bright House. This issue did not change following Fox Sports' acquisition of
Sun Sports
Bally Sports Sun is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local coverage ...
, now known as Bally Sports Sun, which Bright House already carried on its Orlando area lineup, and continued even after the Orlando Magic moved half of the televised games in its schedule from
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
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 ...
WRBW (channel 65) to Fox Sports Florida in 2007.
Fox Sports Net's sister subsidiary Fox Television Stations had earlier purchased WRBW (then a UPN affiliate) in Orlando in 2001, followed by its purchase of Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox affiliate WOFL (channel 35) in 2002. On paper, this gave News Corporation – the corporate parent of the Fox Sports Networks at the time – the right to require Bright House to carry Fox Sports Florida as part of its retransmission consent compensation agreement for carriage of WOFL and WRBW, but Fox chose not to exercise that right. Bright House would agree to carry Fox Sports Florida on its Orlando system, with the channel being added on digital cable channel 50 on January 1, 2009. News Corporation and Bright House reached a new retransmission agreement on January 1, 2010, preventing both Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports from being dropped from the provider's central Florida system. Fox would want Bright House to return Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports to the provider's Orlando service area on February 12, 2010.
Fox Sports Florida was also not available on Comcast systems in the Sarasota, Florida, Sarasota and Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee markets until 2006, and remains unavailable on Comcast's Lake County, Florida, Lake County systems. Orlando Magic games aired on the channel are blackout (broadcasting), blacked out by Comcast in the Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville market.
References
External links
*
{{Navboxes, list1=
{{Florida Panthers
{{Miami Heat
{{Miami Marlins
{{Orlando Magic
{{SBGI
{{Tampa Bay TV
{{Miami TV
{{WPB TV
{{Jacksonville TV
{{Ft. Myers TV
{{Tallahassee TV
{{Fox Sports Networks
{{SportsChannel America
{{U.S. regional sports networks
Bally Sports
Fox Sports Networks
Sports in Florida
SportsChannel
Television channels and stations established in 1987
1987 establishments in Florida