NBC Sports California (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS California) 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 the NBC Sports Group unit of

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...

, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional and college sports events throughout

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, as well as original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming. NBC Sports California is available on cable and

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

television providers throughout northern and southern California, and portions of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and western

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The network maintains main studios and offices headquartered with sister network

NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquar ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

History

In summer 2003, Comcast acquired the regional television rights to broadcast regular-season and early-round playoff games from the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. Previously, the team's game broadcasts were only available either via

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

sports packages and on an alternate feed of then Cablevision-owned

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, ...

Bay Area. As a result, Comcast created a new regional sports network to broadcast the team's games; the network launched as Comcast SportsNet West in October 2004, coinciding with the start of the Kings'

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 ...

. Although the network originally focused on the

region, it began expanding its coverage to serve as a complement to Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. This began with the network's rebranding to Comcast SportsNet California in September 2008; it subsequently became the official broadcaster of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

(which previously broadcast their games on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, in addition to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

) for the

2009 Major League Baseball season The 2009 Major League Baseball season began on April 5, 2009; the regular season was extended two days for a one-game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central title. The postseason began the next ...

, broadcasting 145 regular-season games that year (a substantial increase from 37 telecasts in 2008). The

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

followed the A's from CSN Bay Area for the

2009–10 NHL season The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation (92nd season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It ran from October 1, 2009—including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010 Stanley C ...

, seeing a similar increase in game broadcasts with 75 games being shown overall (50 of which were televised in high definition). With the relaunch, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and California merged editorial coverage on their respective regional websites. Many cable providers in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

that previously carried CSN California via

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...

have since moved the network to basic cable tiers. In September 2009, CSN California's carriage agreement with

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling ...

expired; however, the satellite provider continued to carry the network in the interim while the two parties attempted to reach a renewed contract. Negotiations went on for months, leading Dish to file a request with 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 jurisdicti ...

to enter into arbitration hearings to formalize a deal. Dish Network lost its case and dropped Comcast SportsNet California from its lineup on November 24, 2010. On February 3, 2011, Dish Network restored CSN California after the satellite provider reached an agreement to carry the channel without any legal arbitration. In September 2012, Comcast SportsNet California and its sister Comcast SportsNet outlets ceased carrying Fox Sports Networks-supplied programming, after failing to reach an agreement to continue carrying FSN's nationally distributed programs. In July 2014, CSN California reached a new 20-year deal for regional rights to the Sacramento Kings beginning in the 2013–14 season, estimated to be worth nearly $700 million over the length of the contract. The contract increased the number of games CSN broadcasts per-season from 70 to 80 over the previous season (where a package was syndicated to terrestrial television), saw the network take over advertising sales during the telecasts, and commit to broadcasting an increased amount of team-related programming (including pre- and post-game shows, and a monthly ''Kings Central'' program). On March 22, 2017, Comcast announced that CSN California would be rebranded NBC Sports California on April 2, 2017, in a move meant to "better associate the prestigious NBC Sports legacy with the strength of our Comcast Sports Networks' local sports coverage in Northern California".

Programming

Sports coverage

NBC Sports California holds the regional cable television rights to the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

, the NHL's

, and the NBA's

. The network produces its pre-game and

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

s for Oakland Athletics either on-site during home games, or on the ''SportsNet Central'' set at the NBC Sports Bay Area studios during road games. The station also airs ''Shark Byte'', a magazine program focusing on the San Jose Sharks that originated on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. The network also simulcasts NBC Sports Bay Area-produced telecasts of games involving the

Major League Baseball franchise and the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

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 Cana ...

. The network also carries games from the

San Jose Barracuda The San Jose Barracuda are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. The team will play at Tech CU Arena beginning in the 2022-23 season. The Barracuda is a relocation of the ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

. It formerly broadcast games from the WNBA's

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mon ...

until the team folded in 2009; the

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional American football team based in Sacramento, California that played in the United Football League. The franchise originated as the California Redwoods, and played its home games in San Francisco a ...

from 2009 until the United Football League folded; the PASL's

Stockton Cougars The California Cougars were an indoor soccer team, founded in 2004. The team was a charter member of the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro), the first division of arena (indoor) soccer in North America. They played their home matches at ...

until that team folded in 2011, and the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

. The network also carries programming related to the NFL's

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

in a carryover from when the team played in Oakland. NBC Sports California also televises college sports involving Northern California schools, including

St. Mary's College Saint Mary's College (in French, ''Collège Sainte-Marie''), is the name of several colleges and schools: Australia *St Mary's College, Ipswich, an all-girls Catholic school in Queensland *St Mary's College, Maryborough, a co-educational school i ...

, the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, the University of the Pacific, and

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. The channel formerly broadcast sporting events involving the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club tea ...

and

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

that were not on national television until the formation of the

Pac-12 Network The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquarter ...

in August 2012. Select high school sports events are also occasionally broadcast on the network, including weekly

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

games on Friday nights during the fall.

Other programming

NBC Sports California currently carries the NBC Sports Bay Area original program ''Chronicle Live'', a sports discussion program produced in conjunction with the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'', each weeknight at 12:00 a.m. The network also carries a live video simulcast of ''The

Gary Radnich Gary Kelley Radunich (born February 2, 1950), known as Gary Radnich, is a retired radio and television host in the San Francisco bay area. He hosted ''The Gary Radnich Show'' which ran weekday mornings on KNBR radio, and was the lead sports anc ...

Show'' (hosted by the longtime sports anchor at

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 ...

affiliate

KRON-TV KRON-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, KRON-TV maintains studios on Front Street in the c ...

) from KNBR (680 and 1050 AM) in San Francisco each weekday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., except on rare occasions when it is pre-empted by a live sporting event on either outlet. NBC Sports California previously also broadcast the "Raiders Report", a weekly show featuring news and game highlights on the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

. In September 2009, the program was replaced by a live post-game show airing immediately after network telecasts of Raiders games.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

* Shooty Babitt – Athletics studio analyst *

Roxy Bernstein Allen Samuel "Roxy" Bernstein (born September 25, 1972) is an American sportscaster for ESPN, the Pac-12 Network, and the Oakland Athletics. Early life and career Bernstein was born in San Francisco and grew up on the Peninsula in the Bay Area. ...

– Athletics alternate play-by-play announcer *

Dallas Braden Dallas Lee Braden (born August 13, 1983) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to as a member of the Oakland Athletics and, wh ...

– Athletics color commentator * Brodie Brazil – Sharks and Athletics studio host *

Curtis Brown Curtis Lee "Curt" Brown Jr. (born March 11, 1956) is a former NASA astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel. Background Colonel Brown was born March 11, 1956. He graduated from East Bladen High School in Elizabethtown, North Carol ...

– Sharks studio analyst * Vince Cotroneo – Athletics alternate play-by-play announcer *

Kayte Christensen Kayte Lauren Christensen (born November 16, 1980) is an American color commentator for the Sacramento Kings and former professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association. Early life and education Kayte Lauren Christens ...

– Sacramento Kings color commentator * Chris Dangerfield – Earthquakes color analyst * Kyle Draper – Kings substitute play-by-play announcer * Randy Hahn – Sharks lead play-by-play announcer * Bret Hedican – Sharks lead color commentator * Mark Jones – Kings play-by-play announcer *

Ken Korach Kenneth Louis Korach (born January 30, 1952) is an American sports commentator for the Oakland Athletics and published author. Early life and education Korach was born in Los Angeles in 1952. He went on to attend San Diego State University f ...

– Athletics alternate play-by-play announcer * Jim Kozimor – Host * Glen Kuiper – Athletics play-by-play announcer *

Anthony Passarelli Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

– Earthquakes play-by-play announcer *

Dan Rusanowsky Daniel Rusanowsky II (born December 31, 1960) is an American sports broadcaster, best known being for the radio play-by-play announcer for the San Jose Sharks since the team's inaugural season in 1991–92. His tenure with the team has earned ...

– Sharks lead radio play-by-play announcer *

Danielle Slaton Danielle Victoria Slaton (born June 10, 1980) is an American retired professional soccer player. She is currently a soccer analyst for the San Jose Earthquakes, Fox Sports and the Pac-12 Network. A five-year member of the United States wome ...

– Earthquakes sideline reporter

Related services

NBC Sports California HD

NBC Sports California HD is a

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 scree ...

high-definition simulcast feed of Comcast SportsNet California. The feed broadcasts all Sacramento Kings home game telecasts, as well as all home and some road games involving the San Jose Sharks in HD. In 2010, CSN California began broadcasting all Athletics games in high definition.

References

External links

* {{U.S. regional sports networks

Television channels and stations established in 2004 2004 establishments in California