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MSG Network

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Madison Square Garden Network
TypeRegional cable television network
Country
United States
AvailabilityNY metro area; nationwide
OwnerCablevision
Launch date
October 15, 1969
Official website
MSG.com

The Madison Square Garden Network, more commonly referred to as the MSG Network or simply as MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the New York City area. The network takes the name of Madison Square Garden and has long been the producer of radio and television broadcasts of the NBA's New York Knicks, the NHL's New York Rangers, and the WNBA's New York Liberty, which play their home games at the Garden. The New York Red Bulls of MLS also broadcast games on the channel. MSG also has a sister station, FSN New York, which is the primary home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders as well as national Fox Sports Net programming.

MSG rebranded on October 5, 2006 with a new logo, new graphics and the removal of Network from promotion of the network's name. [1] In upcoming months, more entertainment-oriented programming will also air on the network. This programming will include concerts and professional boxing and wrestling cards that have taken place at Madison Square Garden or Radio City Music Hall in the past and continue to occur to this day. MSG has already premiered shows tangentially related to basketball, but with an entertainment-theme, such as SummerBall.

In launching MSG Vault, MSG indicated that it has over 90,000 tapes of Garden events in its archive, although some prior to the 1990s are incomplete (parts of events may have been taped over or erased). [2]

Other sports coverage

In addition to NBA, NHL and Liberty games, MSG currently carries cable television broadcasts of the MLS's Red Bull New York. The radio division of MSG Network, known as the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Radio Network, produces Knicks and Rangers broadcasts for 1050 ESPN Radio. Red Bulls games have Spanish-language SAP that is a simulcast of its radio coverage on WKDM.

MSG and its sister station FSN New York, also broadcast Big East football and basketball, MAAC basketball, NEC basketball, Atlantic 10 basketball, Pac-10 football and basketball, Big-12 football and women's basketball, and ACC basketball. The latter three are part of national FOX Sports Net broadcast contracts, while the others are either produced by the conferences themselves (Comcast co-produces Atlantic 10 games) or ESPN Plus. MSG also currently has the rights to the coaches shows for Rutgers University.

Selected New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils games also air on MSG when both teams play at the same time, with one airing on sister-channel FSN New York, which along with MSG are officially referred to as MSG Media, formerly MSG Networks. In turn, selected Rangers games air on FSN New York when there the other team is on MSG and no Islanders or Devils game at the same time. Any programming to which MSG owns the rights could air on either channel.

MSG2 and FSN New York 2

If more than two of these four local teams are playing at the same time, either the Rangers or Knicks play on "MSG2," (the Knicks only play on MSG2 when they start later than the Rangers, as they are MSG's highest-rated property) and the Islanders or Devils play on "FSN New York 2," which are different selected channels for each cable system, many being broadcast on the TV Guide Channel, while satellite systems will show them on a sports alternate channel. These channels are sometimes not available outside New York City and nearby suburbs.

From the fall of 1998 until the spring of 2005, Cablevision chose not to open up an additional MSG2 channel, instead placing games on their MSG Metro Channels, which was only available in limited homes. During this era, when two of the teams that the MSG Networks covered played against each other, only one broadcast would usually be produced using one of the team's announcing duos (this was either due to MSG's TV contracts, or a desire to show a different sporting event at the same time). With the discontinuation of Metro, and the loss of the New Jersey Nets from their winter lineup, the MSG Networks now produce two broadcasts when two of their teams are playing against each other.

Original programming

MSG, NY

  • MSG's new flagship program, debuting in October 2006, is called MSG, NY. It is a daily sports and entertainment highlights show, which is shown numerous times during the day. Formerly called MSG Sportsdesk, and solely focusing on sports, the show has changed as part of MSG's 2006 rebranding to focus on anything taking place at MSG (although sports will likely remain the primary focus, and not necessarily just teams to which MSG holds the rights). This will likely keep the show out of direct competition with Sports Nite on SportsNet New York.

Basketball

  • Live from the Play by Play was added in 2005 as a Knicks post-game show.
  • NYK Way, added in 2005, is a regular Knicks magazine show.
  • Knicks 101, added in 2005, features classic Knicks games augmented with MTV-style pop-up graphics and analysis from players who were involved in those games.
  • SummerBall, added in 2006, is a series that highlights the major summer basketball leagues in New York City, featuring Hoops In The Sun, EBC at Rucker Park, Dyckman and the Uptowners Basketball League, hosted by Bobbito Garcia.

Hockey

  • Hockey Night New York Live! was added in 2005 as a hockey interview/analysis show, hosted by Al Trautwig. The show usually has a segment covering each team that MSG broadcasts.
  • Inside the Rangers, added in 2006, is a weekly Rangers magazine show.
  • Rangers Classics, added in June 2004, re-broadcasts memorable games from the Rangers' 1979, 1994, and 1997 playoff runs. The series initially launched in June 2004 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Rangers' last Stanley Cup title (both MSG and WFAN rebroadcasted Game 7 on June 14 2004, the exact anniversary date of the team's championship clincher).

Soccer

  • MSG Soccer Report, added in 2002 (previously as the Metro Soccer Report, which underwent a format change in 2005 to focus primarily on the Red Bulls and MLS; it previously also covered regional college soccer and various European professional leagues), hosted by Shep Messing and former Survivor winner Ethan Zohn.
  • English Premier League, added in 2002, is a rebroadcast of a game each week from that league, which originally aired on Fox Soccer Channel.

Other sports

  • High School Weekly, one of MSG's longest-running shows, focuses on high school football and basketball from around the region, hosted by Mike Quick.
  • High School Game of the Week, broadcasts a weekly high school football or basketball game on tape delay from various parts of the NYC metropolitan area; the games typically feature schools from the suburbs (where MSG's parent, Cablevision, tends to be the dominant cable provider), or private schools in NYC itself.
  • The LAX Report, added in 2006, is a local high school lacrosse show similar to High School Weekly, hosted by Mike Quick.

Talk shows

  • The Boomer Esiason Show features interviews and commentary from former NFL quarterback and current commentator Boomer Esiason. The show airs during the NFL season.

Entertainment

Archival

  • The 50 Greatest Moments at Madison Square Garden, a look at the historic events that have gone on inside the famed arena, both sports and non-sports-related, to debut in October 2006. [3]
  • MSG Vault, added in 2006, is a series that features classic Knicks and Rangers games that have not been seen by the public in decades. In some cases, MSG no longer has complete tapes of the games, and so the content often resembles that of a grab-bag. It includes segments from Knicks 101.
  • WWE MSG Classics, added in 2006. Airs WWE Classic matches that have been held at Madison Square Garden, hosted by Mean Gene Okerlund.

Online progamming

MSG's website, MSG.com, has had exclusive podcast programming only available via download starting in 2006. These include:

  • This Week in Hockey, added in 2006, is a weekly hockey podcast hosted by Matt Loughlin, with guests from around the NHL and from MSG Networks, including Stan Fischler, Joe Micheletti, and the fantasy hockey perspective provided by the RinkRat.
  • Batt'r Up!, added in 2006, is a weekly baseball podcast hosted by Matt Loughlin and long-time baseball analyst Fran Healy, with guests from around Major League Baseball, and fantasy advice from The Knuckler [4]. New York Post columnist and MSG baseball analyst Joel Sherman also contributes.

Personalities

MSG Network

  • Glenn Anderson: Rangers pre-game and intermission analyst
  • Mike Breen: Knicks play-by-play announcer
  • Steve Cangialosi: Red Bulls and Devils pre-game host and sideline reporter; Fill-in Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
  • Mike Crispino: Fill-in Rangers play-by-play announcer
  • Bill Daughtry: Fill-in Knicks home game pre-game and intermission host and sideline reporter
  • JP Dellacamera: Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
  • Boomer Esiason: Host of The Boomer Esiason Show
  • Stan Fischler: hockey analyst; Rangers and Devils studio analyst
  • Walt "Clyde" Frazier: Knicks game color announcer
  • Anthony "Fooch" Fucilli: reporter (mostly football)
  • Christopher Fusco: MSG legal analyst
  • John Giannone: Rangers sideline reporter and occasional studio host
  • Jay Glazer: Host of Unnecessary Roughness; MSG football analyst
  • Fran Healy: former announcer for Mets games on MSG/FSN NY; baseball analyst; co-host of podcast Batt'r Up!
  • Rick Jeanneret: Sabres play-by-play announcer
  • Dave Jennings: football analyst
  • Deb Kaufman: Islanders pre-game host and sideline reporter
  • Jim Lorentz: Sabres color announcer
  • Dave Maloney: Fill-in Rangers color announcer
  • Shep Messing: Red Bulls color announcer; co-host of MSG Soccer Report
  • Joe Micheletti: Rangers color announcer
  • Mary Murphy: Liberty gcolor announcer
  • Mike Quick: Host of High School Weekly and The LAX Report; high school sports reporter
  • Sam Rosen: Rangers play-by-play announcer
  • Joel Sherman: MSG SportsDesk baseball analyst
  • John Starks: Fill-in Knicks color announcer
  • Al Trautwig: Rangers and Knicks home game pre-game and intermission host and sideline reporter; host of Hockey Night New York Live! and NYK Way; co-host of MSG Vault
  • Bob Wischusen: Liberty play-by-play announcer
  • Ethan Zohn: Co-host of MSG Soccer Report

FSN New York

MSG Radio Network

  • Kenny Albert: Rangers radio play-by-play announcer
  • John Andariese: Knicks radio color announcer
  • Gus Johnson: Knicks radio play-by-play announcer
  • Dave Maloney: Rangers radio color announcer
  • Spencer Ross: Fill-in Knicks radio play-by-play announcer

Buffalo Sabres coverage

After the collapse of the Empire Sports Network caused by the bankruptcy of Adelphia, MSG now also broadcasts the Buffalo Sabres to Upstate New York customers (defined as virtually all of the state outside the New York City Nielsen DMA). The Sabres essentially control the entire broadcast, including the sale of advertising and production of an exclusive post-game show. Aside from Sabres games, MSG controls the broadcasts of all other local teams that it carries (with teams usually retaining the right to approve or reject MSG's choice of announcers).

The two sides agreed to a 10-year contract extension in 2006.[5]

Upstate New York coverage

MSG is available in most of upstate New York. Rangers, Devils, and Islanders games are blacked out in the Sabres' primary broadcast territory, which is the Buffalo and Rochester Nielsen Media markets, but Knicks games are broadcast on FSN New York or a temporary alternate channel when there is a conflict with the Sabres, except for Chautauqua County, part of which is within 100 miles of Cleveland and gets only Cleveland Cavaliers games on FSN Ohio as per NBA rules. The Knicks are also subject to blackout in eastern-most Connecticut.

Most of upstate New York (notably Albany, Binghamton, and Syracuse) gets all Sabres games but also the Rangers, Islanders, or Devils under certain conditions. A maximum of 50 Rangers, Islanders, and Devils games (per team) can be broadcast outside the New York City Nielsen market each season under current NHL rules; this also covers broadcasts in parts of the Hartford/New Haven and Northeast Pennsylvania (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area) media markets. MSG's website lists what games are subject to blackout, and which are not. Outside Western New York, Knicks games air on MSG, while FSN New York carries the Sabres, should both play at the same time.

The presence of Sabres games in the Albany market led to some controversy, because most cable systems in that market had not carried the previous home of Sabres games (the now-defunct Empire Sports Network) for several years, and the fanbase for the Sabres is widely thought to be smaller than that of the New York City-area teams (and even Boston-area teams, as WSBK served the region for several years before each Upstate market got its own UPN and WB affiliate). On the other hand, Time Warner Cable does not carry FSN New York on basic in Upstate New York. Thus, Sabres fans outside Buffalo and Rochester must get digital cable or a satellite dish to see most of the games. Sabres games are not currently broadcast in Plattsburgh, which receives the same MSG and FSN feeds as the NYC market.

College sporting events may also be blacked out in parts of upstate New York, especially involving teams from the Big East Conference, because MSG usually only acquires broadcast rights in New York City and its immediate suburbs. Time Warner Cable, among others, often acquires rights to these games in order to put them on its own channels in markets such as Syracuse and Rochester.

History

The MSG Television network debuted on October 15, 1969 with a game between the Rangers and the Minnesota North Stars. MSG Network, thus, became the first regional sports network in North America, and one of the first of its kind in the world.

The channel, which at the time was not even named, was carried by Manhattan Cable Television under a one-year, 125-event deal that was signed in May, 1969. At the time, the cable company, which had televised Knickerbocker and Ranger post-season games the previous spring for a $25,000 rights fee, had only 13,000 subscribers.[6]

The Garden renewed the deal with the cable company, then called Sterling Manhattan Cable Television, in the fall on 1970 for five years at an estimated rights fee of $1m to $1.5m. Charles Dolan was the president of the cable company at the time.[7]

Games from the Garden later appeared throughout the early days of Home Box Office. By 1978, the first mentions of the "temporarily named" Madison Square Garden Network appeared in print. [8]

Baseball coverage 1989-2005

Between 1989 and 2001, the network was the cable home of the New York Yankees. MSG paid an average of $55 million a year for those rights, and the deal is widely credited as having started a national trend towards greater team coverage on regional sports networks, with more games being broadcast than over-the-air stations' regular programming schedules could usually permit. MSG also produced the Yankees radio broadcasts from 1994 to 2001, which aired on WABC-AM. MSG also owned the over the air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which they sold to long-time broadcaster WPIX from 1989-1998 and WNYW from 1999-2001 (at the time, NewsCorp owned part of MSG). In 2002, the Yankees left MSG to form the YES Network. From 2002 to 2005, MSG aired games from Major League Baseball's New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, games which previously aired on FSNY (MSG, FSNY, and WPIX each carried about 50 games a season on consistent days of the week). Like the Yankee deals, Cablevision also owned the broadcast TV rights, placing games on WWOR before moving to WPIX in 1999. After the 2005 baseball season, Met games moved to SportsNet New York, a cable network partially owned by the Mets, although WPIX retained a reduced slate of games. Comcast and Time Warner, which generally control whatever NYC-area cable systems Cablevision doesn't (Time Warner controls most of Upstate New York as well), are the other partners.

Ownership

The network has been owned throughout its history by the owners of Madison Square Garden as well as the Knicks, Rangers and now the Liberty. The current owner of the Garden and MSG Network is Cablevision, as part of their Rainbow Media division.

Logos

MSG HD

MSG HD is a high definition simulcast of the best programs from MSG Network, including most home games of the NBA and NHL teams (the Sabres currently do not broadcast games in HD). MSG HD can be seen on Cablevision, Time Warner & Comcast among others.

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