SportsNet Pittsburgh

SportsNet Pittsburgh is an American regional sports network owned by the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is operated by sister network NESN through common ownership with Fenway Sports Group. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the channel broadcasts local coverage of sports events throughout Greater Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. It is the exclusive home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

SportsNet Pittsburgh
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaWestern, Central and Northwestern Pennsylvania
West Virginia
Eastern Ohio
Western Maryland
Southwestern New York
Worldwide (via satellite)
HeadquartersPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format720p (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerPittsburgh Penguins
ParentFenway Sports Group
Sister channelsNESN
History
LaunchedApril 13, 1986 (1986-04-13)
Former names
  • Pirates Cable Network (1986)
  • KBL Entertainment Network (1986–1995)
  • Prime Sports KBL (1995–1996)
  • Fox Sports Pittsburgh (1996–1999)
  • Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (1999–2004)
  • FSN Pittsburgh (2004–2011)
  • Root Sports Pittsburgh (2011–2017)
  • AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (2017–2023)
Links
Websitesportsnetpittsburgh.com
Availability
Streaming media
DirecTV StreamInternet Protocol television
FuboTVInternet Protocol television

The channel was first launched by Tele-Communications Inc in April 1986 as the KBL Entertainment Network, which featured a mixture of sports and entertainment programming. After being transferred to TCI subsidiary Liberty Media, KBL was rebranded as part of its Prime Sports chain of regional sports networks in 1994, and subsequently became a charter member of Fox Sports Net upon its establishment in 1996.

After a corporate restructuring that brought Liberty's networks under DirecTV, the channel was rebranded as Root Sports Pittsburgh in 2011, and then AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh after DirecTV was acquired by AT&T. In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would sell or shut down its regional sports networks: in August 2023, it was announced that the Penguins would acquire the network and rebrand it as SportsNet Pittsburgh in October 2023, with NESN—a sister via the Penguins' owner Fenway Sports Group—assuming day-to-day operations.

As of August 2013, SportsNet Pittsburgh is available on cable providers throughout nearly all of Pennsylvania (outside the Philadelphia market), almost all of West Virginia, western Maryland, eastern Ohio, southwestern border areas of New York and Ashland, Kentucky, reaching more than 2.4 million homes; it is also available in the Columbus, Ohio, market through DirecTV Stream, though Penguins broadcasts are blacked out due to the presence of the Columbus Blue Jackets.[1] It is also available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV.

History

The channel launched on April 13, 1986, as Pirates Cable Network, exclusively serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area; its first sports event telecast on that date was a Major League Baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs from Three Rivers Stadium, announced by Mike Lange, in which the Pirates shut out the Cubs, 8–0.

The network commenced full-time broadcasts on April 24, 1986, as the KBL Entertainment Network, in order to allow other sports besides the Pirates to be included on the network. Its first regular broadcast was a Pirates home game against the New York Mets.[2] The network was initially owned by Tele-Communications Inc. (now part of Comcast), then the largest cable television provider in the Pittsburgh market. KBL quickly expanded its cable coverage. As early as May 9, 1986, its cable footprint roughly approximated its present six-state coverage area.

While it primarily carried sports-related programming, KBL also served as a general entertainment cable channel while under TCI ownership, essentially filling the void left after independent station WPGH-TV (channel 53) became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company seven months after KBL's debut. It aired children's programming for part of the day, including reruns of the John Candy animated series Camp Candy.[2]

In 1994, TCI transferred the channel to its corporate parent Liberty Media; KBL then immediately dropped all entertainment programming and converted the renamed Prime Sports KBL into an affiliate of Prime SportsChannel America, a partnership between Liberty's Prime Network and the Cablevision/NBC-owned SportsChannel America regional sports network groups. In 1995, Prime Network's retail subsidiary, Prime Sports Merchandising, purchased some sports apparel stores located inside shopping malls and rebranded them as Prime Sports Shops, promoting them on its networks including KBL.[3]

Map of SportsNet Pittsburgh coverage area, taken during its tenure as a Fox Sports Networks-branded outlet.

In 1996, News Corporation, which formed a sports division for the Fox network two years earlier after it obtained the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference and sought to create a group of regional sports networks, acquired a 50% interest in the Prime Network from TCI parent Liberty Media.[4] Later that year on November 1, News Corporation and Liberty Media relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the new Fox Sports Net group, with Prime Sports KBL officially rebranding as Fox Sports Pittsburgh.[5] The deal temporarily ended the Prime SportsChannel partnership, although News Corporation subsequently acquired most of the SportsChannel networks the following year;[6] the retail stores, meanwhile, retained the "Prime Sports" name for many years after the rebranding of the regional networks as part of Fox Sports Net. The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Pittsburgh, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand.

On December 22, 2006, News Corporation sold its interest in FSN Pittsburgh and sister networks FSN Utah, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain to Liberty Media, in an asset trade in which News Corporation also traded its 38.5% ownership stake in satellite provider DirecTV for $550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for Liberty Media's 16.3% stake in the company.[7] On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off into the separate company under the DirecTV name, in a deal in which Liberty would increase its share in DirecTV from 48% to 54%, with Liberty owner John Malone and his family owning a 24% interest. DirecTV would operate its newly acquired FSN-affiliated networks through DirecTV Sports Networks,[8] a new division formed when the split off from Liberty Media was completed on November 19, 2009.[9]

On December 17, 2010, DirecTV Sports Networks announced that its four Fox Sports Networks-affiliated regional outlets would be relaunched under the "Root Sports" brand.[10] The network officially rebranded as Root Sports Pittsburgh on April 1, 2011, coinciding with the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. For nominal purposes, the Root Sports networks continued to carry programming distributed mainly to the Fox Sports regional networks to provide supplementary sports and entertainment programming. On April 8, 2016, DirecTV Sports Networks rebranded under the AT&T name as AT&T Sports Networks.[11]

On June 12, 2017, AT&T Sports Networks announced that the network, along with Root Sports Southwest, and Root Sports Rocky Mountain, would rebrand as AT&T SportsNet with the channel becoming AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. All network programming and on-air talent remained intact, with the exception of Paul Steigerwald, who was replaced in October 2017 by Steve Mears as the play-by-play announcer of the Penguins.[12][13][14] The name change took effect on July 14, 2017.

In July 2019, it was reported that AT&T was looking to sell its regional sports networks to reduce debt related to its acquisition of Time Warner, as well as rolling out 5G on its cell phone networks. Two potential suitors included Sinclair Broadcast Group, which had acquired Fox Sports Networks (with Entertainment Studios) amid the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney (and already had a decades-long presence in the Pittsburgh market as the owners of WPGH-TV/WPNT), as well as NBCUniversal, which owns regional networks via its NBC Sports division, and whose parent company Comcast is the cable provider in Pittsburgh.[15][16]

On October 1, 2021, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, along with sister networks AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, and Root Sports Northwest, was removed from Dish Network satellite and Sling streaming TV services.[17]

On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to exit the RSN business, informing the teams that AT&T Sports Networks would file for chapter 7 bankruptcy unless deals were made for them to exit or take over the channels. Root Sports Northwest was not affected, as it is majority-owned by the Seattle Mariners.[18][19][20] While originally setting a deadline of March 31, it later reached an agreement to keep the networks operational through at least the end of the 2023 Major League Baseball season.[21][22] The Athletic noted that Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group had experience in the RSN business via its operation of NESN in Boston, and reported that the channel could be integrated with or replaced by a local feed of NESN.[23][24]

On August 28, 2023, it was reported that the Penguins had reached an agreement to acquire AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. Whether or not the Pirates will participate in the network under FSG ownership was considered unclear, due to it being parent company of a competing MLB team, the Boston Red Sox; it was reported that the Pirates were considering negotiating with the new owners to remain on the channel, but were more likely to assign its regional rights to Major League Baseball's local media division (as the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks had done after Bally Sports was stripped of broadcast rights to the teams amid its bankruptcy).[25] Two days later, it was announced that the network would be acquired by Fenway Sports Group via the Pittsburgh Penguins, and would be rebranded as SportsNet Pittsburgh on October 2. NESN will handle the day-to-day operations of the network.[26]

Programming

SportsNet Pittsburgh carries Pittsburgh Penguins hockey and a minimal amount of collegiate and high school sports programming. To fill out its schedule outside various local sports, the network also carries syndicated sports events, documentary and magazine programs including outdoor programming, pro footvolley, kickboxing, poker, MMA, boxing, golf programming, sports betting programs, Sports Stars of Tomorrow and In Depth with Graham Bensinger.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Root Sports technicians during a November 19, 2011, game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers.

SportsNet Pittsburgh maintains exclusive regional rights to most regular season and any early-round Stanley Cup playoff games involving the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins; it also carries Penguins-related programs such as classic game re-airs, Penguins Instant Replay, Inside Penguins Hockey, Pens Pulse, and In The Room.

On April 27, 2011, the network reached a contract extension with the Penguins, allowing the network to continue carrying most of the team's NHL game telecasts through the end of the 2028–29 NHL season.[27]

Pittsburgh Pirates

Through the 2023 season, the network held the regional cable television rights to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, carrying over 150 regular season and Spring training games annually, as well as pre- and postgame coverage, rebroadcasts of recent games (as part of Pirates Instant Replay) and the team analysis program Inside Pirates Baseball presented by Allegheny Health Network.[28]

From the 2013 to 2018 seasons, Sportsnet's telecasts of Pirates games were blacked out on DirecTV in many portions of the Pirates' claimed territory, including the Columbus, Ohio, market, for reasons not released publicly. Despite the blackout, DirecTV did not allow Pirates games to be shown in the blacked-out area on its MLB Extra Innings package. The blackout was lifted in time for the 2019 season. With the sale of the network to Fenway Sports Group, it is unknown if the Pirates will return to SportsNet Pittsburgh in 2024.[29]

Pittsburgh Steelers

The network formerly served as the cable home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, broadcasting team-related magazine and analysis programs such as weekly press conferences held by coach Mike Tomlin during the regular season and the team coach's show The Mike Tomlin Show (both were hosted by Stan Savran). This continued through the 2016 season. KDKA-TV now airs The Mike Tomlin Show, while Tomlin's Tuesday press conference is no longer televised live. Although regular Steelers coverage is no longer part of the network’s lineup, team documentary programming continues to air from time to time, usually focused on historical figures such as Art Rooney and Chuck Noll.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The network currently serves as the cable home of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, broadcasting weekend home games during the regular season. Prior to the network acquiring the rights to the games, the team had no television coverage in either Pittsburgh's or Wilkes-Barre's DMAs.

Current programming

Select football and basketball games from the Division 2 Mountain East Conference are occasionally aired, including select games from the annual men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.[30] Additionally, the network airs insider programming featuring the West Virginia Mountaineers, as described below.

West Virginia Mountaineers

SportsNet Pittsburgh formerly carried the exclusive rights to the West Virginia Mountaineers, carrying all football and men's basketball games not picked up by a national network, as well as select women's basketball games, select other live events (women's soccer, baseball, etc.), and the football team's weekly Tuesday press conferences. Although the network lost rights to the live events portion of their WVU coverage to ESPN+ beginning with the 2020-2021 season, a coaches show involving all Mountaineer sports and Mountaineer Gameday, a live pregame show for Mountaineer football and men’s basketball, still air on the channel. [31]

Pittsburgh Panthers

The network formerly carried football, men's and women's basketball, and other events featuring the Pittsburgh Panthers, which were produced first by ESPN Regional Television and later by Fox Sports South and Raycom Sports once the Panthers moved to the ACC.[32] Additionally, the network aired a number of Panthers-related insider programming, including Pat Narduzzi’s weekly press conferences, The Pat Narduzzi Show with Larry Richert, and the magazine program Beyond The Script, which was hosted by the network’s Rob King.[33][34] The partnership ended following the 2020-21 athletic year.

Duquesne Dukes

The network has served as the regional home of Duquesne Dukes men’s and women’s basketball several times throughout its 30+-year history, the most recent of which lasted for 2 seasons between 2017 and 2019. As of August 2019, these rights have been moved to the streaming service ESPN+, although a weekly coaches show continued to air on the network through early 2023.[35]

High school & youth sports

West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission high school football, baseball, softball, and boys' and girls' basketball championship games, as well as occasional broadcasts of regular-season WVSSAC football contests, are carried by SportsNet Pittsburgh.[36][37]

The network is the regional home of the annual PONY League World Series, which is held locally in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Former Pirates' play-by-play announcer Lanny Frattare calls most games.[38][39]

Until 2019, Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League regular season, playoff, and championship football games were a network staple. WPCW took over the rights to all 6 championship games in 2018, and the rights to additional playoff and regular season games in 2019.[40]

Studio Programming

The network provides live pre- and postgame coverage for all Penguins games, including games aired on other networks. With the sale of the network to Fenway Sports Group, pre- and postgame coverage has been expanded from 30 minutes to an hour before and after each game as of October 2023.

Since 2021, SportsNet has served as the local affiliate of VSIN's Follow The Money, a 3-hour sports betting program that airs weekdays from 7-10am.[41] Additional content from VSIN was added in the fall of 2023, including The Lombardi Line and Musburger Pregame. Previously, the network aired simulcasts of Audience Network's The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show in similar time slots.

Throughout the previous 2 decades, locally-produced studio programming has been drastically reduced from nightly programs to pre- and postgame coverage only. Savran on SportsBeat, Pittsburgh Sports Tonight, and live Steelers coverage are just some of the local studio shows that were cancelled during the network’s ownership under Liberty Media in the late 2000s.[42] Nationally-distributed Fox Sports studio shows also aired in both live and tape-delay until they were moved to Fox Sports 1 upon its 2013 launch.

On-air staff

Pittsburgh Penguins

Studio anchors
  • Dan Potash
  • Hailey Hunter
  • Rob King
  • Aly Cohen
  • Robby Incmikoski

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Pirates

West Virginia University
  • Warren Baker – men's basketball color commentator (now with ESPN+)
  • Mark Bulger – football color commentator[43]
  • Mike Logan – football color commentator
  • Rasheed Marshall – football color commentator[44]
  • Meg Bulger – football sideline reporter[45]

High School Football

Studio Anchors & Analysts

References
  1. "Territory Map".
  2. Barbara Vancheri (June 22, 1999). "Analysis: What happens if Armstrong takes over Penguins broadcast rights?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  3. "Liberty Sports acquires Fan Fair retail stores; subsidiary Prime Sports Merchandising, Inc. will capitalize on regional network resources". Businesswire. August 7, 1995. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2013 – via The Free Library.
  4. R. Thomas Umstead (July 8, 1996). "Liberty Sports regionals will become Fox Sports net". Multichannel News. The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  5. "FOX SPORTS NET DEBUTS ON NOV. 1". The Columbian. Columbian Publishing Company. Associated Press. September 13, 1996. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  6. "Fox putting together national Sports Net // Changes ahead for SportsChannel". Chicago Sun-Times. June 24, 1997. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  7. "News Corp. Reaches Deal with Liberty Media". The New York Times. December 22, 2006. Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  8. Todd Spangler (May 4, 2009). "DirecTV, Liberty Media Announce Spin-Off Plan". Multichannel News. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  9. Mike Reynolds (November 20, 2009). "Liberty Sports Rebrands As DirecTV Sports Networks". Multichannel News. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  10. "'Root Sports' new name for sports networks". Denver Business Journal. American City Business Journals. December 17, 2010.
  11. "Root Sports regional nets now part of AT&T Sports Networks". Awful Announcing. Ken Fang. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  12. "Root Sports regional nets now part of "AT&T Sports Networks"". Awful Announcing. April 9, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  13. "AT&T SPORTS NETWORKS WILL REBRAND ROOT SPORTS IN SUMMER 2017". ROOT SPORTS. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  14. "Steve Mears Joins ROOT SPORTS As Play-By-Play Broadcaster for the Pens". NHL.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  15. "A twist in the Pirates' television rights negotiations: The possible sale of the network". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. "SBJ Media: RSNs Never Part Of AT&T's Future". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  17. "DISH removes AT&T SportsNet". AT&T SportsNet. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  18. "Warner Bros. Discovery tells teams it is leaving RSN business". Sports Business Journal. February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  19. Weprin, Alex (February 24, 2023). "Warner Bros. Discovery Seeks to Exit Regional Sports Networks Business". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  20. "ROOT Sports Northwest says it's not impacted by Warner Bros. Discovery exiting local sports business". The Seattle Times. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  21. Lucia, Joe (April 10, 2023). "Warner Bros. Discovery, MLB nearing deal to keep RSNs running through 2023 season". Awful Announcing. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  22. Barron, David (March 14, 2023). "Astros, Rockets negotiating to take over AT&T SportsNet Southwest". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  23. "Penguins, Pirates reportedly may find new TV home with Boston teams via Fenway Sports Group-owned NESN". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  24. Kaplan, Daniel. "RSN armageddon? What fans can expect as likely Bally Sports bankruptcy looms". The Athletic. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  25. Ourand, John (August 28, 2023). "Sports Media: WBD Sports closer to exit from nearly all of its RSN business". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  26. "Penguins Announce 'SportsNet Pittsburgh' as Regional Sports Network". NHL.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  27. "Root Sports Pittsburgh to carry Penguins through 2028-29 season". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 27, 2011.
  28. The official medical provider of the Pittsburgh Pirates and fans like you.
  29. Benz, Tim (August 30, 2023). "AT&T SportsNet changing ownership 'doesn't look great' for Pirates". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  30. Staff, MetroNews (February 22, 2023). "WVU Sports Hall of Fame member Meg Bulger joins MetroNews broadcast team". WV MetroNews. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  31. "AT&T SportsNet, WVU Men's Hoops Ready For Final Sign-Off on Saturday". West Virginia University Athletics. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  32. FearTheStache (July 2, 2013). "ROOT SPORTS Pittsburgh, WTAE partner with the ACC". Cardiac Hill. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  33. "Pitt: Beyond the Script". University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  34. ""Pat Narduzzi Show presented by Dollar Energy Fund" Debuts August 28". Pitt Panthers #H2P. August 26, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  35. "Duquesne Reaches Agreement With AT&T SportsNet For Coaches Shows". Duquesne University Athletics. August 20, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  36. "WPIAL football championships won't air on AT&T SportsNet". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  37. "WV MetroNews – 2018 SSAC Kickoff: Morgantown vs. Parkersburg airing live on AT&T SportsNet". wvmetronews.com. July 26, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  38. "Pittsburgh Live Official Site". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008.
  39. jtuscano@observer-reporter.com, Joe Tuscano Staff writer (August 5, 2022). "Pony World Series widens its reach through cable". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  40. "Pittsburgh's CW extends WPIAL Partnership With Three-Year contract". October 15, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  41. Miller, George (February 10, 2021). "VSiN's 'Follow the Money' Sports Betting and Entertainment Morning Show to Air Weekdays on AT&T Pittsburgh". Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  42. "'Stan, Guy, love the show': Ten years gone, SportsBeat remains in the hearts of Pittsburgh fans".
  43. Now, WV Sports (May 27, 2018). "Top 10 Quarterbacks in WVU History". WV Sports Now. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  44. Virginian, Matt Welch Times West (September 27, 2015). "Former Mountaineer Rasheed Marshall thankful for recent opportunities". Times West Virginian. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  45. "The Bulgers are a Mountaineer Family • Mountaineer Sports". mountaineersports.com. September 12, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
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