 | |
| Type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | New York Northern &Central New Jersey Southwestern Connecticut Northeastern Pennsylvania Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Headquarters | Pennsylvania Plaza,New York,NY 10001 |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish (viaSAP)[1] |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sphere Entertainment |
| Parent | MSG Networks, Inc. |
| Key people | James L. Dolan (Chairman & CEO) |
| Sister channels | MSG Sportsnet MSG Western New York |
| History | |
| Launched | October 15, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-10-15) |
| Founder | Charles Dolan |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| MSG+ on The Gotham Sports App | gothamsports (Requires a Gotham Sports account or existing MSG+ account, and a login from participating providers or a subscription to stream content) |
| DirecTV Stream | 634 |
| FuboTV | Available within designated area |
TheMSG Network (MSG) is an Americanregionalcable andsatellite televisionnetwork, andradio service owned bySphere Entertainment.—a spin-off of the mainMadison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable providerCablevision).
Primarily serving theMid-Atlantic United States, its programming focuses on events featuring and other programs about New York City sports teams, including live game broadcasts of theNew York Knicks of theNational Basketball Association, theNew York Rangers,New York Islanders,Buffalo Sabres, andNew Jersey Devils of theNational Hockey League andGotham FC of theNational Women's Soccer League. The channel is named after theMadison Square Garden sports and entertainment venue inMidtown Manhattan, home of the Knicks and Rangers.
What would become MSG debuted on October 15, 1969, with an NHL hockey game between theNew York Rangers and theMinnesota North Stars. As a result, it 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 did not even have a name, was carried by Manhattan Cable Television under a one-year, 125-event deal that was signed in May 1969. At the time, the cable provider, which had televisedNew York Knicks and Rangers post-season games the previous spring for a $25,000 rights fee, had only 13,000 subscribers.[2] (The channel's coverage of the deciding game of the1970 NBA Finals, in which the Knicks beat theLos Angeles Lakers, was the only live broadcast of the game shown in New York City;WABC-TV blacked outABC's telecast.)Madison Square Garden renewed the deal with what was now Sterling Manhattan Cable Television in the fall of 1970, in a five-year deal at an estimated rights fee of $1–1.5 million.Charles Dolan, who later headed MSG andCablevision, was the president of Sterling Manhattan at the time.[3] Games held at Madison Square Garden later appeared on another of Sterling Manhattan Cable's ventures,premium cable network Home Box Office (HBO) during the network's early years.
In the meantime, an unrelated channel was launched on September 22, 1977, as a joint-venture ofUA-Columbia Cablevision and the Madison Square Garden Corporation, and would brand itself the "Madison Square Garden Sports Network" in 1978[4] before the Sterling Manhattan Cable channel could use the name. The competitor would change its name in 1980 to theUSA Network.[5]
In 1977, the Madison Square Garden Corp, which included its namesake sports arena was sold toGulf+Western. Around the same time, a separate network was created by the Madison Square Garden Corp. to distribute 125 events to New York-area cable systems. These events were in addition to the 250 already being produced for the national distribution.[6] It was this network which became known asMadison Square Garden Television that would evolve into the current MSG Network.
On April 9, 1980, the channel began using both the full name "Madison Square Garden Network" and its new abbreviated form "MSG Network". In December 1988, MSG Network became the first cable network to secure all local television rights to aMajor League Baseball team's game, signing a 12-year deal with theNew York Yankees that would give it exclusive rights to 150 games per season from 1991 through 2000. Sources placed the value of the agreement at approximately $500 million.[7] By the early 1990s, the channel would affiliate withPrime Network.[8] In 1994, Paramount Communications was acquired byViacom (itself a cable giant, having once owned various cable systems in the U.S. under theViacom Cablevision banner and also owner ofMTV Networks), which in turn sold the MSG properties toCablevision andITT Corporation, which each held a 50% ownership stake; ITT would sell its share to Cablevision three years later.
On October 5, 2006, MSG underwent an extensive rebrand with the introduction of a new logo and graphics package, and the removal of the word "Network" from the channel's promotions. The new logo was designed by Jennifer Little for PMCD design. Since the rebrand, the channel has incorporated more entertainment-oriented programming, including concerts and professional boxing and wrestling cards that have taken place at Madison Square Garden orRadio City Music Hall (both operated byMSG Entertainment). (Full length broadcasts of Madison Square GardenWWWF/WWF wrestling shows had already been previously screened by the MSG Network since the 1970s.) In February 2010, Cablevisionspun off MSG Network, the Madison Square Garden venue and other related properties intoThe Madison Square Garden Company.[citation needed]
In September 2015, the MSG Networks division was spun out into a separate company, with The Madison Square Garden Company maintaining ownership of the venue and related properties.[9][10] The company was split further in April 2020, with the sports properties operating asMadison Square Garden Sports Corp., and the venue and entertainment properties spun out as the publicly tradedMadison Square Garden Entertainment.[11][12]
On March 26, 2021,MSG Entertainment announced that it would acquire MSG Networks in an all-stock deal; the company stated that the purchase was part of an effort "to grow the company beyond its established collection of assets into one that is pioneering the next generation of entertainment."[13] The acquisition was completed in July 2021.[14] In April 2023, MSG Entertainment subsequently spun off its theatre and live events businesses under the MSG Entertainment name, with the remainder of the company renamedSphere Entertainment.[15][16]
Facing an environment where its core leagues, the NHL and NBA, were increasingly diverting their game inventory to national broadcast and multichannel partners, MSG representatives stated that the actions jeopardized their ability to deliver the required number of games on the MSG networks to providers and subscribers under their retransmission agreements, reducing the fees they could collect from providers. This, along with the broader trend ofcord-cutting and the similar declines of other regional sports network groups, placed MSG Networks at risk of bankruptcy by the end of March 2025.[17]
Among other teams, it has long produced radio and television broadcasts of theNBA'sNew York Knicks, theNHL'sNew York Rangers and (until 2018) theWNBA'sNew York Liberty, which play their home games at the Garden. Upon its launch in 2014, MSG also became the television home of theWestchester Knicks, the New York Knicks' farm club in theNBA G League. Since 2013, MSG has also aired games from theHartford Wolf Pack, the New York Rangers' farm club in theAHL.[citation needed][citation needed]
MSG also holds television rights to theNASL'sNew York Cosmos since 2017. In 2010, MSG began broadcasting exclusive content from theNFL'sNew York Giants.[18]Buffalo Bills content was added in 2016.[citation needed]
MSG also owns the television rights to the NHL'sBuffalo Sabres,New Jersey Devils,New York Islanders and the AHL'sBridgeport Islanders andRochester Americans. Islanders, Devils and (AHL Islanders) games air onMSG Sportsnet, while Sabres and Americans games air onMSG Western New York inWestern New York and are split between MSG and MSG Sportsnet in the rest ofupstate New York.
The network also broadcast nightly highlights of races held at tracks sanctioned by theNew York Racing Association, as well as a weekly magazine show; live races (normallygraded stakes races) also air on select Saturday afternoons. MSG Network broadcasts soccer events from thePremier League (since 2002, consisting of game rebroadcasts fromFox Soccer and laterFox Soccer Plus and a weekly highlight program) and theUEFA Champions League (since 2009, with a live game each Tuesday of competition, produced by Fox Soccer Plus, with a second game originally aired on Fox Soccer Plus also rebroadcast on MSG or MSG Sportsnet).
It also runs extended highlights from concerts held at MSG or other venues owned by the Dolan family through the Cablevision Systems Corporation, along with other shows focused on New York musicians – which are frequently used as filler programming in blackout zones; as well as movies – generally sports-related, in addition to some Hollywood blockbusters and several New York sports-related fiction or documentary programs that were originally broadcast on ESPN, which are most commonly seen during the summer NHL and NBA offseason.
During the period of time in which sister stationMSG Sportsnet was a primary affiliate ofFox Sports Net (now known asBally Sports as of 2021), MSG also acted as a secondary FSN affiliate, airing Fox Sports-produced programming in certain timeslots (such as theNational Sports Report) and contributing footage to FSN shows. This ceased when the FSN branding was removed and FSN New York became MSG Plus (now MSG Sportsnet), and FSN programming has since been split between MSG Sportsnet and theYES Network (as Fox took a stake in YES in 2012).
MSG began carrying local broadcasts of Gotham FC matches in 2023 before expanding the broadcast rights partnership in 2024.[19]
Currently, MSG airs locally produced athletic events fromHofstra University andFordham University.[20][21] MSG also airs the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Offcollege hockey tournament through its affiliation withBally Sports.[22]
MSG and MSG Sportsnet previously broadcastbasketball games from theMetro Atlantic Athletic,Northeast,America East andAtlantic Coast Conferences; football games from theSoutheastern Conference; and football and basketball games from thePac-10 andBig 12 Conferences (with basketball games from the latter exclusive to women's teams). The Pac-10, Big 12 and ACC telecasts were carried thoughFox Sports Networks (which maintained national broadcast rights to all three conferences), while the other games were either produced by the conferences themselves or throughESPN Plus.
MSG formerly carried games from theBig East Conference, along with the coaches shows forRutgers andSt. John's University. In July 2008, the Big East and SportsNet New York announced a multi-year deal which gave SNY exclusive regional rights to Big East coaches shows and ESPN Plus-produced games.[23] However, MSG retained rights to a reduced schedule of Big East games, including any St. John's basketball games played at Madison Square Garden.
MSG, NY, a daily sports highlights and entertainment program which served as the network's flagship program, debuted in October 2006. Aired numerous times during the day, the program originated as the sports-focusedMSG Sportsdesk similar toESPN'sSportsCenter, until a format change that occurred as part of MSG's 2006 rebranding and reformatting in which sporting events remain the primary focus while a secondary focus was placed on all events at Madison Square Garden.
Anchors included Jason Horowitz,Deb Placey,Tina Cervasio,Al Trautwig,Greg Gumbel,Marv Albert,Jonathan Coachman, and Bill Daughtry.
The show however, gave expanded coverage to area sports teams that the channel holds game telecast rights; other New York City area teams were covered on the program, usually to a lesser extent. Along with coverage of Garden-related entertainment news, this was intended to prevent direct competition withSportsNite on SportsNet New York.MSG, NY was taped inside a street-level studio, with a window overlooking Madison Square Garden across the street. The program originally aired as a half-hour broadcast on Tuesday through Saturdays (with no editions on Sundays and Mondays, possibly as they were considered "low-viewership nights"), at about 10 or 10:30 p.m.Eastern time, with the exact time dependent on sports events schedules, before expanding to an hour-long nightly broadcast in 2008, based on improved ratings over its predecessorSportsdesk.[24] The studio is also used by SiTV MediaFuse. The show was cancelled in January 2009, due to the declining ratings; in its place, MSG usually offers team-specific post-game shows.
MSG's website, MSGNetworks.com, has offered exclusivepodcast programming since 2006. These include:
From 1989 to 2001, the channel held cable television rights to theNew York YankeesMajor League Baseball franchise. MSG paid an average of $55 million a year for the broadcast rights, a deal that is widely credited with starting a national trend towards greater team coverage on regional sports networks, with more games being broadcast than the programming schedules ofbroadcast television stations could usually permit due to other programming commitments. MSG also produced radio broadcasts of Yankees games from 1994 to 2001, which aired onWABC (770 AM). MSG also held the over-the-air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which it sold to longtime broadcaster,independent station (later aWB affiliate)WPIX channel 11 from 1989 to 1998 andFoxowned-and-operated stationWNYW (channel 5) from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, the Yankees terminated their agreement with MSG to form its own regional sports network,YES Network.
From 2002 to 2005, MSG held rights to Tuesday and Wednesday night games from theNew York Mets, obtaining the rights fromFox Sports Net New York (MSG, Fox Sports New York and WPIX each carried about 50 games a season on consistent days of the week). Like the Yankees deal, MSG also maintained broadcast television rights, placing games onWWOR-TV (channel 9) before the games moved to WPIX in 1999.
Mets games moved toSportsNet New York, a regional sports network that is partially owned by the team (Comcast andSpectrum, which generally provide cable service to certain parts of the New York City metropolitan area – and in Spectrum's case, most ofupstate New York – not served by Cablevision, or the other partners), after the2005 season; although, WPIX retained rights to a reduced slate of games.
MSG has broadcastNew York Red Bulls matches from its inception in 1996, when the team was known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. The network also signed multi-year deals in 2011 and in 2014.[29][30]
The network lost its rights to the New York Red Bulls matches in 2022 afterMajor League Soccer signed a 10-year broadcast deal to air all matches of MLS onApple TV+ through theMLS Season Pass.[31]
MSG was dropped fromDish Network due to a contract dispute in October 2010; the dispute remains unresolved.[36] MSG was removed from Time Warner Cable at midnight on December 31, 2011, as the two companies could not agree on a new carriage contract; the network was restored on all TWC systems on February 17, 2012.[37] MSG HD was not available onVerizon FiOS until several months after a court order forced MSG to provide the network's HD feed to that provider.[38] MSG was dropped byComcast in September 2021 and remains unavailable.[citation needed]
On January 1, 2025,MSG was removed from Altice USA's cable systems. Altice bought the former Cablevision systems which was under the same ownership as MSG until its sale.[39]
Along with MSG andMSG Sportsnet, MSG also operates secondary channels,MSG2 and MSG Sportsnet 2, which mainly serve to assist in scheduling the many sporting events it carries. Select New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils games also air on MSG when both teams play concurrently, with one airing on MSG Sportsnet, which along with MSG and its alternate channels are officially referred to asMSG Media. In turn, select Rangers games air on MSG Sportsnet, when Knicks telecasts are shown on MSG and no live game is airing on MSG Sportsnet at the same time. Any sports event to which MSG holds the broadcast rights could air on either channel.
If more than two of the four local teams it carries are playing at the same time, MSG normally goes to the Knicks – the highest-rated property on the channel – except for instances when that night's game is scheduled for a late start time, in which case a Rangers game will air instead. In all other cases, Rangers games are broadcast on MSG2. Devils or Islanders games air on MSG Sportsnet 2. If any teams are out of playoff contention, MSG will sometimes switch the order of priority among its teams. For several years in the 1990s when Cablevision had the rights to seven professional sports teams, anMSG3 overflow feed was occasionally used.
In the cases of MSG2 and MSG Sportsnet 2, the alternate channels vary. Many cable providers usePop to carry the overflow/alternate feed, while satellite providers use an alternate channel. In some cases, these channels are not available outside the New York City area; however, they are offered by DirecTV, Dish Network and Comcast. In order to help alleviate confusion, MSG directs viewers to a specialwebsite.
Following the collapse of Empire Sports Network and its parent, Adelphia, MSG also picked up rights to theBuffalo Sabres, and agreed to a 10-year contract in 2006. The Sabres, through its broadcast arm, theSabres Hockey Network, control the entire broadcast, including the sale of advertising, and pre- and post-game programming.[40][41]
During the inaugural season, all regionally-televised Sabres games were available to viewers outside of theNew York City area, falling within MSG's "Zone 3" (Buffalo and Rochester) and "Zone 2" (which encompasses the remainder ofUpstate New York and is shared with the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers). In Zone 3, all Sabres games were shown on the main MSG channel, but some games aired in Zone 2 onMSG Sportsnet (then known as FSN New York) instead.[42][43]
As part of a contract extension for the 2016–17 season, MSG entered into a joint venture withTerry andKim Pegula'sownership group to create an expanded opt-out feed known asMSG Western New York over the former Zone 3. The feed is carried in place of MSG's main network within the Sabres' television market of Upstate New York (defined as virtually all of the state outside the New York City television market). In addition to coverage of Sabres games, the feed also carries Pegula-produced studio programming dedicated to the Sabres and their sisterNFL team, theBuffalo Bills.[44]
From the fall of 1998 until the spring of 2005, Cablevision chose not to launch an additional MSG2 channel, instead placing games on itsMSG Metro Channels, which were only available in a limited coverage footprint. Sometimes, games were also carried byRiverhead–licensedWLNY-TV (channel 55). During this period, when two of the teams that the MSG channels maintained game broadcast rights to played against one another, only one broadcast would usually be produced using one of the team's announcing staffs (this was either due to MSG's television contracts or a desire to show a different sporting event at the same time).
With the discontinuation of Metro, and the loss of theNew Jersey Nets from the network's winter lineup, the MSG channels now produce two broadcasts when two of the area teams with broadcast rights held by the network are playing against each other. Since 2009, the channel now has gone back to producing a single unified broadcast, though it will use two sets of commentators (particularly for Buffalo, where the Sabres' radio announcers are simply dubbed over the MSG broadcast when they play the Rangers, Islanders or Devils).
In 1996, ITT Corporation (then half-owner of MSG) entered a joint-venture withDow Jones & Company to purchaseWNYC-TV from theCity of New York and convert it to a hybrid sports/business news format. The channel was renamed WBIS-TV and branded as "S+". Beginning in January 1997, several Knicks and Rangers games that would have otherwise aired on MSG were moved to WBIS. Select Devils, Islanders, and Nets games from SportsChannel also aired on WBIS, temporarily relieving some of the need for multiple overflow channels. However, this would be short lived as by June the S+ format was cancelled and ITT would soon be selling both its interests in both MSG and WBIS.
MSG HD is ahigh definition simulcast feed of MSG Network, which broadcasts in the1080i resolution format, with the vast majority of content from MSG and Fox Sports Regional Networks broadcast in HD; as of 2017 only archived andpaid programming is broadcast in standard definition. MSG HD is available nationally onDirecTV, Optimum, Spectrum,RCN,AT&T U-verse andVerizon FiOS.
On January 22, 2009, the NHL and MSG became involved in a contract dispute which has resulted in MSG HD and MSG+ HD's broadcasts being pulled from NHL's GameCenter Live service for viewers outside of the primary markets for the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres,[45] with games presented instandard definition and upconverted to a stretchedwidescreen format. On March 17, 2010, beginning with the game between the New Jersey Devils andPittsburgh Penguins, MSG HD and MSG+ HD broadcasts returned toNHL Center Ice (as confirmed by Gary Bettman during theNHL Hour broadcast).[46]
Since its launch, MSG Network had blocked Verizon and AT&T from carrying MSG HD on any terms through a controversial guideline imposed by theFederal Communications Commission (known as the "terrestrial exception"), that was implemented to encourage investments in local programming, which stated that television channels that do not transmit via satellite uplink – MSG HD's programming is distributed to cable television providers through a terrestrial infrastructure using onlymicrowave andfiber optic relays – have the authority to decide which pay television providers (cable, satellite or telco) can have access to its programming. Because the network was once owned by Cablevision (and remains under common control by the Dolan family to this day), MSG fought attempts by the telco providers to carry it despite the significant rights fees it could collect from carriage deals with those services. On September 22, 2011, the FCC ordered MSG to negotiate with both Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse for carriage on each system. MSG and Cablevision used every appeal available to keep the HD channels from being carried by both distributors; however on December 14, 2011, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Cablevision/MSG Holdings' petition for review. Verizon FiOS began carrying MSG HD and MSG+ HD on its New York City area systems the next day, and AT&T U-Verse began carrying the HD feeds on its Connecticut systems later that month.[47]
On March 24, 2010, MSG Network launched a3D feed,MSG 3D, available only to Cablevision subscribers in the New York City area on channel 1300; its inaugural broadcast was a game between the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders. This was a one time broadcast and MSG elected not to produce any more telecasts. Channel 1300 was eventually deleted from the system.
In 2014, MSG Network launched aTV Everywhere service known asMSG Go, initially available for subscribers on Optimum.[48]
On March 1, 2023, MSG Network announced its direct-to-consumer streaming serviceMSG+. The service will include live streams of MSG and MSG SportsNet and live streams of all MSG-produced Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres games as well as other live sports, events and programming depending on users area. The service will cost $29.99 a month or $309.99 a year. There is an option to purchase single games for $9.99 each. MSG+ is also available for free to subscribers of participating pay television service providers of MSG Networks, replacing MSG Go.[49]
On August 28, 2024, Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment—a joint venture formed by MSG Networks andYES Network—announced that they would merge their networks' direct-to-consumer services under a new joint streaming platform known as The Gotham Sports App, ahead of the 2024–25 NBA and NHL seasons. As before, MSG+ will be available on the service for free to subscribers of participating pay television service providers, while customers will be able to purchase subscriptions to both networks individually or as a bundle.[50][51]
MSG Sports Zone is a free ad-supported streaming TV channel featuring original MSG studio programming. It is currently available onVizio andPlex.[52]
The radio division of MSG, known as theMadison Square Garden (MSG) Radio Network, produces Knicks, Rangers and Red Bulls broadcasts for New York CityESPN Radio stationWHSQ (880 AM) and other radio stations across the region. Prior to the fall of 2004, MSG-produced Knicks, Rangers and MetroStars games aired on WFAN. The coordinating producer of MSG Radio is Ray Santiago.
MSG Network also presents certain game telecasts with a Spanish-language audio track, accessible through thesecond audio program feature on most television sets, through simulcasts from its radio partners; all Knicks home games and selected away games that are simulcast fromWADO (1280 AM), while a Spanish-language track of Red Bulls and Rangers games are simulcast fromESPN Deportes Radio stationWEPN (1050 AM).
Earlier this year, New York-based MSG Entertainment, which owns the Sphere, split in two, renaming the venue's holding company Sphere Entertainment Company in order to insulate MSG Entertainment's core holdings and protect existing shareholders.
| Preceded by SportsChannel 1981–1988 | Cable Home of the New York Yankees 1989–2001 | Succeeded by YES Network 2002–present |
| Preceded by | Cable Home of the New York Mets 2002–2005 (split withFSN New York) | Succeeded by SNY 2006–present |
