 | |
| Type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Southern California Central California Las Vegas Valley Hawaii Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Headquarters | El Segundo,California |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Spanish(viaSAP) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Charter Communications (50%) Los Angeles Lakers (50%) |
| Sister channels | SportsNet LA |
| History | |
| Launched | October 1, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-01) |
| Former names | Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes (2012–2016) Spectrum Deportes (2016–2018) |
| Links | |
| Website | Spectrum SportsNet.com |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| DirecTV Stream | Internet Protocol television |
Spectrum SportsNet, formerlyTime Warner Cable SportsNet (abbreviated asTWC SportsNet), is an Americanregional sportscable andsatellitetelevision network owned byCharter Communications through its acquisition ofTime Warner Cable in May 2016, with theLos Angeles Lakers maintaining editorial control over the content, including team-assigned reporters and anchors, as well as team-related programming.[1] The network is based near the Lakers' team headquarters in the Los Angeles suburb ofEl Segundo,California.
Spectrum SportsNet[2] launched at 7:00 p.m.Pacific Time on October 1, 2012.[3] Spectrum SportsNet serves theLos Angeles andSan Diego metropolitan areas, thePalm Springs Area, theCentral Coast of California,Las Vegas andHawaii.
Lakers game broadcasts serve as the centerpiece for the network. Spectrum SportsNet has been the exclusive home of all Lakers games that are not televised nationally since the2012–13 NBA season. Other sports events aired on the network includeLos Angeles Galaxy soccer andLos Angeles Sparks basketball games.
Spectrum Deportes (formerlyTime Warner Cable Deportes, abbreviated asTWC Deportes), which was the first Spanish-language regional sports network in the U.S. at launch, was shut down on August 15, 2018, citing a lack of viewership.[4]
Game broadcasts are carried inhigh definition in English. ASpanish-language audio track is provided for all Lakers and Galaxy games via thesecond audio program function available on most television sets and cable receiver boxes. AKorean-language audio track has been provided via the second audio program from 2012 to 2018; as a result, Spectrum SportsNet was the first English-language television network to offer Asian-language play-by-play audio of sporting events.[5]
On April 1, 2020, it was announced that along with its sister station (SportsNet LA), Spectrum SportsNet would be added toAT&T's streaming platforms (AT&T TV and AT&T TV NOW) joiningDirecTV andAT&T U-verse which already carried the channel. The channel was officially added to customers with the CHOICE package or higher on the morning of April 8, 2020.
On February 14, 2011, the Lakers and Time Warner Cable signed a$3 billion, 20-year cable television agreement which took effect in the fall of 2012.[6] The network televises every Lakers game not designated for an exclusive broadcast by eitherABC,ESPN,NBC, or for streaming onAmazon Prime Video. The new venture ended long-standing broadcast partnerships withKCAL-TV (channel 9), which (dating back to its days as KHJ-TV) had televised the Lakers' road games since the1977–78 season; and with Fox Sports West (nowBally Sports West), which in all of its incarnations had broadcast the team's home games since the1985–86 season. The Lakers joined a growing list of NBA franchises that have abandoned over-the-air local telecasts in favor of their games being available exclusively on cable and satellite. Besides live games, the network also feature a team news magazine program, classic games, profiles of Laker players past and present, and exclusivevideo-on-demand content that is available both online and on television.[7]
As part of the agreement with Time Warner, the team stated that it would work with the cable provider to ensure that other providers within the Lakers' designated broadcast territory (parts of Southern California, including theSan Diego,Palm Springs andSanta Barbara markets, as well as Southern Nevada and Hawaii) would have access to the network. As of 2012, the only television providers that does not carry the channel are satellite providerDish, cable companyComcast serving NorthernSanta Barbara County, and IPTV's CenturyLinkPrism TV servingLas Vegas Valley.Frontier FiOS carried the channel until 2019. Time Warner offers the channel for $3.95 a subscriber, comparable to otherregional sports networks, but other providers were concerned that this cost could increase substantially should theLos Angeles Dodgers begin carrying their games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet;[8] while Time Warner Cable did later reach a 25-year agreement with the Dodgers, the provider created a separate channel,SportsNet LA, to carry that team's games and other Dodgers-related programming.
On November 18, 2011, Time Warner Cable Sports announced a broadcast rights agreement with theMLS'sLos Angeles Galaxy[9] a ten-year deal starting with the 2013 season in which the team will be paid $55 million during the contractual period. The network will televise all Galaxy matches that are not televised on a national network, and will also broadcast matches involving non-MLS opponents. Similar to the agreement with the Lakers, the Galaxy also has supplementary programming featured on the networks, including a weekly team magazine and possible classic matches.
Prior to the network launch,Anaheim-basedindependent stationKDOC-TV (channel 56) televised 18 Galaxy matches for the2012 MLS season, with production handled by Time Warner Cable SportsNet.[10] The new network then televised the remainder of the Galaxy's schedule beginning in October 2012. (KDOC also televised select matches featuring the Galaxy's former stadium-mate and crosstown rival,Chivas USA, until that team was folded after the 2014 season.) Much like the Lakers, the Galaxy formerly maintained a long-standing broadcast agreement with Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket.
On March 14, 2012, it was announced that the channel had signed a multi-year deal with theWNBA'sLos Angeles Sparks franchise.[11] Although the deal was reported as being non-exclusive, all of the televised games during the 2013 season aired on TWC SportsNet, except for those that were nationally broadcast onABC,ESPN orESPN2 (as with the Galaxy, KDOC aired the 2012 schedule in preparation for the launch of the new channels).
Since the2018 WNBA season, because theLas Vegas Aces hold territorial rights for all ofSouthern Nevada, Los Angeles Sparks games areblacked out in theLas Vegas Valley on Spectrum SportsNet regardless of the cable or satellite provider, requiring a subscription to the WNBA League Passout-of-market sports package to view those telecasts. All other sports programming, with the exception of Sparks basketball games carried on Spectrum SportsNet, is available in Southern Nevada.
On January 23, 2013, Time Warner Cable and theLos Angeles Dodgers reached a deal to create a new channel calledSportsNet LA, which would become the exclusive local carrier of theMajor League Baseball franchise's games starting with the2014 season. Time Warner Cable outbid Fox Sports Net for the contract, which runs for 25 years through 2039 and is estimated to be worth $8.35 billion. At the time of the announcement, the team was supposed to be considering offering a package of games to be aired overFox Television Stations' two Los Angeles outlets,Foxowned-and-operated stationKTTV (channel 11) andMyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stationKCOP-TV.[12][13]
Because theSan Diego Padres hold territorial rights for all of San Diego County,Los Angeles Dodgers games areblacked out in the county on Spectrum SportsNet LA regardless of the cable or satellite provider, requiring a subscription to theMLB Extra Inningsout-of-market sports package to view those telecasts. All other sports programming, with the exception of Dodgers baseball games carried on Spectrum SportsNet LA, is available in San Diego County.
On August 2, 2018, Spectrum SportsNet announced a content and programming partnership agreement with theNFL'sLos Angeles Chargers to deliver a new documentary series,Backstage: Chargers. A bi-weekly all-access half-hour series chronicling the LA Chargers games, players and executives from a behind-the-scenes perspective during the team's season. Bi-weekly episodes will also re-air on the Chargers local TV partner,KCBS-TV (CBS 2) and onFacebook Watch.[14]
Since the2020 NFL season, because theLas Vegas Raiders hold territorial rights for all of Southern Nevada, Los Angeles Chargers’ programming and preseason games are blacked out in the Las Vegas Valley on Spectrum SportsNet regardless of the cable or satellite provider. All other sports programming, with the exception of Chargers football games carried on Spectrum SportsNet, is available in Southern Nevada.
Spectrum SportsNet also airs live broadcasts of the football and boys' basketball championship games of theCalifornia Interscholastic Federation andLos Angeles City Section, the CIF state championship games in boys' and girls' basketball, and the regional and state bowl games in football. It also carries select games of the Lakers-ownedNBA G League team, theSouth Bay Lakers. Spectrum Deportes also aired Pro Footvolley Tour.
For the 2012–13 athletic season, Spectrum SportsNet aired select football and men's basketball games from theMountain West Conference that were not televised on a national basis; one or both of the teams playing in nearly all of the telecasts that the network aired that season involved theSan Diego State (SDSU) Aztecs and theUniversity of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels, both universities are in the network's primary service area. It lost the rights to Mountain West games beginning with the 2013–14 season due to new broadcast agreements signed by the conference; some SDSU games that are not nationally televised are now carried onFox Sports San Diego, while some UNLV games are seen onAT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Since the 2012–13 athletic season, Spectrum SportsNet aired select men's basketball games from theWest Coast Conference that were not televised on a national basis. Three universities (Loyola Marymount Lions,Pepperdine Waves andSan Diego Toreros) are in the network's primary service area.
Spectrum SportsNet has also aired theNBC programPoker After Dark and someaction sports events, while airs a weeklylucha libre card taped inMexico City. For the 2014MLS season, Spectrum Deportes agreed to carryChivas USA matches in Spanish that are not televised on a national network in their final season before the team disbands.[15]
on July 30, 2025, Spectrum SportsNet signed a new TV broadcasting contract with theCIF Southern Section to televise Friday night high school football games presented by the Southern California Ford Dealers. The contract is for three seasons, and it will include the Division 1 playoff and championship games along with the Southern California regional and state championship games.
In addition to live coverage of Lakers, Galaxy, and Sparks games, and their respective pre- and post-game shows, other original programming on Spectrum SportsNet includes:
On October 27, 2023, Spectrum Sportsnet launchedSpectrum SportsNet+. Thedirect-to-consumer streaming service provides a live stream of Spectrum SportsNet, including live Lakers games, for $19.99 per month or $179.99 per season, throughout Southern California, Hawaii and Southern Nevada.[18]
| |
| Franchise | |
| Stadiums | |
| Culture | |
| Lore | |
| Rivalries | |
| Wild card berths (5) | |
| Division championships (15) | |
| Conference championships (1) | |
| League championships (1) | |
| Media | |
| Current league affiliations |
|
| Former league affiliation |
|
