Time Warner Sports 26
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| Time Warner Sports 26 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Launched | 2003 |
| Owned by | Time Warner Cable |
| Broadcast area | Central New York State |
| Website | Network site |
| Availability | |
| Cable | |
| Time Warner Cable Syracuse and Rochester systems |
26 |
| Time Warner Cable Binghamton system |
23 |
| Time Warner Cable Buffalo/WNY system |
13 |
Time Warner Sports 26/Time Warner SportsNet is a regional sports cable television station serving much of the upstate New York area. The station, which is owned and operated by Time Warner Cable, is aired on cable channels 26 in Syracuse and Rochester, 23 in Binghamton, and 13 in Buffalo. The network broadcasts a variety of local college and minor league sports broadcasts and is the de facto successor to the Empire Sports Network.
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[edit] History
Time Warner Sports 26 was formed in 2003 as budget cuts at the now-defunct Empire Sports Network, the area's previous regional sports network, forced severe cutbacks in the network's ability to cover sports outside of Buffalo. As a result, Syracuse University dropped Empire and instead signed a contract with Time Warner to carry their games on a separate channel. Time Warner added some other sports events from local college and minor league sports teams to create the channel, which was initially only offered in the Syracuse area.
In December, 2006 Time Warner Sports Syracuse also expanded into the Binghamton Market. At the same time, Time Warner SportsNet (TWSN) was established by Time Warner Cable in Rochester, NY by acquiring rights to Rochester Sports Group teams (Rochester Americans, Rochester Knighthawks, Rochester Rattlers and the Rochester Rhinos). Some of those teams had previously aired on other Time Warner channels, such as WRWB (the cable-only WB affiliate on channel 16, since then the station has been sold to WHAM-TV) and Time Warner's overflow channel, channel 98. In June 2007, Time Warner SportNet obtained the rights to televise the games of the Rochester Red Wings minor league baseball team. Time Warner SportsNet also has obtained the rights to air the Rochester RazorSharks basketball team and the replays of the Rochester Raiders indoor football team. The channel also covers some collegiate sports. Time Warner SportsNet serves the entire Greater Rochester area including the Finger Lakes region of New York, as well as the Genesee County region (Batavia) towards Buffalo.
Time Warner Cable established a Buffalo version of TWSN on November 19, 2007 on channel 13 on Buffalo-area TWC systems, operating out of the former Empire studios on Indian Church Road in West Seneca. The channel replaced former local-interest channel "Time Warner 13," which carried some local sports such as the Bowman Cup (a high school all-star hockey tournament), a few Buffalo Bandits games produced out of market, and some minor-league events, which will likely transition to Time Warner Sports Buffalo. The launch of Time Warner Sports Buffalo would, for the first time, provide a regional sports network to the Buffalo area that was not from New York City since the demise of Empire. Initial programming includes high school and college football, local college basketball, and specialty shows about golf, events of local interest, and pre-empted New York Knicks games. Local broadcasting personalities Brad Riter and Bob Gaughan, formerly of WGR, host a weekly talk show on the channel entitled Buffalo Main Event, while Rob Ray and Matthew Barnaby host an opinion show entitled The Enforcers. Former Empire and current WGR personality Howard Simon hosts a locker-room interview show entitled "Press Pass." and current WGR personality Steve Warzala hosts a weekly interview based sports show entitled "WNY Sportz Blitz." Also unique to the Buffalo service is a carryover from "Time Warner 13," a general interest program entitled All that Matters (formerly Crossroads). TWSN hired former Empire host Jim Brinson in the spring of 2008; Brinson returns to Western New York after a stint as the morning co-anchor at KOHD in Bend, Oregon and will host programs as well as perform play-by-play duties.
[edit] Programming
Time Warner Sports airs a wide variety of local sports programming. To suit local interests, and because of rights issues, some events are carried only in Buffalo, Rochester and/or Central New York. Binghamton, Utica, and North Country viewers receive the Syracuse/Central New York feed.
- Syracuse University football, basketball, and lacrosse, plus coach's show
- International League baseball (Rochester Red Wings baseball in Rochester market, Syracuse Chiefs in Syracuse market, Buffalo Bisons in Buffalo market)
- Rochester RazorSharks basketball (Rochester market only)
- American Hockey League games (Rochester Americans in Rochester and Buffalo markets and Syracuse Crunch in Syracuse market)
- Rochester Rhinos soccer
- Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse
- Rochester Rattlers lacrosse
- Niagara University and Canisius College hockey and basketball (Buffalo market)
- ECAC Hockey, especially involving Colgate University, Union College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in addition to the conference tournament. Most of these are carried across the entire system, and some are produced by sister station TW3 in Albany. In addition to ECAC games, the station carries some games from the Oswego State Lakers.
- Various regional smaller college football (including all Colgate home games), basketball, and lacrosse games. Most of these are carried across the entire system.
- New York Mets (simulcast of games on WPIX, Syracuse market)
- New York Knicks (simulcast of games on MSG, Rochester and Buffalo Markets when the Buffalo Sabres are playing at the same time)
- Notre Dame University (rebroadcast of home games on NBC Sports and coach's show, Rochester market only)
In addition to local sports, Time Warner Sports is also affiliated with the America One Television Network, which provides national minor league sports coverage and other national, international and regional sporting events, notably the Canadian Football League, and ESPNEWS, which is usually carried during the midday period. Paid programming airs on the channel in the overnight hours.
Most first-choice Big East basketball and football games produced by ESPN Plus air exclusively on Time Warner Sports in its broadcast territory, including any that involve Syracuse University. Additionally, Time Warner Sports rebroadcasts Syracuse University games televised by other ESPN networks or ABC. YES, MSG, and SNY (which is part-owned by Time Warner) generally only have rights to the same games in the New York City metropolitan area. However, they may have access to other Big East games to show across the full viewing area, particularly in basketball.
In addition to Big East games, Time Warner Sports and SNY often simulcast ECAC Hockey coverage. When this happens, Time Warner Sports has exclusive local rights to the live broadcast.
[edit] See also
- News 10 Now and R News, sister stations in the Rochester and Central New York markets
- TW3, Albany sister station that shares some programming with the station
[edit] External links
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