| Comcast SportsNet Bay Area | |
|---|---|
| CSN Bay Area logo | |
| Launched | 1990 (as SportsChannel Bay Area) |
| Network | Comcast SportsNet |
| Owned by | NBCUniversal (45%) San Francisco Giants (30%) Fox Entertainment Group (25%) |
| Slogan | Authentic Bay Area Sports |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area Northern California Central California Southern Oregon Nevada Nationwide via satelite |
| Formerly called | SportsChannel Bay Area (1990-1991) SportsChannel Pacific (1991-1998) Fox Sports Bay Area (1998-2000) Fox Sports Net Bay Area (2000-2004) FSN Bay Area (2004-2008) |
| Replaced | Pacific Sports Network |
| Sister channel(s) | Comcast SportsNet California KNTV KSTS NBC Sports Network |
| Website | CSN Bay Area |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 696 CSN Bay Area (SD/HD) 697 CSN Bay Area Plus (SD) 697-1 CSN Bay Area Plus (HD) |
| Dish Network | 419 (HD/SD) |
| Cable | |
| Available on select cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSN Bay Area for short) is a regional sports network that serves cable outlets throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as other parts of Northern California, Central California, Southern Oregon, and Nevada.
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Originally launched as SportsChannel Bay Area in April 1990, it merged with the Pacific Sports Network in the July 1991 and became SportsChannel Pacific. When the SportsChannel networks joined the Fox Sports Net family, the channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Bay Area in January 1998, and to FSN Bay Area in 2004. With the network being 45% owned by NBCUniversal, 30% owned by the San Francisco Giants and 25% owned by Fox, the network was rebranded as a part of the Comcast SportsNet family on March 31, 2008.[1]
CSN Bay Area was the first Comcast SportsNet-branded network to use the current logo, which was later adopted by all the other CSN-branded networks on October 1, 2008.
With NBCUniversal also owning NBC O&O KNTV and Telemundo affiliate KSTS, on April 19, 2011, the network announced plans to build an additional set specifically for KNTV sports segments. The revamp will also include in-depth interviews in addition to scores and highlights, and hosted by its sports anchors and analysts.[2] KNTV plans to begin the segments in June 2011.[3] The new segment, along with the unveiling of the new set, began on June 13, 2011.
CSN Bay Area is the main television channel for MLB's San Francisco Giants and the NBA's Golden State Warriors, and also shows select games from MLS's San Jose Earthquakes along with sister-network CSN California. The channel also broadcasts college sports, mainly involving the Stanford Cardinal and the California Golden Bears as well as sports involving the Pacific-10, Western Athletic, Mountain West and West Coast Conferences.
Until 2004, the network also broadcast games involving the NBA's Sacramento Kings and the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs. Following the expiration of their contracts with the then-FSN Bay Area, the owners of the Kings and Monarchs went on to create CSN Bay Area's sister station, Comcast SportsNet West (now Comcast SportsNet California). The network was also home to MLB's Oakland Athletics up to the end of the 2008 baseball season, when they also moved to CSN California; similarly, the network was the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks until the end of the 2008-09 NHL season when they also moved to CSN California. Until the demise of the Arena Football League, the network also occasionally broadcast games featuring the AFL's San Jose Sabercats.
CSN Bay Area carries FSN programming in lieu of an FSN affiliate due to being partially owned by Fox. This offers the regions access to a variety of college sports, notably ACC men's and women's basketball on Sundays, Pac-10 basketball on various nights, plus Big 12 and Pac-10 football on Saturdays during their respective seasons. They also air studio shows, such as The Best Damn Sports Show Period and the FSN Final Score, and simulcasted radio shows such as The Dan Patrick Show. This arrangement is to secure national coverage for its collegiate lineup of games.
Every Thursday night, CSN Bay Area airs an out-of-market National Hockey League game, usually either from Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia or Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.
Beginning with the Comcast SportsNet era, most Giants home games and California road games are preceded and followed by a half an hour plus show previewing and analyzing the day's game respectively. Although the Warriors and Sharks were still playing when CSN launched, their games did not feature pre-game and post-game shows (except a few Sharks playoff games which had pre-game shows, and the Warriors who already had their own pre-game show), but Sharks pre-game and post-games were introduced for their 2008-2009 seasons with former ESPN personality and Stanford grad Scott Reiss. The Warriors do not have a pre-game or post-game show, but Reiss and Matt Steinmetz do a short segment analyzing the Warrior's current game during halftime and after the game. In both cases (Warriors and Sharks), only home games have the feature, and only when a pre-game/post-game show would not conflict with another scheduled game.
On April 6, 2009, CSN Bay Area premiered their news show, Sportsnet Central. The half-hour news show will feature up-to-date scores, highlights and news of all the Bay Area teams (including those on CSN California, like the 49ers, Raiders, Sharks, A's and Kings). Reporters include current CSN Bay Area personalities Scott Reiss, Kate Longworth, Jaymee Sire, and Matt Morrison. The same day, the network also premiered Chronicle Live, hosted by Bay Area sports announcer Greg Papa (Giants pre-game and post-game host, Giants substitute play-by-play announcer and Raiders play-by-play caller), which features analysis and debates on hot topics on Bay Area sports, with the panel consisting of writers and experts mainly (but not exclusive) from the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News.[4]
With the debut of the Sportsnet Central shows, all road games for the Giants and Sharks (when not overlapping another game) now have post and pre-game shows. Also, post-game shows, home or away are usually done from the San Francisco Sportsnet Central studios, with the exception of some home games which are done on-site. Previously, all home games were done on-site and road games did not feature pre or post game except for some Giants games in Southern California.
For the 2009-2010 season, Warriors pre and post-game live shows were added to the schedule.
CSN Bay Area also operates two additional channels for their programming. CSN Bay Area Plus is an overflow channel utilized for scheduling conflicts when more than one team broadcast by the station is playing at the same time.
Comcast SportsNet Bay Area HD is the 1080i high definition simulcast feed of the network. Starting in 2010, all of the Warriors and Giants games, as well as most of the network's original programming, are broadcast in HD.[5]
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