| Fox Sports Florida | |
|---|---|
| FSN Florida logo | |
| Launched | July 1, 1987 (as SportsChannel Florida) |
| Network | Fox Sports Net |
| Owned by | News Corp |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | Florida Southwestern Alabama Nationwide via satellite |
| Formerly called | SportsChannel Florida (1987-2000) Fox Sports Net Florida (2000-2004) FSN Florida (2004-2008) |
| Sister channel(s) | Sun Sports |
| Website | foxsportsflorida.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 654 Fox Sports Florida (SD/HD) 655 Fox Sports Florida Plus (SD) 655-1 Fox Sports Florida Plus HD |
| Dish Network | 423 (SD) 373 (HD) |
| Cable | |
| Available on select cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
Fox Sports Florida, (stylized as FS FLORIDA) formerly FSN Florida, Fox Sports Net Florida, and SportsChannel Florida, is a regional sports network that shows local sports coverage in the state of Florida. It is owned by News Corp along with Sun Sports and is a member of Fox Sports Net. It was launched on July 1, 1987 as SportsChannel Florida. It was relaunched as Fox Sports Net Florida on March 1, 2000, making it the last SportsChannel Network to do so.
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The channel has the rights to the Tampa Bay Rays (MLB), Miami Marlins (MLB), Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), Florida Panthers (NHL), Miami Heat and Orlando Magic (NBA) plus local coverage of the following college sports conferences: Big East, Atlantic Sun, Conference USA, and Atlantic Coast. Parts of southern Alabama and Georgia receive the channel, in addition to all of Florida.
The channel was not available to most cable subscribers in the Orlando area due to the regions' largest cable operator, Bright House Networks, refusing to air the channel. The conflict began when the cable outlet was called Cablevision (not affiliated with the modern Cablevision), and continued through acquisition by Time Warner Cable and, later, Bright House. This issue did not change when Sun Sports, which is carried by Bright House Networks, was acquired by Fox Sports. Although the Orlando Magic moved half their schedule from Channel 65 to FS Florida in 2007, this still did not change the situation.
On January 1, 2009, the Bright House Networks affiliate in Orlando finally began airing Fox Sports Florida as part of the regular Digital Cable package on channel 50.
It was also not available to Comcast cable subscribers in the Sarasota and Tallahassee areas until it was added in 2006. While it is available to Jacksonville subscribers, Magic games are not shown on its feed either. Comcast in Lake County also does not carry the channel.
Had FSN's parent company, News Corporation, and Bright House not come to a retransmission agreement on January 1, 2010, both Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports would have been dropped from the Bright House lineup.
Through Sun Sports, South Florida can view Miami Heat basketball, as Central and Northern Florida can view Orlando Magic basketball. Ultimately however, Sun Sports and FS Florida are sister channels, and games can air on either channel depending on who is playing at what time (particularly with the Marlins and Rays, since both teams routinely play at the same time). The two channels do not focus on one region of Florida, but simply distribute games in accordance with each team's territorial rights so that the Lightning, Heat, Marlins, Rays, Magic [1], and Florida Panthers are all cable-exclusive.
For most of its programming - as well as nationally-broadcast sporting events - a small logo bug will appear on the top-right corner of the screen, which reads FSFLORIDA, with the FS part colored in a light blue. For local sporting events, however, the logo changes: during Rays baseball games (and Rays Live), the logo turns to FSRAYS, with the FS taking on a Columbia blue color; for Marlins baseball games (and Marlins Live), the logo is FSMARLINS, with the FS shown in teal; in the case of Magic basketball games (as well as Magic Live), the logo is FSMAGIC with the FS in a medium blue color; for Panthers hockey games (and also Panthers Live), the logo becomes FSPANTHERS, with the FS in red.
Fox Sports Florida HD is a 720p high definition simulcast of Fox Sports Florida. Most games as well as national FSN programs are broadcast in HD.
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