| Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES Network) | |
|---|---|
| Launched | March 19, 2002 |
| Owned by | Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, Goldman Sachs |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Slogan | The Home of Champions |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | NY metro area; nationwide |
| Headquarters | New York City; Stamford, Connecticut |
| Website | YESNetwork.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 631 YES (SD/HD) 633 YES (overflow) SD 633-1 YES (overflow) HD |
| Available on several cable providers | Channel varies by system and market. Check local listings. |
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports (YES) Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002. The channel is available locally in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and parts of Pennsylvania; it is available nationally on DirecTV and in the sports tier of cable systems, and regionally on AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS.
YES is the product of a 1999 merger of the business operations of the Yankees and Nets into a holding company called YankeeNets. One of the reasons that the teams merged was to give them better leverage over their own broadcast rights; each party believed that it would get a better deal individually, if they negotiated the rights collectively. Two years earlier Cablevision, who at the time owned the Nets' broadcast home, SportsChannel New York (later known as Fox Sports Net New York, and now known as MSG Plus), became the sole owner to the television rights of all seven MLB, NBA and NHL teams in the New York market when they acquired the competing MSG Network (previously owned by Gulf+Western, Paramount Communications, and Viacom), which had the Yankees broadcast rights since 1989. This led to monopoly-like tactics, including the shift of some games to the cable-exclusive MSG Metro Channels, which had very limited distribution because Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable routinely fought over carriage deals. Cablevision attempted to buy the Yankees outright, but could not agree to acceptable terms with George Steinbrenner and his partners.
YankeeNets discussed multiple options with potential partners to either stay with Cablevision or start its own network. The ultimate decision was to start its own network, ending the five year monopoly that Cablevision had held on local New York sports. The Yankees' success in the late-1990s was a key factor in the decision, as it had become a much more valuable brand than ever before.
When YES launched, Goldman Sachs owned a minority share of the network. In late 2003, the Yankees and Nets decided to part ways, with the Nets being sold to a group led by real-estate developer Bruce Ratner. This sale did not include the Nets' ownership stake in YES, which remained with the pre-merger owners of the team. As part of the sale, the Nets signed a long term deal to keep the team on YES. In 2004, YankeeNets was renamed Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, which owns the Yankees and YES as separate companies. Therefore, the Yankees technically do not own YES. The Yankees, however, receive a rights fee from YES that is somewhat higher than MSG previously paid. In 2007, the portion of the network owned by Goldman Sachs was put up for sale for estate taxes reasons;[1], however, as of November 2010, it has not been sold.
The YES Network offices are based at the Chrysler Building in Manhattan. YES programming, including Yankees and Nets pre- and post-game shows are produced in studios that are located in Stamford, Connecticut.[2]
YES has also featured original programs, some of which have won local New York Emmys. In addition to live coverage of Yankees and Nets games, and their respective pre- and post-game shows, other original programming on YES includes:
YES also broadcasts Yankees and Nets press conferences live as circumstances warrant.
Since the network's debut, YES has aired select cablecasts of the Yankees' minor league teams, primarily the Class-A (short season) Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League. Those games are produced by YES, with the same graphics and announcers as the big league Yankees.
From 2002 to 2006, YES also showed games of the Yankees' former Class-AAA team, the Columbus Clippers of the International League. Those games were locally produced in Columbus, Ohio. After the 2006 season, the Yankees ended their affiliation with the Clippers, and are now affiliated with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (formerly Red Barons). No SWB Yankee games have aired on YES, although the team has local coverage in its own market.
YES also shows Ivy League college sports, Big 12 conference basketball through ESPN Plus, and rebroadcasts of Notre Dame football games. It also carries coaches' shows for Notre Dame and Penn State.
In 2000, YankeeNets engaged in a marketing agreement with the New York Giants of the National Football League. This resulted in exclusive Giants magazine programming on YES, including Giants Online and Giants on Deck, which remained on the air after the YankeeNets breakup. In 2007, the Giants ended their relationship with YES and moved their programming to the Fox-owned duopoly of WNYW and WWOR-TV (Fox owns broadcast rights to most NFC games; the Giants are a part of the NFC).[3]
YankeeNets also had a similar relationship with English football club Manchester United. YES broadcast tape-delayed and classic United games produced by the team's MUTV in the network's earlier days.
In addition to the cablecasts, the YES Network also produces the over-the-air broadcasts of Yankees games on WWOR-TV, using the same on-air talent. From 2002 to 2004, WCBS-TV carried the Yankees broadcasts while WLNY carried the Nets. The Yankees package is also simulcast on stations elsewhere within the team's designated market. YES also offers a Spanish-language audio feed of all Yankees games through SAP; this feed can also be heard on New York radio station WNSW, which holds the Yankees' Spanish-language rights.
YES attempted to secure TV rights to the New Jersey Devils, formerly owned by an affiliate of YankeeNets, but with the team sold to a different ownership group, it opted to renew its contract with MSG Network and FSN New York in 2005 on a long-term basis.
YES broadcasts NBA TV's daily news and fantasy basketball shows (usually a rebroadcast, but occasionally live in the early AM drive hours) and The Marv Albert Show. YES and NBA TV also aired reruns of the 1978-1981 CBS drama series The White Shadow for a couple of years.
YES airs This Week in Baseball during the week, following each episode's premiere on Fox on Saturdays throughout the MLB regular season.
As part of a multi-year agreement with MP & Silva, YES now broadcasts Arsenal F.C.'s Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League matches on a tape delay. In addition to airing Arsenal matches, they air select classic matches, as well as their magazine shows, Arsenal World and Arsenal 360.
Since the launch of YES in 2002, the voice of longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard has been featured in station IDs and upcoming schedules. Marv Albert's voice is sometimes used instead.
A dispute over being carried by Cablevision, who attempted to purchase the Yankees in 1998 and carried the team's games on MSG Network, at the time of the channel's launch led to a year without Yankee games for all Cablevision subscribers until New York State's government stepped in and negotiated a temporary deal. The two sides eventually signed a long-term carriage contract in 2004. When MSG first signed its TV deal with the Yankees, Cablevision (which owned SportsChannel New York) and MSG also had a lengthy carriage dispute.
Dish Network remains the only cable or satellite provider in the New York City area not to carry YES, and has indicated that it will not offer YES unless YES asks for a lower subscription fee.[4] YES, however, has a most favored nation clause with all of its cable and satellite operators. If YES lowered its price for one operator, it would void all other contracts. YES minority owner Goldman Sachs also has an ownership stake in Dish Network parent Echostar.
In 2003, now-former Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer said some negative things in the media about owner George Steinbrenner. In response, Steinbrenner is rumored to have ordered YES not to show Zimmer on camera during its Yankee cablecasts.
In April 2005, YES declined to broadcast pre-game Opening Day festivities celebrating the Boston Red Sox' 2004 World Championship prior to a Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Instead, a fixed camera shot was focused tightly on correspondent Kimberly Jones as she described in general terms the events surrounding her; afterwards, YES was roundly criticized for the move. Yankees players not only witnessed the ceremonies, but graciously applauded them from the top steps of their dugout.[5]
During the 2005 season, local New York newspapers reported that the post-game questions asked to Yankees manager Joe Torre by Jones were being sent to her by top-level team executives (quite possibly on directives from Steinbrenner), and that Torre did not feel comfortable answering them. For the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Torre, who had been paid a fee by YES to give exclusive interviews after each Yankees game, ended the agreement. YES now sends its reporter to the regular pre- and post-game media sessions with other broadcast outlets.
In March 2008, Time Warner Cable moved YES from its channel 30 position in the New York metro area to channel 53 soon after the Yankees received city public funding for a new stadium. Simultaneously, Time Warner Cable moved Bloomberg TV to the channel 30 position, all while renegotiating its 10-year contract with Mayor Bloomberg and the city of New York.[6]
In September 2005, YES introduced a 1080i high definition version of the network, now available through Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cablevision, DirecTV, RCN and Verizon FiOS, among other providers. On April 1, 2007, YES Network launched a full-time high definition simulcast of the channel. All Yankees and Nets games, in addition to studio shows, are now broadcast in HD. Since September 2006, YES has produced Yankees and Nets games in HD for WWOR, but not necessarily for TV stations simulcasting the WWOR games in other markets.
YES Network is borrowing time on Cablevision's "iO TV 1300" to carry the first baseball game transmitted in 3D television on July 10, 2010, when the Yankees face the Seattle Mariners. The 3D telecast of the game will also be distributed to other cable providers.
YES has a national feed of the network. This feed does not feature live games, but does include both the pre and post game shows. Alternate programming is shown during games. Verizon FiOS (regionally) and Bright House Networks[7] (Tampa Bay and Orlando systems) are currently two of the cable providers that carry YES outside of the New York DMA. This feed is different than that of the satellite feed available on DirecTV in which Yankees and/or Nets games can be viewed outside of the teams' markets with a subscription to MLB Extra Innings and / or NBA League Pass.
The official website of the network is located at http://yesnetwork.com. When the network launched in 2002, this domain was registered by a seminar training company called the "Yes! Network." YES temporarily used the domain yesnetworktv.com[8], before making a deal with the Yes! Network, who moved to the new domain http://yesmidwest.com.
Early in the 2006 season, website design and maintenance of yesnetwork.com was taken over by MLB's digital arm, MLBAM, which operates websites from other team-owned regional sports networks including the Mets' SportsNet New York, and formerly the Cleveland Indians' SportsTime Ohio. As a result, YES is able to show a limited amount of game highlights on its website, in addition to post-game interviews.
| Preceded by MSG Network 1989–2001 |
Over-the-air (cable) Home of the New York Yankees 2002–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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