SportSouth

SportSouth is a regional sports network in the United States, with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. SportSouth, formerly Turner South, relaunched on October 13, 2006. The first official event on the channel was a National Hockey League game between the Atlanta Thrashers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

SportSouth reaches about 8.9 million cable and satellite subscribers in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina.

Network histories

• Turner South was launched in 1999 ^[1] by Turner Broadcasting System as the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern U.S. The regional cable TV network offered movies, tv series, sitcoms, regional news updates, and unique original programming, plus professional sports coverage for Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball), Atlanta Hawks (National Basketball Association), and Atlanta Thrashers (National Hockey League), all of which were owned by Turner Broadcasting at network launch. Fox Cable Networks acquired Turner South in May 2006, and renamed the network "SportSouth" in October of the same year.

• The original SportSouth was founded by Turner Broadcasting System in 1990. Programs included Atlanta Braves games, Atlanta Hawks games, World Championship Wrestling events, Charlotte Hornets games, college sports, and some syndicated shows. This original SportSouth was acquired by Fox Cable Networks in 1996 and became what is now Fox Sports South.

Sale

In March 2006, FSN's parent company News Corporation, looking to further expand its roster of sports teams and events, bought the network for $375 million.^[2] After the deal was completed, FSN sought a new name. After about 60 different suggestions, network officials chose SportSouth, the original name of the other Southern US based network owned by News Corp, FSN South.

Current operations

It shares local Braves broadcasting with WPCH-TV, the spun off local broadcast version of TBS, an arrangement which begun in 2008. (Select games of the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals will also be distributed on SportSouth, subject to Major League Baseball territory restrictions.) However, conflicts with NBA and NHL playoff games could see the split between SportSouth and Fox Sports South differ from the planned 80/25 games per network. This ensures that both they and the Nashville Predators have the maximum number of games televised that they wish to offer.

Sportsouth also has acquired the rights to University of Tennessee sporting events as of August 28, 2007, including 12 encore presentations of Tennessee football, four men’s basketball games, four women’s basketball games, six Olympic sporting events, 12 60-minute episodes of The Derek Dooley Show, nine 30-minute episodes of The Pat Summitt Show, and nine 30-minute episodes of The Bruce Pearl Show.

There are two major differences between Fox Sports South and SportSouth:

• SportSouth plans to air only programs of interest to the region, much as Prime Ticket does in Southern California. Jeff Genthner, vice president and general manager of Fox Sports South and SportSouth, cited a program currently in the works on Hawks rookie Shelden Williams' first year in the NBA as one example. Thus, only Fox Sports South will carry national FSN games, such as those from the Big 12 and Pac-10 Conferences. The two channels also try to put virtually all Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference games on one channel or the other, again often targeted to regional vs. national interests.
• SportSouth is blacked out in areas not covered by the ZIP codes in the regional coverage area. For example, viewers of DirecTV's "Sports Pack" in other parts of the United States will not receive the channel. The blackout policy dates back to the days of Turner/Time Warner ownership. However, as of August 2007, it appears the restrictions have been lifted on DirecTV and "Sports Pack" subscribers are now receiving the channel without blackouts (except during major league sporting events).
• Fox Sports South also covers a somewhat wider broadcast area, and offers a variety of different MLB, NBA, and NHL teams, depending on location.

Promotional commercials for SportSouth have included sports figures such as Steve Spurrier, Bob Hartley, Bo Jackson, and Heath Shuler.

Commentators

Atlanta Hawks

• Bob Rathbun: play-by-play
• Dominique Wilkins: analyst
• Jerome Jurenovich: sideline reporter
• Andre Aldridge: Hawks Live host
• Mike Glenn: Hawks Live analyst

Atlanta Braves

• Chip Caray: play-by-play
• Joe Simpson: analyst
• Fred Hickman Braves Live pre and post game host
• Jerome Jurenovich: Braves Live field reporter
• Ron Gant: Braves Live analyst
• Brian Jordan: Braves Live analyst

Charlotte Bobcats

• Steve Martin: play-by-play
• Dell Curry: analyst
• Stephanie Ready: sideline reporter

Memphis Grizzlies

• Pete Pranica: play-by-play
• Sean Tuohy: analyst
• Brevin Knight: analyst
• Rob Fischer: sideline reporter

Atlanta Dream

• Bob Rathbun: play-by-play
• LaChina Robinson: analyst

See also

• Fox Sports Net
• Fox Sports South
• Turner South

References

External links

• Official Site