| Time Warner Cable SportsNet Time Warner Cable Sports (Syracuse) |
|
|---|---|
| Launched | 2003 |
| Owned by | Time Warner Cable |
| Country | United States |
| Language | American English |
| Broadcast area | Upstate New York |
| Formerly called | Time Warner Sports (Syracuse) Time Warner SportsNet (Buffalo and Rochester) |
| Replaced | Empire Sports Network |
| Website | Buffalo station Rochester station Syracuse station |
| Availability | |
| Cable | |
| Time Warner Cable Rochester system |
26 |
| Time Warner Cable Binghamton system |
23 |
| Time Warner Cable Syracuse and Buffalo/WNY systems |
13 |
Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Time Warner Cable Sports in Syracuse; TWCS for short) is a network of regional sports cable television stations serving much of the upstate New York area. The stations, which are owned and operated by Time Warner Cable, is aired on cable channels 26 in Rochester, 23 in Binghamton, and 13 in Syracuse and 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. Unlike most regional sports networks, TWCS is not available on satellite television, nor is it available in areas of upstate that are served by companies other than Time Warner (such as Atlantic Broadband in Cattaraugus County).
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The network 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, which became Time Warner Sports. 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 expanded southward into the Binghamton Market.
Also in December 2006, Time Warner SportsNet (TWSN) was established by Time Warner Cable in Rochester by acquiring rights to teams owned by the Rochester Sports Group: namely the Americans (ice hockey), Knighthawks (indoor lacrosse), Rattlers (outdoor lacrosse) and Raging Rhinos (soccer). Some of those teams had previously aired on other Time Warner channels, such as WRWB (the cable-only WB affiliate on channel 16 which has since has been sold to WHAM-TV) and Time Warner's overflow channel, channel 98. In June 2007, Time Warner SportsNet obtained the rights to televise the games of the Rochester Red Wings 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." TWSN hired former Empire host Jim Brinson in the spring of 2008; Brinson returned to Western New York after a stint as the morning co-anchor at KOHD in Bend, Oregon and hosts programs as well as handles play-by-play duties.
In March 2009, after parent company Time Warner spun off Time Warner Cable as a separate company, all three stations were correspondingly re-branded to begin with "Time Warner Cable" instead of just "Time Warner".
Time Warner Cable SportsNet airs a wide variety of local sports programming. To suit local interests, and because of rights issues, some events are carried only on the Buffalo, Rochester and/or Syracuse feeds. Binghamton, Utica, and North Country viewers receive the Syracuse (Central New York) feed.
In addition to local sports (listed below), Time Warner Cable SportsNet is also affiliated with the America One Television Network, which provides coverage of various 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 Cable SportsNet in its broadcast territory, including any that involve Syracuse University. Additionally, Time Warner Cable SportsNet rebroadcasts Syracuse University games televised by other ESPN networks or ABC. SNY (which is part-owned by Time Warner) generally only has rights to the same games in the New York City metropolitan area. However, it may have access to other Big East games to show across the full viewing area, particularly in basketball.
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