American Sports Network
 | |
| Type | Ad hoc television network/syndication service |
|---|---|
| Availability |
Regional (available on television stations in several markets, as well as select regional sports networks) |
| Founded | July 17, 2014 |
| Headquarters | Hunt Valley, Maryland |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group |
Key people |
Doron Gorshein (COO, Sinclair Networks) |
Launch date | August 30, 2014 |
| Affiliates | List of affiliates |
Official website |
americansportsnet |
The American Sports Network (ASN) is an American ad hoc sports television network that is operated by the Sinclair Networks division of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. ASN produces telecasts of college sports from several NCAA Division I conferences (including live football and basketball games from the Atlantic 10 Conference, Big South Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Conference USA, Horizon League, Ivy League, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference and Western Athletic Conference) as well as a limited number of professional sports events.
ASN is affiliated primarily with CW and MyNetworkTV stations owned and/or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group (or, in some markets, on a digital subchannel of a Sinclair station), but is syndicated to television stations owned by other broadcasting companies as well as a small number of regional sports networks.
History
Sinclair Broadcast Group formally announced the launch of the American Sports Network on July 17, 2014; the service is led by Doron Gorshein, who joined the company in January 2014 in the role of chief operating officer of Sinclair Networks. ASN carries live broadcasts of mainly collegiate sporting events, along with ancillary programming focusing on colleges, their students and student-athletes. ASN's content would air primarily on Sinclair-owned-or-operated affiliates of The CW and MyNetworkTV or on secondary digital subchannels of other stations run by the company (some of which had carried content from competing syndicated sports distributors ESPN Regional Television and Raycom Sports until ASN's launch), the latter especially the case for its stations that have primary affiliations with one of the Big Four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) which would not pre-empt the higher-tier sports coverage provided by their network partners. Sinclair opened ASN up for distribution by other broadcast outlets interested in carrying the service's content, and announced plans to expand ASN onto digital platforms.[1][2][3]
ASN planned to initially broadcast college football, men's and women's college basketball, women's college soccer, and college baseball events, beginning with the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS and FCS football seasons. Prior to the service's formal launch, Sinclair reached broadcast rights agreements with five NCAA Division I conferences, including Conference USA,[4] the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South Conference, Southern Conference,[5] and the Patriot League.[6]
ASN's first broadcasts took place on August 30, 2014, featuring two football games involving Conference USA teams (Old Dominion University vs. Hampton University and Florida International University hosting Bethune-Cookman University).[7]
In September 2014, Sinclair reached a two-year deal with the International Motor Sports Association to syndicate broadcasts of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series through ASN beginning that year, with a renewal option that could be exercised in 2016. Its first race broadcast on September 13, 2014 was shown on Sinclair stations in at least 36 markets, marking the first non-college sporting event to be syndicated by ASN.[8]
On September 29, 2014, Sinclair announced a multi-year deal with the Western Athletic Conference to broadcast its games through ASN – marking the sixth conference to partner with the service. Sinclair also announced that it had reached syndication deals with stations in 67 markets where the company does not have a station in its portfolio to carry ASN's programming, expanding its total potential audience to 83 million viewers.[9][10]
On October 16, 2014, Jonathan B. LeCrone announced the Horizon League had entered into a deal with the American Sports Network to broadcast select games; subsequently on November 10, ASN entered into a broadcast contract with the Ohio Valley Conference.[11]
On December 2, 2014, ASN entered into the collegiate hockey field through an agreement that gave it the rights to air six Penn State Nittany Lions home games.[12] ASN later added two other men's ice hockey contests from the Big Ten Conference, featuring the Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes.[13]
On January 23, 2015, Sinclair announced that it had acquired regional television rights to Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer beginning in the 2015 season, with ASN handling production of the telecasts. KMYU and KUTV will air the games locally, and they will be syndicated to Sinclair stations in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada as well as in Boise, Idaho. Stations in Arizona and New Mexico would also be able to bid for the local rights to telecast the matches in their markets.[14]
Programming
- C-USA Showcase[15]
- Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge[8]
- Real Salt Lake soccer[14]
NCAA sports
During the 2014-15 season, ASN televised live events from the following NCAA Division I conferences:
On-air staff
Current on-air staff
- Mike Gleason – play-by-play announcer
- Jim Donnan – color commentator[19]
List of affiliates
Broadcast affiliates
| City of license/market | Station[19] | Virtual channel |
Owner | Primary affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | WABM | 68.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Huntsville–Decatur | WZDX | 54.2 | Nexstar Broadcasting Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Montgomery–Selma | WBMM | 22.1 | Bahakel Communications | The CW |
| Little Rock–Pine Bluff | KATV | 7.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Retro Television Network |
| Bakersfield | KBFX-CD | 29.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | This TV |
| Visalia (Fresno) | KFRE-TV | 59.1 | The CW | |
| Colorado Springs–Pueblo | KXTU-LD | 20.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | The CW |
| Hartford–New Haven | WCTX | 59.1 | Media General | MyNetworkTV |
| Washington | WJLA-TV | 7.2/7.3 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Me-TV (on 7.2) Live Well Network (on 7.3) |
| Fort Walton Beach (Mobile, AL–Pensacola) | WFGX | 35.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV/This TV |
| Tampa–St. Petersburg–Sarasota | WTTA | 38.1 | MyNetworkTV | |
| West Palm Beach–Fort Pierce | WTCN-CA | 34.3 | ||
| Albany | WFXL | 31.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Bounce TV |
| Atlanta | WATL | 36.1 | Gannett Company | MyNetworkTV |
| Sioux City | KPTH | 44.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV/This TV |
| Springfield–Decatur–Champaign | WBUI | 23.1 | GOCOM Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW |
| Indianapolis | WRTV | 6.2 | E. W. Scripps Company | Hometown Sports Indiana |
| Wichita–Hutchinson | KMTW | 36.1 | Mercury Broadcasting Company (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | MyNetworkTV |
| Bowling Green | WKYU-TV | 24.1[20] | Western Kentucky University | PBS |
| Paducah–Cape Girardeau, MO | WDKA | 36.1 | WDKA Acquisition Corporation (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | MyNetworkTV |
| Lexington | WDKY-TV | 56.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | GetTV |
| Shreveport-Texarkana, AR | KPXJ | 21.1 | KTBS, LLC (Wray family) | The CW |
| Baltimore | WUTB | 24.1 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | MyNetworkTV |
| Flint–Saginaw–Bay City | WBSF | 46.1/25.2 | Cunningham Broadcasting (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW |
| Grand Rapids–Kalamazoo–Battle Creek | WWMT | 3.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul | WUCW | 23.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | The CW |
| St. Louis | KDNL-TV | 30.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | GetTV |
| Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point | WMYV | 48.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville | WRDC | 28.1 | ||
| Omaha | KXVO | 15.1 | Mitts Telecasting Company (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW |
| Las Vegas | KVMY | 21.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Reno | KAME-TV | 21.1 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | |
| Albany–Schenectady–Troy | WCWN | 45.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | The CW |
| Buffalo | WNYO-TV | 49.1 | MyNetworkTV | |
| New York City | WDVB-CD | 23.2 | LocusPoint Networks | independent |
| Rochester | WHAM-TV | 13.2 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW |
| Syracuse | WSTQ-LP | 3.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | |
| Cincinnati | WSTR-TV | 64.1 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | MyNetworkTV |
| Columbus | WSYX | 6.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV/This TV |
| Dayton | WRGT-TV | 45.2 | Cunningham Broadcasting (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | |
| Toledo | WNWO-TV | 24.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Retro Television Network |
| Oklahoma City | KOCB | 34.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | The CW |
| Tulsa | KTUL | 8.2 | local weather programming | |
| Portland | KATU | 2.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Me-TV |
| Harrisburg–Lancaster- Lebanon–York | WHP-TV | 21.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Pittsburgh | WPMY | 22.1 | ||
| Charleston | WCIV | 36.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | |
| Columbia | WACH | 57.2 | GetTV | |
| Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville, NC | WMYA-TV | 40.1 | Cunningham Broadcasting (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | MyNetworkTV |
| Chattanooga | WTVC | 9.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | ABC |
| Jackson | WNBJ-LD | 39.1[21] | Jackson TV, LLC | NBC |
| Knoxville | WATE-TV | 6.2 [21] | Media General | Live Well Network |
| Nashville | WUXP-TV | 30.1 (primary) 30.2 (alternate) | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV (main) GetTV (DT2) |
| WNAB (alternate affiliate) | 58.1[21] | Tennessee Broadcasting (operated under local marketing agreement by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW | |
| Amarillo | KVII-TV | 7.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | The CW (via The CW Plus)[22] |
| Beaumont–Port Arthur | KBTV-TV | 4.2 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | Bounce TV |
| Corpus Christi | KRIS-TV | 6.x | Cordillera Communications[22] | |
| El Paso–Las Cruces, NM | KDBC-TV | 4.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | This TV[23] |
| KFOX-TV | 14.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | RTV | |
| KVIA-TV | 7.2 | News-Press & Gazette Company[22] | The CW | |
| San Antonio | KMYS | 35.1 | Deerfield Media (operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group) | The CW |
| Tyler–Longview | KLPN-LD/KTPN-LD | 48.1/22.1 | White Knight Broadcasting (operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group)[22] | MyNetworkTV |
| Salt Lake City | KMYU | 2.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV/This TV |
| Norfolk–Virginia Beach–Newport News | WTVZ-TV | 33.1 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | MyNetworkTV |
| Richmond–Petersburg | WRLH-TV | 35.2 | ||
| Roanoke–Lynchburg | WSET-TV | 13.2 | Retro Television Network | |
| Seattle–Tacoma | KOMO-TV | 4.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | This TV |
| Wheeling–Steubenville, OH | WTOV-TV | 9.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | Fox |
| Madison | WMSN-DT2 | 47.2 | Sinclair Broadcast Group | GetTV[24] |
| Milwaukee | WCGV-TV | 24.1/24.2 | MyNetworkTV (on 24.1) ZUUS Country (on 24.2) | |
| Suring–Green Bay | WCWF | 14.1 | The CW[24] | |
| Clarksburg–Weston | WDTV | 5.1 | Withers Broadcasting Companies | CBS |
Regional sports networks
See also
References
- ↑ Ryan Sharrow (July 17, 2014). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to launch American Sports Network". Baltimore Business Journal (Baltimore, MD: American City Business Journals). Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ Deborah McAdams (July 17, 2014). "Sinclair Launches Sports Network". TV Technology. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Sinclair Broadcast Group To Launch The American Sports Network; Enters Into Sports Rights And Content Development Agreements With Leading NCAA Conferences". KWTV-DT (Oklahoma City). July 17, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ Tom Fornelli (July 17, 2014). "Conference USA announces new television agreement". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ Michael Malone (July 17, 2014). "Sinclair Launches American Sports Network". Broadcasting and Cable (NewBay Media, LLC). Retrieved July 24, 2014.
- ↑ Jeff Schuler (July 17, 2014). "Patriot League enters into TV agreement with new American Sports Network". The Morning Call. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ↑ Kevin Kelley (July 17, 2014). "American Sports Network to Televise 30 C-USA Football Games". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "IMSA Secures TV Deal for Porsche GT3 Cup". National Speed Sport News (Turn 3 Media LLC). September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
- ↑ Rick Seltzer (September 29, 2014). "Sinclair reaches deals to expand its new American Sports Network". Baltimore Business Journal (Baltimore, MD: American City Business Journals). Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ↑ "Sinclair Expands ASN Syndication". TVNewsCheck. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ↑ "Sinclair Broadcast Group's (SBGI) CEO David Smith on Q3 2014 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". TVNewsCheck. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ↑ "CW 15 to broadcast Penn State hockey beginning December 6". WHP-TV. December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
- ↑ "Additional television broadcast added for weekend series". Wisconsin Badgers hockey. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "KMYU/KUTV: The New Home Of Real Salt Lake; All 26 non-National MLS Regular Season Games Available on Free, Over-the-Air TV". Real Salt Lake. January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Eleven USM football games to be televised in 2014". The Clarion-Ledger (Gannett Company). July 17, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
- ↑ A-10 Reaches Agreement with American Sports Network to Air Women's Basketball Quarterfinals
- ↑ The CAA & CAA Football on Television
- ↑ 2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Television Package Features 12 Men's Games, 3 Women's Games
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Harry Minium (August 27, 2014). "ODU's opener with Hampton to be televised in 66 markets". HamptonRoads.com (The Virginian-Pilot). Retrieved September 8, 2014.
- ↑ Zach Greenwell (October 21, 2014). "HILLTOPPER FOCUS: WKU adds five TV games through American Sports Network". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Borthick, Will (October 1, 2014). "UPDATE: MTSU, Southern Miss will be on local TV". Daily News Journal (Murfreeboro, TN: Gannett). Retrieved November 25, 2014.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 "Owls Set for ASN Debut on Saturday". Rice Owls.com (CBSi Advance Media). October 2, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ↑ Kaplowitz, Steve (July 18, 2014). "UTEP Gets More TV Exposure With New American Sports Network Read More: UTEP Gets More TV Exposure With New American Sports Network". KROD 600 ESPN El Paso (Town Square Media). Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Horizon League Announces Television Partnership with American Sports Network" (Press release). Horizon League. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
External links
- Official website
- CAA Football TV Schedule Released
- C-USA and Sinclair Broadcast Group Reach Multi-Year Content Agreement - includes 2014 Conference USA Football on American Sports Network
- Southern Conference Releases Football Broadcast Schedule
- Big South Conference Announces 2014 TV Schedule on ASN
- American Sports Network to Broadcast Four Patriot League Games in the Fall
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