[Chron] Rockets (and Astros) finalize deal to launch TV network

aeroman10 · Oct 29, 2010

Edit: Ooops. there is already a thread here:
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=194843
..but Rockets are first..then Astros..

Astros, Rockets finalize deal to launch TV network Comcast SportsNet Houston to show games starting in fall of 2012
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/7270086.html

The Astros and Rockets reached an agreement with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, to launch a new Houston regional sports network that will air Rockets games beginning in the fall of 2012 and Astros games beginning in 2013.

The teams will own at least 70 percent of the new network, to be called Comcast SportsNet Houston. It will be one of nine regional networks operated by Comcast, and it continues the growing trend for major league franchises, such as the Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cubs and Giants, to launch their own regional networks in an effort to maximize revenue in a changing TV marketplace.

Neither Comcast nor officials with the teams had immediate comment on the deal. However, the teams on Friday afternoon informed Fox Sports Net of their plans to terminate their deals with the 2011-12 NBA season and 2012 Major League Baseball season.

“Fox Sports Houston is a strong business today and will continue to be a strong business without the Astros and Rockets,” the network said. “We have long-term agreements with local distributors, and we will continue to showcase the best MLB and NBA teams in Texas, as well as Big 12 football and original programming from the Houston Texans, University of Houston, and Rice University.

“We did everything possible to keep the Astros and Rockets, but they have decided to go in a different direction. Despite today’s development, viewers should know Fox Sports Houston still holds both teams’ local TV rights for two additional seasons.”

By going into business with Comcast, which has owned the Houston cable franchise since 2006, the Astros and Rockets will sever longtime ties with Fox Sports Houston, which was founded in January 1983 under the name Home Sports Entertainment as one of the nation’s first regional sports networks.

A Rockets-Celtics game in January 1983 was the inaugural event on HSE, and Astros owner John McMullen kept HSE afloat in its early years before the network went through a variety of owners and names, including Prime Network, before becoming part of the Fox Sports Net system.

Astros games have aired continuously on FS Houston since 1983, and Rockets games have aired on the network each year with the exception of the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons.

The Rockets have been working toward a team-owned RSN since 1999, when George Postolos, who at the time was president of the Rockets, proposed a joint ownership agreement with Fox. Fox declined the offer.

Postolos turned to the Astros in 2000, and the teams agreed in February 2003 to launch their own network and filed suit against Fox Sports Net in an effort to end the Astros’ contract with the network.

Fox and the teams battled in court for 20 months before the Astros and Rockets agreed in November 2004 to abandon their plans for a regional network and signed new contracts with Fox. Those deals were estimated at the time to last from 10 to 15 years with a value of more than $600 million and annual payments of about $50 million.

However, the 2004 contract included language that allowed the teams to negotiate with other network carriers beginning in late 2009. The Astros and Rockets have been in talks for the last year with potential partners, including Fox, DirecTV, AT&T and Comcast, before coming to terms with Comcast, which in 2006 took over the Houston cable system, which has about 750,000 subscribers, from Time Warner.

Comcast has focused on sports rights deals in markets where it is the primary cable carrier, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and northern California, in partnership with professional teams.

While Fox Sports Houston will remain in business in Houston as an outlet for Texas Rangers games, Houston Texans-related programming and Big 12 football and basketball, its days as the primary outlet for pro baseball and basketball in Houston will end just shy of its 30th anniversary on the air.

Comcast will have a built-in audience for Comcast SportsNet Houston with its Houston cable operation but must negotiate carriage deals with other cable companies and satellite distributors.

The potentially contentious nature of those negotiations has been evident lately with the two-week-old dispute between Fox and Dish Network, which prevented about 280,000 Dish subscribers in the Houston area from seeing the Rockets’ opening games, and the stalemate between Fox Television Stations and Cablevision, which has prevented about three million subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania from viewing NFL games and the World Series.

Comcast could face a particularly ticklish situation in negotiating with Time Warner, which owns cable franchises in Waco, Austin, San Antonio and in the Rio Grande Valley. While the NBA prohibits the Rockets from airing games in those areas, all are critical secondary markets for the Astros.

Fox isn’t going away, either. It signed a 20-year, $1.6 billion extension with the Rangers in September and will continue to air the team’s games in Houston once the Astros leave Fox for Comcast in 2013.
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Fullcourt · Oct 29, 2010

Do you Dish subscribers in Houston still not get FSN?

Hippieloser · Oct 29, 2010

How much more profitable is this going to make the Rockets? Cha-ching!

KingStevo10 · Oct 29, 2010

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=194843
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=194844

Posted Twice. Fail.

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[Chron] Rockets (and Astros) finalize deal to launch TV network

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