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Space City Home Network
The Space City Home Network is an American regional sports network owned jointly by the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the network broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout Southeast Texas, mainly focusing on professional sports teams based in Greater Houston, namely the Astros and Rockets, as well as local college teams.
The channel went on the air in 2012 as Comcast SportsNet Houston under the ownership of Houston Regional Sports Network L.P., a joint venture with Comcast, DirecTV & AT&T along with the Astros and Rockets, after the closure of Fox Sports Houston. Following the bankruptcy of Comcast SportsNet Houston in 2013, DirecTV and AT&T acquired the network in 2014 and relaunched under the Root Sports brand as Root Sports Southwest; but after DirecTV was acquired by AT&T, the channel is rebranded yet again to AT&T Sportsnet Southwest in 2017. In 2023, when Warner Bros. Discovery, the former WarnerMedia that AT&T acquired and divested, announced it would exit the regional sports network business, by selling or closing its AT&T SportsNet networks, the Astros and Rockets announced it would reacquire the channel which was rebranded to the Space City Home Network in October 2023.
As of 2024, the Space City Home Network is available on cable providers throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, parts of Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico, and nationwide on satellite via DirecTV. The feed for Astros games is also carried on the MLB.TV streaming service.
The idea for a team-owned regional sports network in Houston was proposed in 1999, when George Postolos, then the president of the Houston Rockets, floated the idea to Fox, which passed on the offer. Four years later, in 2003, the Rockets decided to partner with the Houston Astros to launch an RSN. The first order of business was to sever ties with Fox Sports Southwest, which carried games from both teams at the time (first through the main network, and then through a subfeed called Fox Sports Houston for the Houston market launched in April 2005). This led to a protracted court battle between Fox and the two teams that was settled after 20 months, leading to a new broadcast deal with the network valued at $600 million over 10 to 15 years. However, this contract contained a clause allowing the teams to terminate the contract and negotiate with other networks starting in late 2009. Fox Sports then moved the Astros and Rockets telecasts to Fox Sports Houston, which was separated from Fox Sports Southwest into its own network on January 12, 2009.
The Astros/Rockets group held discussions with Comcast, DirecTV and AT&T about partnering to form a new network, all of which failed to garner a deal. The continuation of the Astros and Rockets broadcasts on Fox Sports Houston was on the table as the network offered $1.2 billion over 10 years. However, it was ownership in a regional sports network that the two teams wanted. This led to the teams agreeing to a $1 billion contract with Comcast, which included a 77.307% ownership interest in the network (with Comcast holding the remaining 22.693% interest), through a joint subsidiary, Houston Regional Sports Network L.P. The new network, Comcast SportsNet Houston (which operated as part of the Comcast SportsNet RSN group), launched on October 1, 2012. On October 4, three days after Comcast SportsNet Houston launched, Fox Sports Houston was shut down and its former programming moved back to parent network Fox Sports Southwest.
CSN Houston was available only on Comcast systems in Houston, along with several smaller providers. In total, as CSN Houston, it reached only around 40% of all television households in the Houston market. Upon its launch, ratings for CSN Houston's sports telecasts were competitive based on the total number of households that received the network, but suffered due to its lack of availability within the Houston market. The first 15 games of the Houston Rockets' 2012–13 season had an average audience share of 0.95 (totalling 21,050 households). In comparison, the first 15 games of the Rockets' 2011–12 season when broadcast on Fox Sports Houston had an average audience share of 1.45. Network president Matt Hutchings later explained that "Everybody wants the channel. We want them to have it. We just have to find that right deal."
The lack of availability of Comcast SportsNet Houston on other major television providers serving Greater Houston, such as DirecTV, Dish Network, Suddenlink and U-verse, was controversial. NBCUniversal had demanded subscriber rates as high as $3.40 per month from providers in order to carry the network. In particular, DirecTV CEO Michael White criticized CSN Houston, along with other recently established regional sports networks, for having increasingly high carriage fees that must be passed on to consumers. On April 5, 2013, Houston Mayor Annise Parker invited officials from AT&T, Comcast, DirecTV and Suddenlink to a summit on expanding carriage of the network. In a bid to improve its carriage, CSN Houston offered a 37-day free preview of the network through May 2013 to providers in the network's regional territory, which also included Time Warner Cable and Suddenlink Communications, along with a number of smaller providers. However, only three smaller cable operators opted to carry the network's free preview, and Suddenlink got into further conflicts over the terms regarding the free preview, as the provider refused to offer it carriage outside of Houston proper. In the midst of its eventual bankruptcy, En-Touch, a small provider serving suburbs and outlying cities in the area (such as Cypress, Katy, Missouri City, and Sugar Land), threatened to drop CSN Houston due to its high carriage rates not being justified for the amount of programming being offered, and its overall ratings among the provider's customers.
On September 27, 2013, NBCUniversal announced that affiliates of it and parent company Comcast had filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the network to "resolve structural issues affecting CSN Houston's partnership." The move did not sit well with the Astros, which stated that the filing was made "improperly" to prevent the team from ending its agreement with the network. The Astros also revealed that it did not receive its rights fees from the network's parent company for the final three months of the 2013 season. On February 4, 2014, Judge Marvin Isgur placed Comcast SportsNet Houston under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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Space City Home Network
The Space City Home Network is an American regional sports network owned jointly by the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the network broadcasts regional coverage of sports events throughout Southeast Texas, mainly focusing on professional sports teams based in Greater Houston, namely the Astros and Rockets, as well as local college teams.
The channel went on the air in 2012 as Comcast SportsNet Houston under the ownership of Houston Regional Sports Network L.P., a joint venture with Comcast, DirecTV & AT&T along with the Astros and Rockets, after the closure of Fox Sports Houston. Following the bankruptcy of Comcast SportsNet Houston in 2013, DirecTV and AT&T acquired the network in 2014 and relaunched under the Root Sports brand as Root Sports Southwest; but after DirecTV was acquired by AT&T, the channel is rebranded yet again to AT&T Sportsnet Southwest in 2017. In 2023, when Warner Bros. Discovery, the former WarnerMedia that AT&T acquired and divested, announced it would exit the regional sports network business, by selling or closing its AT&T SportsNet networks, the Astros and Rockets announced it would reacquire the channel which was rebranded to the Space City Home Network in October 2023.
As of 2024, the Space City Home Network is available on cable providers throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, parts of Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico, and nationwide on satellite via DirecTV. The feed for Astros games is also carried on the MLB.TV streaming service.
The idea for a team-owned regional sports network in Houston was proposed in 1999, when George Postolos, then the president of the Houston Rockets, floated the idea to Fox, which passed on the offer. Four years later, in 2003, the Rockets decided to partner with the Houston Astros to launch an RSN. The first order of business was to sever ties with Fox Sports Southwest, which carried games from both teams at the time (first through the main network, and then through a subfeed called Fox Sports Houston for the Houston market launched in April 2005). This led to a protracted court battle between Fox and the two teams that was settled after 20 months, leading to a new broadcast deal with the network valued at $600 million over 10 to 15 years. However, this contract contained a clause allowing the teams to terminate the contract and negotiate with other networks starting in late 2009. Fox Sports then moved the Astros and Rockets telecasts to Fox Sports Houston, which was separated from Fox Sports Southwest into its own network on January 12, 2009.
The Astros/Rockets group held discussions with Comcast, DirecTV and AT&T about partnering to form a new network, all of which failed to garner a deal. The continuation of the Astros and Rockets broadcasts on Fox Sports Houston was on the table as the network offered $1.2 billion over 10 years. However, it was ownership in a regional sports network that the two teams wanted. This led to the teams agreeing to a $1 billion contract with Comcast, which included a 77.307% ownership interest in the network (with Comcast holding the remaining 22.693% interest), through a joint subsidiary, Houston Regional Sports Network L.P. The new network, Comcast SportsNet Houston (which operated as part of the Comcast SportsNet RSN group), launched on October 1, 2012. On October 4, three days after Comcast SportsNet Houston launched, Fox Sports Houston was shut down and its former programming moved back to parent network Fox Sports Southwest.
CSN Houston was available only on Comcast systems in Houston, along with several smaller providers. In total, as CSN Houston, it reached only around 40% of all television households in the Houston market. Upon its launch, ratings for CSN Houston's sports telecasts were competitive based on the total number of households that received the network, but suffered due to its lack of availability within the Houston market. The first 15 games of the Houston Rockets' 2012–13 season had an average audience share of 0.95 (totalling 21,050 households). In comparison, the first 15 games of the Rockets' 2011–12 season when broadcast on Fox Sports Houston had an average audience share of 1.45. Network president Matt Hutchings later explained that "Everybody wants the channel. We want them to have it. We just have to find that right deal."
The lack of availability of Comcast SportsNet Houston on other major television providers serving Greater Houston, such as DirecTV, Dish Network, Suddenlink and U-verse, was controversial. NBCUniversal had demanded subscriber rates as high as $3.40 per month from providers in order to carry the network. In particular, DirecTV CEO Michael White criticized CSN Houston, along with other recently established regional sports networks, for having increasingly high carriage fees that must be passed on to consumers. On April 5, 2013, Houston Mayor Annise Parker invited officials from AT&T, Comcast, DirecTV and Suddenlink to a summit on expanding carriage of the network. In a bid to improve its carriage, CSN Houston offered a 37-day free preview of the network through May 2013 to providers in the network's regional territory, which also included Time Warner Cable and Suddenlink Communications, along with a number of smaller providers. However, only three smaller cable operators opted to carry the network's free preview, and Suddenlink got into further conflicts over the terms regarding the free preview, as the provider refused to offer it carriage outside of Houston proper. In the midst of its eventual bankruptcy, En-Touch, a small provider serving suburbs and outlying cities in the area (such as Cypress, Katy, Missouri City, and Sugar Land), threatened to drop CSN Houston due to its high carriage rates not being justified for the amount of programming being offered, and its overall ratings among the provider's customers.
On September 27, 2013, NBCUniversal announced that affiliates of it and parent company Comcast had filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the network to "resolve structural issues affecting CSN Houston's partnership." The move did not sit well with the Astros, which stated that the filing was made "improperly" to prevent the team from ending its agreement with the network. The Astros also revealed that it did not receive its rights fees from the network's parent company for the final three months of the 2013 season. On February 4, 2014, Judge Marvin Isgur placed Comcast SportsNet Houston under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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