- Comcast SportsNet Northwest
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Comcast SportsNet Northwest 
Launched November 1, 2007 Network Comcast SportsNet Owned by NBCUniversal Country United States Language English Broadcast area Oregon
WashingtonWebsite www.csnnw.com Availability Cable Available on several systems in Oregon and Washington Check local listings Comcast SportsNet Northwest (CSN Northwest) is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams throughout the Northwestern United States, particularly Oregon. CSN Northwest is the newest addition to Comcast SportsNet. It launched on November 1, 2007, at 5 p.m. local time. The Portland Trail Blazers and Oregon Ducks are the main attractions, but the channel will cover other Northwest sports including college and high school sports.[1]
Contents
Programming
Portland Trail Blazers
After the Trail Blazers dismantled their pay-per-view network BlazerVision in 2001, the team's games were shown on FSN Northwest through the 2006–07 season. At the conclusion of the 2006–07 season FSN did not renew their contract with the Blazers, so Comcast SportsNet Northwest stepped in to replace FSN Northwest.
During its launch season, Comcast SportsNet Northwest carried at least 55 regular-season Trail Blazers games. When combined with the Trail Blazers' over-the-air coverage, 81 regular-season Trail Blazers games were on TV, the most in the team's history. The new network aired 28 of the 36 home games in high definition (HD).[2]
During the 2008–09 season, the NBA allowed Comcast SportsNet Northwest to expand their Trail Blazers coverage into the Seattle area. Comcast SportsNet had been prohibited from broadcasting Trail Blazers' games in Seattle during prior seasons due to the presence of the former Seattle SuperSonics who moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
University of Oregon Ducks
The UO Ducks' sports broadcasting network, the Oregon Sports Network (OSN), was looking for more air time and availability. When Comcast SportsNet Northwest launched, Oregon Sports Network negotiated a contract with Comcast SportsNet Northwest to air many of the university's football and basketball games that were not scheduled to be aired nationally or on FSN. In 2008 Comcast SportsNet became the main channel for OSN. Games broadcast by CSN Northwest for OSN are simulcast on KLSR-TV in Eugene.
Other
Other programming includes expanded pre-game and post-game Trail Blazers analysis, selected summer league, pre-season and playoff games, a season preview, and specials focused on the NBA draft, the All-Star Game, and the playoffs. Comcast SportsNet Northwest also covers a variety of other sports relevant to fans in the region and produces a daily morning news show with the latest highlights, updates and stats. The network will provide fans with multimedia sports content online and through video on demand.[3]
Comcast SportsNet Northwest is locally run out of an office in Portland. It also has a studio in the Rose Garden Arena to provide up-to-date coverage of the Blazers.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest carries 25 Vancouver Canucks NHL games per season, using the feed from Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. Using relationships with other Comcast-owned channels, CSN Northwest also broadcasts 35 other games from around the league; However in 2011, Comcast SportsNet Northwest announced that their NHL schedule with feature the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks. Additionally, the channel offers select Portland Winter Hawks home games from the WHL.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest also simulcasts two sports radio shows. Dave "Softy" Mahler from Clear Channel Seattle's Sports Radio 950 KJR (AM) is shown live from 10am-1pm. The FAN, from Portland's KFXX is shown from 3pm-6pm.
During the 2009 Pacific Coast League baseball season, Comcast SportsNet Northwest began carrying selected Tacoma Rainiers games live. Rainiers radio play-by-play man Mike Curto would call the games on radio and the audio would be simulcast on the television broadcast.
Availability
As of September 2010, Comcast Cable (Oregon and Washington), Ashland TV, BendBroadband, Canby Telcom, Country Cablevision, MINET, Monroe Telephone, Reliance Connects, Scio Cablevision, Verizon FiOS (Portland and Seattle), and Wave Broadband are carrying the channel.[4] Canby Telecom has announced plans to discontinue the channel as Comcast has offered a non-negotiable fee increase that will bring the annual per subscriber charge of over $32.[5] Canby Telecom has accused Comcast of raising rates way beyond the rate of inflation and industry-wide increases.[5]
Carriage controversy
As of September 2010, the channel is unavailable on DirecTV, Dish Network and Charter Communications. DirecTV and Dish Network maintain that Comcast is negotiating in bad faith. For example, on one hand Comcast argues that the channel must be on a low tier with the most customers.[6] At the same time, Comcast argues that non-Comcast-owned sports channels should be shown only on a sports tier.[7] The Trail Blazers are said to be frustrated and disappointed by the conduct of Comcast over their contract with CSN.[8]
The Consumer Protection Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives held a hearing on February 24, 2010 to help get the channel on DirecTV, Dish Network and Charter Cable. No one from DirecTV, Dish Network, or the Trail Blazers attended.[9]
On June 21, 2010, the Trail Blazers asked the Federal Communications Commission to require Comcast Corp. to make Trail Blazers games available to competing multichannel programming distributors such as DirecTV and Dish Network.[10]
One Oregon cable company, Canby Telecom, has objected to the additional annual charge in excess of $32 being required to be charged per customer in 2012 and has announced plans to stop carrying the channel.[5] Canby Telcom President Keith Galitz is quoted as saying "That's just too steep an increase for us, and it's not in line with inflation or normal escalation of prices in the industry."[5] Clear Creek Television, which carried the NBA Trail Blazers for 15 years, was rebuffed when even attempting to negotiate the above market rate Comcast pushed at Clear Creek.[5]
"Comcast clearly sees the public perception of its treatment of sports fans as a potential Achilles heel in efforts to acquire NBCU" says Sports Fan Coalition Executive Director Brian Frederick discussing how Comcast sent senior staff members to Oregon when a member of the Sports Fan Coalition testified before the Oregon Legislature on Comcast's denial of access to hundreds of thousands of customers of DirecTV, Dish, and other cable operators.[11]
In a November 7, 2010 article, Blazers CEO Larry Miller continued to express frustration about the lack of availability.[12]
Comcast SportsNet Northwest HD
Comcast SportsNet Northwest HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Comcast SportsNet Northwest. CSN Northwest broadcast 28 Portland Trail Blazers home games in HD in the 2007–08 season[13] and 32 games were shown in HD for 2008–09. Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett stated on the air during the April 13 game against the Clippers that all games would air in HD from then on.
CSN Northwest is available on basic cable and in high-definition to Comcast subscribers throughout Oregon and southwest Washington state; however, Comcast subscribers and other cable outlets throughout Western Washington (including Seattle-Tacoma and surrounding areas) do not get CSN Northwest in high-definition. CSN Northwest is only available on Comcast's digital preferred package in Western Washington.
References
- ^ Mike Rogoway, Comcast's sports channels fuel bidding war, May 29, 2007
- ^ Comcast SportsNet, Blazers create network - Portland Business Journal, May 21, 2007
- ^ BLAZERS: Comcast Sports Net Northwest, Portland Trail Blazers Announce a New Regional Sports Network, May 21, 2007
- ^ "Comcast SportsNet Channel Locations". http://www.csnnw.com/pages/channellocations.
- ^ a b c d e Canzano: Frustration with Comcast grows as Trail Blazers games remain hard to get in some areas Oregon Live August 7, 2010
- ^ Area Blazer fans may remain left in the dark - Comcast SportsNet, which will carry 55 regular season games, is still not available in most local areas The Mail Tribune October 29, 2008
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (November 6, 2008). "A Game of Smashmouth Cable Football". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/sports/football/06sandomir.html?ref=arts. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- ^ Disappointed Blazers "pursuing all of our rights" in Comcast deal The Oregonian January 7, 2010
- ^ Freeman, Joe (February 24, 2010). "Legislature offers sympathetic ear, but little else, to Blazers fans frustrated with Comcast". The Oregonian. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/02/legislature_offers_sympathetic.html. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
- ^ Comcast update: Trail Blazers ask FCC to force cable company to make game broadcasts available The Oregonian July 12, 2010
- ^ Blazer TV access: Stop hogging the ball, Comcast Oregon Live October 15, 2010
- ^ Trail Blazers: As team continues to seek TV solution, events around country could affect Comcast standoff Oregon Live November 7, 2010
- ^ "Comcast SportsNet, Blazers create network". May 21, 2007. http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/05/21/daily12.html.
Categories:- Cable television in the United States
- Sports television networks in the United States
- Comcast SportsNet
- Portland Trail Blazers broadcasters
- Media in Portland, Oregon
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