MSG Network
The
Madison Square Garden Network, more commonly referred to as the
MSG Network or simply as
MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the
New York City area. The network takes the name of
Madison Square Garden and has long been the producer of radio and television broadcasts of the
NBA's
New York Knicks and the
NHL's
New York Rangers, which play their home games at the Garden.
In addition to Knicks and Rangers games, MSG currently carries cable television broadcasts of the
WNBA's
New York Liberty and
MLS's
Red Bull New York (formerly
MetroStars). The radio division of MSG Network currently produces Knicks and Rangers broadcasts for
1050 ESPN Radio.
MSG and its sister station FSN New York, also broadcasts MAAC basketball, NEC basketball, Atlantic-10 basketball, Pac-10 football and basketball, Big-12 football and women's basketball, and ACC basketball. The latter three are part of national FOX Sports Net broadcast contracts.
Selected New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils games also air on MSG when both teams play at the same time, with one airing on sister-channel FSN New York, which along with MSG are officially referred to as MSG Media, formerly MSG Networks. In turn, selected Rangers games air on FSN New York when there the other team is on MSG and no Islanders or Devils game at the same time.
MSG2 and FSN New York 2
If more than two of these four local teams are playing at the same time, the Rangers play on "MSG2," and the Islanders or Devils play on "FSN New York 2," which are different selected channels for each cable system, many being broadcast on the
TV Guide Channel, while satellite systems will show them on a sports alternate channel. These channels are sometimes not available outside the immediate New York City area.
From the fall of 1998 until the spring of 2005, Cablevision chose not to open up an additional MSG2 channel, instead placing games on their
MSG Metro Channels, which was only available in limited homes. During this era, when two of the teams that the MSG Networks covered played against each other, only one broadcast would usually be produced using one of the team's announcing duos. There were also times when games were scheduled on Metro and no game on MSG or FSN New York. With the discontinuation of Metro, the return of MSG2 and FSN New York 2, and the loss of the
New Jersey Nets from their winter lineup, the MSG Networks now produce two broadcasts when two of their teams are playing against each other.
Local television listings:
MSG2 &
FSN New York 2*MSG's flagship program is
MSG SportsDesk , a daily sports highlights show, which is shown numerous times during the day. An abbreviated version of
MSG SportsDesk is shown during halftime and intermissions of sporting events on MSG and FSN New York. This fall, the show will be renamed
MSG 360 with increased focus on anything taking place at MSG. This is expected to keep the show away from competition with
SportsNet New York's
SportsNite.
The Boomer Esiason Show features interviews and commentary from former
NFL quarterback and current commentator
Boomer Esiason.
Unnecessary Roughness focuses on local NFL action, hosted by
Jay Glazer with a guest each from the
New York Jets and
New York Giants each week.
Hockey Night New York Live! was added in 2005 as a Thursday Rangers, Devils, and Islanders show, hosted by
Al Trautwig.
Live from the Play by Play was added in 2005 as a Knicks post-game show.
High School Weekly focuses on high school football and basketball from around the region, hosted by Mike Quick
The LAX Report, added in 2006, is a local high school lacrosse show similar to
High School Weekly, hosted by Mike Quick
MSG Soccer Report, added in 2002 (previously as the
Metro Soccer Report, which underwent a format change in 2005), covers Red Bull New York and other soccer news, hosted by
Ethan Zohn and
Shep Messing.
MSG Vault, added in 2006, is a series that features classic Knicks and Rangers games that have not been seen by the public in decades.
SummerBall, added in 2006, is a series that highlights the major summer basketball leagues in
New York City, featuring
Hoops In The Sun, EBC at
Rucker Park, Dyckman and the Uptowners Basketball League, hosted by
Bobbito Garcia.
Rangers 10 To Remember/Rangers Classics, added in May 2006 on a full-time basis, re-broadcasts ten memorable Rangers games from the past season during the summer off-season as chosen by the fans in an online vote, and other games from the Rangers' 1979, 1994, and 1997 playoffs. The series initially launched in June 2004 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Rangers' last Stanley Cup title (both MSG and
WFAN rebroadcasted Game 7 on June 14, 2004, the exact anniversary date).
WWE MSG Classics, added in 2006. Airs WWE Classic matches that have been held at
Madison Square Garden, hosted by
Mean Gene Okerlund.
Make it Hot, added in 2006, is a car customization show similar to
MTV's
Pimp My Ride, hosted by former
NBA forward
Jerome Williams, who last played for the Knicks.
The 50 Greatest Moments at Madison Square Garden, a look at the historic events that have gone on inside the famed arena, both sports and non-sports-related, to debut in October 2006. [
1]
Online Progamming
MSG Network's website, MSGNetwork.com, has had exclusive
podcast programming only available via download starting in 2006. These include:
This Week in Hockey, added in 2006, is a weekly hockey podcast hosted by Matt Loughlin, with guests from around the
NHL and from MSG Networks, including
Stan Fischler,
Joe Micheletti, and, formerly,
John Davidson.
MSG FaceOff, added in 2006, is postgame coverage and reaction to playoff games played by the Rangers and Devils (most likely by the Islanders, as well, when they make the playoffs), hosted by Mike Crispino, with guests who cover the local teams, including
Stan Fischler,
Sam Rosen,
Mike Emrick,
Chico Resch, and
Kenny Albert.
Batt'r Up!, added in 2006, is a weekly baseball podcast hosted by Matt Loughlin and
Fran Healy, with guests from around the
MLB.
MSG Network
*
Mike Breen: Knicks game play-by-play announcer
*Steve Cangialosi: Fill-in Red Bulls game play-by-play announcer;
MSG SportsDesk host and reporter
*Mike Crispino: Fill-in Rangers game play-by-play announcer;
MSG SportsDesk host; host of podcast
MSG FaceOff*Bill Daughtry:
MSG SportsDesk host and reporter
*
JP Dellacamera: Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
*
Boomer Esiason: Host of
The Boomer Esiason Show*
Stan Fischler:
MSG SportsDesk hockey analyst; occasional Rangers game studio analyst
*
Walt "Clyde" Frazier: Knicks game color announcer
*Anthony "Fooch" Fucilli:
MSG SportsDesk reporter (mostly football)
*Christopher Fusco:
MSG SportsDesk legal analyst
*John Giannone: Rangers sideline reporter and occasional studio host;
MSG SportsDesk host
*Jay Glazer: Host of
Unnecessary Roughness;
MSG SportsDesk football analyst
*
Fran Healy:
MSG SportsDesk baseball analyst; co-host of podcast
Batt'r Up!*
Rick Jeanneret: Sabres game play-by-play announcer
*
Dave Jennings:
MSG SportsDesk football analyst
*Deb Kaufman: MSG SportsDesk
host and reporter
*Jim Lorentz: Sabres game color announcer
*Matt Loughlin: Fill-in Red Bulls game announcer; host of podcast This Week in Hockey
; co-host of podcast Batt'r Up!
*Dave Maloney: Fill-in Rangers game color announcer
*Shep Messing: Red Bulls game color announcer; co-host of MSG Soccer Report
*Mary Murphy: Liberty game color announcer
*Mike Quick: Host of High School Weekly
and The LAX Report
; high school sports reporter
*Sam Rosen: Rangers game play-by-play announcer
*Joel Sherman: MSG SportsDesk
baseball analyst
*John Starks: Fill-in Knicks game color announcer; MSG SportsDesk
basketball analyst
*Al Trautwig: Rangers and Knicks home game pre-game and intermission host and sideline reporter; host of Hockey Night New York Live!
and NYK Way
; co-host of MSG Vault
*Bob Wischusen: Liberty game play-by-play announcer; MSG SportsDesk
host and reporter
*Ethan Zohn: Co-host of MSG Soccer Report''
FSN New York
*
Stan Fischler: Devils intermission analyst
*Deb Kaufman: Islanders pre-game and intermission host and sideline reporter
*Matt Loughlin: Devils pre-game and intermission host; fill-in Devils game play-by-play announcer
*
Joe Micheletti: Islanders game color annoucer
*
Chico Resch: Devils game color announcer
*
Howie Rose: Islanders game play-by-play annoucer
After the collapse of the
Empire Sports Network caused by the bankruptcy of
Adelphia, MSG now also broadcasts the
Buffalo Sabres to
Upstate New York customers. The Sabres essentially control the entire broadcast, including an exclusive post-game show.
Aside from Sabres games, MSG controls the broadcasts of all other local teams that it carries. Rangers, Devils, and Islanders games are blacked out in the Sabres primary broadcast territory, which is Buffalo and Rochester, but Knicks games are broadcast on FSN New York or a temporary alternate channel, except for
Chatauqua County, which is within 100 miles of
Cleveland and gets only
Cleveland Cavaliers games on FSN Ohio as per NBA rules.
Most of upstate New York (notably Albany, Binghamton, and Syracuse) gets all Sabres games but also the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils if the Sabres are on the road AND the Knicks are not playing on the same night. In some areas, Knicks games air on MSG, while FSN New York carries the Sabres. Sabres games, however, are not broadcast in Plattsburgh, which receives the same MSG and FSN feeds as the NYC market.
College sporting events may also be blacked out in parts of upstate New York, especially involving teams from the Big East Conference, because MSG sometimes can only acquire broadcast rights in New York City and its immediate suburbs.
Between 1989 and 2001, the network was the cable home of the
New York Yankees. MSG also produced the Yankees radio broadcasts from 1994 to 2001, which aired on
WABC-AM. MSG also owned the over the air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which they sold to
WPIX from 1989-1998 and
WNYW from 1999-2001. In 2002, the Yankees left MSG to form the
YES Network. From 2002 to 2005, MSG aired games from
Major League Baseball's
New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, games which previously aired on FSNY. Like the Yankee deals, Cablevision also owned the broadcast TV rights which were on
WWOR before moving to
WPIX in 1999. After the 2005 baseball season, Met games moved to
SportsNet New York, a cable network partially owned by the Mets.
Comcast and
Time Warner are the other partners, and Cablevision has indicated in recent years that it would consider selling portions of itself off to those companies for the right price (the Knicks and Rangers would likely be re-sold because Comcast and Time Warner already own all or part of other NBA and NHL teams).
The MSG Television network debuted on
October 15,
1969 with a game between the Rangers and the
Minnesota North Stars. MSG Network, thus, became the first regional sports network in
North America, and one of the first of its kind in the world.
MSG will relaunch in
October,
2006 with a new logo, new graphics and the removal of
Network from the network's name. [
2] Since there is a hole in their programming schedule, which was created by the fact they do not have the rights to either the Yankees or the Mets, the network has announced that, in upcoming months, more entertainment-oriented programming will air on the network. This programming will include concerts and professional boxing and wrestling cards that have taken place at Madison Square Garden in the past and continue to occur to this day. [
3]
The network has been owned throughout its history by the owners of
Madison Square Garden as well as the Knicks, Rangers and now the Liberty. The current owner of the Garden and MSG Network is
Cablevision, as part of their
Rainbow Media division.
MSG HD is a
high definition simulcast of the best programs from MSG Network including live sports & series.
*
Official Site*
Podcasting Homepage
