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| Mid-Atlantic Sports Network | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 2005 |
| Owned by | Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles |
| Slogan | Be There. |
| Website | www.masnsports.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 640 MASN (SD/HD) 641 MASN2 (SD) 641-1 MASN2 (HD) |
| Dish Network | 432 (MASN) 433 (MASN2) |
| Cable | |
| Verizon FiOS | 1 MASN2 (SD) 77 (SD) 577 (HD) |
| Comcast | 37 MASN (in WV) |
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is a team-owned regional sports network that televises every available game of the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles throughout the mid-Atlantic region (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina) and 275 NCAA Division I football, basketball, and lacrosse games for a total of 600 live events annually.
MASN is the Baltimore Ravens's official cable network and airs preseason games and nightly shoulder programming during football season. In the afternoons the network airs a simulcast of the Scott Garceau and Anita Marks morning show from WJZ-FM (105.7). It also airs the simulcast of the Tom Davis Show on the weekend with Tom Davis as well as Dave Johnson and Phil Wood.
MASN is the official cable network of Georgetown Hoyas basketball, George Mason Patriots basketball and UNC Wilmington Seahawks basketball. The network televises the Big East Conference Game of the Week in college football and basketball; and is the official cable network of the Big South Conference.
As part of a large coverage area which consists of most of the southern portion of the Northeast Megapolis, the network is carried on 23 cable and satellite providers in a five-state area.
On September 16, 2008, MASN announced it will launch a full-time HD network and televise 200 MLB games in HD in 2009.[1] DirecTV originally carried the HD feed only for games, until it was added full time on April 1, 2009, just in time for the 2009 MLB season.
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Background
When the Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for the new franchise. Since at least 1981, Major League Baseball had designated the Baltimore Orioles television territory to extend from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Orioles agreed to share its territory with the Nationals in return for the ability to present the Nationals games on the Orioles television network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. The Orioles have a 90 percent stake in MASN and MLB paid the Orioles $75 million for 10 percent of the regional sports network. When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in July 2006 they became part owners in MASN. Over the next 23 years, the Washington Nationals’ stake in the network will increase to 33 percent. Under the current arrangement, MASN paid the Nationals $20 million to broadcast their games in 2005.
Controversy and lawsuit
After the Orioles agreed to share its television territory with the Nationals, another controversy arose with television rights. Comcast SportsNet held a 10-year contract to broadcast Orioles games on cable through the 2006 season, a vestige of the channel's days as HTS, which was once co-owned WJZ-TV. When MASN received the rights to broadcast Nationals games on MASN, Comcast's wholly own subsidiary, CSN-Mid Atlantic, sued the Baltimore Orioles seeking enforcement of a clause in its contract with the Orioles which CSN claimed allowed them exclusive first and last refusal rights on future television contracts. MASN and the Orioles, however, claimed that MASN is a trade name for TCR Sports Broadcasting Holding, established in 1996 to sell all of the Orioles TV rights, which resulted in the sale of the 10-year deal to HTS. Because of this the Orioles and MASN claimed to be simply bringing their rights in-house. On July 27, 2005, Montgomery County Circuit Judge Durke G. Thompson threw out Comcast's lawsuit, ruling that the clause in Comcast’s contract with the Orioles had not been triggered. Comcast filed an amended complaint and on October 5, Judge Thompson threw out Comcast's second effort.
Up to that point, Comcast was the only major cable carrier that refused to carry MASN. Additionally, Adelphia - in bankruptcy court and therefore unable to add programming - was in the process of being sold to Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
On August 4, 2006 it was announced that Comcast would carry MASN programming starting in September 2006 following a settlement between Comcast and MASN. [2] Comcast was forced to abandon its lawsuit under the terms of the deal.
Despite carrying MASN for most households in the television territory, Comcast is not currently carrying MASN in some parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia that are in the Orioles' and Nationals' designated territory.[3] In August 2008, MASN made a carriage complaint to the FCC after negotiations with Comcast were unproductive for MASN. On October 10, 2008, the FCC ruled that there was enough evidence for the case to go before an Administrative Law Judge.[4]
Time Warner Cable in North Carolina does not currently carry MASN. [5] This has resulted in the network airing a series of radio advertisements in the area asking Time Warner customers to put pressure on the cable provider. On January 21, 2008 an arbitrator from the FCC ordered TWC to place MASN on its North Carolina cable systems, citing an argument that Time Warner was not carrying MASN in an effort to protect its own sports network. [6] Time Warner appealed the arbitrator's decision to the FCC. On October 30,2008, the FCC's Media Bureau ordered TWC to launch MASN on the analog tier of its North Carolina systems within 30 days, denying all of Time Warner Cable's motions in its appeal. [7] Time Warner has said that they will appeal the decision to the full commission.
Alleged Orioles bias
Since the Baltimore Orioles are the majority owners of MASN, Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher has accused the Orioles of designing MASN programming to slant towards the Orioles specifically, and Maryland-area sports generally[8]. Fisher alleges that the Orioles are using MASN to discourage the growth of the Nationals fanbase and to maintain Orioles dominance of the greater Baltimore-Washington area. MASN has dismissed these claims, arguing that the viability of the network depends on the success of both franchises.
Many Nationals fans pointed out that during the first Beltway Series of the 2007 season, the graphic MASN used showing the score in the upper part of the screen read "O's and WSH." Since some hometown stations use a unique abbreviation for their team in the bar score/time graphic (in this case, "O's", SportsNet New York using "METS" instead of "NYM" or WGN using "CUBS" or "SOX" for the Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox as other examples), this could easily be considered a display of bias by Nationals fans.[9] Some analysts consider this bias merely a product of the Orioles' controlling MASN, and therefore justifying these small biases that favor the Baltimore team. The graphics have since been changed to reflect a more neutral stance by MASN during the Beltway Series of 2009, using "NATS" to textually represent the Nationals.
Those who claim an Orioles bias have also pointed out that MASN took steps to ensure the hiring of Gary Thorne, formerly with ESPN, in 2007, but have shown little regard for hiring the best announcers for Nationals games. Other observers claim that assertion overlooks the hiring Hall of Fame pitcher and former TBS analyst Don Sutton as color analyst for the Nationals, also in 2007. Sutton subsquently left MASN after the 2008 season, and was replaced by former Cincinnati Reds pitcher and ESPN analyst Rob Dibble starting in 2009.
MASN's Orioles broadcasters
ESPN veteran Gary Thorne would team with Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and Buck Martinez to form the primary team for MASN Orioles coverage, with Orioles radio broadcaster Jim Hunter cohosting pre-game and post-game coverage along with former O's player and coach – and 1983 World Series MVP – Rick Dempsey. Hunter does play-by-play of almost all Sunday games due to Thorne's responsibilties on the radio broadcast of Sunday Night Baseball as well as selected other games. Dempsey also fill-in as the game analyst for occasional games. Billy Ripken and Dave Johnson have served as a fill-ins for Dempsey. Former WBFF sports reporter and current MASN broadcaster Amber Theoharis handles sideline reporting chores. Mark Viviano spells her when she is away. Tom Davis serves as fill-in host when Jim Hunter is either serving as play-by-play or on vacation.
MASN's Nationals broadcasters
Bob Carpenter and former pitcher Rob Dibble handle broadcasting duties for Nationals games, with former NESN and ESPN reporter Debbi Taylor as sideline reporter. WTOP-FM Radio sportscaster Byron Kerr serves as the fill-in sideline reporter. Johnny Holliday and 1986 World Series MVP Ray Knight host the pre-game and post-game shows, Nats Xtra. Kerr serves as the fill-in for Holliday when he is covering the Maryland Terrapins, on vacation and or serving in the play-by-play role, whereas Wood fills in for Knight when he is serving as the game analyst or on vacation.
Beltway Series
During the Beltway Series, MASN will combine the broadcasts by having 5 broadcasters simultaneously. Each team is represented by an analyst and both sideline reporters contributors. The play-by-play announcers each broadcast for half the game.[10]
Availability
MASN is currently carried on DirecTV national DBS system, Dish Network, Cox, RCN, Comcast Corporation and Charter cable systems as well as Verizon's FiOS TV in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. The network also carried regionally by Antietam, Armstrong, Atlantic BroadBand, Clearview, Easton, Harron, Millennium, and OpenBand.
Because the network offers 323 live baseball games, a second channel, MASN2 is available when both the O's and Nats play simultaneously. For a complete listing of channel positions, visit MASN's website.
As with all Major League Baseball broadcasts, MASN-produced games are available at http://www.mlb.tv for out-of-market viewers, with local viewers able to watch highlights a certain amount of time after the games finish. Games are also available nationwide with a subscription to MLB Extra Innings.
MASN produces the local over-the-air television broadcast of games of the Nationals for broadcast on Washington's DC50 (WDCW), and of the Orioles for broadcast on WJZ 13 (WJZ-TV). These games are shown on MASN itself outside the local markets.
They also carry a variety of college football and basketball games, both locally-produced and syndicated.
Historical timeline
- July 31, 2006, MASN began broadcasting.
- On August 2, 2006 MASN announced that they were expanding their programming to include Baltimore Ravens' pre-season games and Ravens produced programing. MASN marketed itself as the "official network" of the Ravens.
- On August 5, 2006, it was announced via official MASN press release, that MASN reached an agreement with Comcast, the primary cable provider in the region.
- On April 6, 2007, MASN and MASN2 were added to DISH Network
- On February 25, 2008, MASN announced it would add High Definition telecasts to its broadcasts and would do 80 HD games in 2008. [11]
- On September 16, 2008, MASN announced that it would launch a full-time High-Definition channel in March 2009 that will air over 200 games in HD for the 2009 Orioles & Nationals seasons. [12]
External links
References
- ^ http://masnsports.com/2008/09/masn-to-launch-fulltime-hd-cha.html
- ^ The Official Site of The Washington Nationals: News: Washington Nationals News
- ^ http://www.roanoke.com/sports/baseball/wb/111008
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-2269A1.pdf
- ^ http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070401/NEWS/704010459/1050&template=currents
- ^ Time Warner Ordered to Carry Sports Network :: WRAL.com
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-2441A1.pdf
- ^ Play Ball! First View of Opening Day - Raw Fisher
- ^ The Washington Nationals - washingtonpost.com
- ^ http://masnsports.com/2009/06/battle-of-the-beltways-kicks-o.html
- ^ Nats, O's Games Set for HD - washingtonpost.com
- ^ MASN to Launch Full-Time HD Channel
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