Television channel
NBC Sports Northwest
(originally
Comcast SportsNet Northwest
) was an American
regional sports network
owned by the
NBC Sports Group
unit of
NBCUniversal
, as an affiliate of
NBC Sports Regional Networks
. The network broadcast regional coverage of professional sports events throughout the
Pacific Northwest
, focusing primarily on the
NBA
's
Portland Trail Blazers
and college sports events involving the
Oregon Ducks
. It also covered other sports events involving teams within the northwestern United States, including those featuring college and high school teams.
[1]
The network was available on
cable
providers throughout Oregon and
Washington
. The network maintained business offices,
master control
operations and studio facilities located in
Portland
; NBC Sports Northwest maintained a secondary studio in the
Moda Center
used for Trail Blazers game coverage.
The network shut down at the end of the broadcast day on September 30, 2021.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
After the Trail Blazers dismantled their
pay-per-view
network BlazerVision in 2001, the team reached a broadcast deal with
FSN Northwest
, where the team's game telecasts aired until the
2006?07 season
.
Fox Sports Networks
did not renew its contract with the Blazers at the conclusion of the 2006?07 season; as a result, Comcast formed a new regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Northwest, to assume the broadcast rights to the team.
[3]
The network launched on November 1, 2007, coinciding with the start of the
2007?08 Trail Blazers regular season
.
With Comcast's acquisition of
NBCUniversal
in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into the new NBC Sports Group unit, culminating with the addition of the
peacock logo
and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network. The updated graphics were implemented on CSN's live game coverage and all studio shows;
SportsNet Central
was an exception to this initially, but would ultimately implement a new on-air look of its own and on April 14, 2014, in conjunction with that change, the program switched to the updated graphics package introduced three years earlier.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest became
CSN Northwest
in 2016.
[4]
On October 2, 2017, CSN Northwest was renamed as
NBC Sports Northwest
, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand.
[5]
After it was announced that the Trail Blazers would leave NBC Sports Northwest for
Root Sports Northwest
, the network announced it would cease operations on September 30, 2021.
[6]
A key factor in the Trail Blazers decision to leave the network was its failure to gain widespread distribution. After nearly 15 years, NBC Sports Northwest only had distribution to about 1.1 million homes, only had scattered coverage on streaming services, and never found
DirecTV
or
Dish
coverage. Its distribution is dwarfed by the nearly 2 million homes where Root Sports is available. The Trail Blazers will continue to produce their own games when they move to Root Sports.
[7]
Programming
[
edit
]
Portland Trail Blazers
[
edit
]
NBC Sports Northwest held the exclusive regional television rights to the Portland Trail Blazers, carrying the majority of the
NBA
franchise's regular season, pre-season and early-round playoff games; the network also produced expanded pre-game and post-game analysis (under the
Rip City Live
and
Talking Ball
banners), along with select
NBA Summer League
games and season team previews. However, the team produced the actual telecasts in-house and utilized their own graphics team, departing completely from the standard
NBC Sports
design language
.
[8]
During the network's inaugural season in 2007?08, Comcast SportsNet Northwest carried at least 55 Trail Blazers regular season games. Combined with the Trail Blazers' over-the-air coverage, 81 of the team's regular season games that year were shown on television, the largest number of telecasts in the team's history. The new network aired 28 of the team's 36 home game telecasts in
high definition
.
[3]
Some games were previously syndicated to over-the-air stations in the team's designated market region.
[9]
On July 6, 2016, the team extended its contract through the 2020?2021 season and made NBC Sports Northwest the exclusive broadcaster of all regional Trail Blazers games beginning in the 2017?18 season.
[9]
Since the 2008?09 season, due to the
Seattle SuperSonics
'
relocation
to
Oklahoma City
,
Oklahoma
, in 2008 to become the
Oklahoma City Thunder
, Trail Blazers games are also available in the Seattle region.
In March 2021, reports surfaced that the Trail Blazers would leave NBC Sports Northwest in favor of returning to
Root Sports
, which would leave the network's future uncertain.
[10]
On June 9, 2021, the Trail Blazers confirmed that they would be returning to
Root Sports Northwest
.
[11]
University of Oregon Ducks
[
edit
]
The
Oregon Sports Network
(OSN) ? a sports syndication service operated by the
University of Oregon
to broadcast
Oregon Ducks
events ? was seeking to expand its coverage and availability, and negotiated a contract with Comcast SportsNet Northwest around the time of its launch to air many of the university's football and basketball games that were not scheduled to broadcast on a national network or on FSN. In 2008, Comcast SportsNet Northwest became the primary broadcaster of OSN-produced telecasts, with the games being simulcast on
Fox
affiliate
KLSR-TV
(channel 34) in
Eugene
. Coverage of Oregon sports events declined after the launch of the
Pac-12 Networks
in September 2012, and by 2015 its only Ducks coverage was the weekly sports rundown
Talking Ducks
.
[8]
Other sports events
[
edit
]
NBC Sports Northwest also provided coverage of a variety of other regional sports events. The network broadcast
NHL
games involving the
Vancouver Canucks
, carrying 25 games per season via a simulcast with
Sportsnet Pacific
. Through its relationships with other Comcast-owned channels, NBC Sports Northwest also broadcast 35 regular-season games from various other NHL teams. In 2011, Comcast SportsNet Northwest announced that it would provide a reduced schedule of NHL coverage focusing solely on the Vancouver Canucks and
San Jose Sharks
; the network announced later that year that it would no longer carry any Sharks telecasts. Additionally, the network also carried select home games from the
Portland Winterhawks
Western Hockey League
franchise.
[8]
In April 2009, Comcast SportsNet Northwest began carrying select regular season games from the
Tacoma Rainiers
of the
Pacific Coast League
, using the team's radio network and announcer Mike Curto for play-by-play. On March 12, 2014, the network announced that it would carry all but one home game from the
Portland Thunder
during the
Arena Football League
team's inaugural season.
[12]
Other programming
[
edit
]
The network produced
SportsNet Central
, a daily morning news program providing game highlights and sports headlines. Additional content was available through the network's website and apps.
[13]
Along with the network's Trail Blazers game coverage, the network also aired a number of other NBA-related specials focused on the
NBA draft
,
NBA All-Star Game
and the
NBA playoffs
.
NBC Sports Northwest also aired video simulcasts of three weekday sports radio programs: it carried the Chuck Powell Show
KJR
(950 AM) talk program from
Seattle
live each weekday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and
The FAN
from
KFXX
(1080 AM) in Portland from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
[8]
Availability
[
edit
]
NBC Sports Northwest was available on Comcast
[14]
(in Oregon and Washington), Ashland TV, Beaver Creek Telcom,
BendBroadband
,
[15]
Canby Telcom,
[16]
Charter Communications
(in Oregon and Washington), Country Cablevision,
Frontier Communications
(in Oregon and Washington), MINET (in
Monmouth, Oregon
),
[17]
Monroe Telephone, Reliance Connects, Scio Cablevision,
Frontier FiOS
(in the Portland and Seattle markets) and
Wave Broadband
.
[18]
[19]
Carriage controversies
[
edit
]
The network was never available on satellite providers
DirecTV
and
Dish Network
, due to Comcast's long-time negotiation policies which favored cable over satellite.
[20]
[21]
The move of the Trail Blazers to Root Sports is thought to be due to this conflict, though by coincidence, Dish dropped Root Sports Northwest on the day NBC Sports Northwest was discontinued.
[22]
The Consumer Protection Committee of the
Oregon House of Representatives
held a hearing on February 24, 2010 to attempt to arbitrate a carriage deal between the network, DirecTV, Dish Network and
Charter Communications
, which also had issues carrying the network. No representatives for DirecTV, Dish Network or the Trail Blazers attended the hearing.
[23]
On June 21, the Trail Blazers asked the
Federal Communications Commission
to require Comcast to make the team's games available to competing
multichannel video programming distributors
such as DirecTV and Dish Network.
[24]
Oregon-based cable provider Canby Telcom objected to a non-negotiable subscribe fee increase that would have increased the network's annual subscriber rate to over $32 in 2012; as a result, Canby announced plans to stop carrying Comcast SportsNet Northwest.
[25]
Keith Galitz, president of Canby Telcom, stated "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."
[25]
Canby Telcom has accused Comcast of raising rates way beyond the rate of inflation and industry-wide increases.
[25]
Clear Creek Television, which carried the Trail Blazers for 15 years, was rebuffed in its attempts to negotiate the above-market rate Comcast was pushing for.
[25]
Comcast sent some of its senior staff members to Oregon after a member of the Sports Fan Coalition testified before the
Oregon State Legislature
on the provider's denial of access to the network on DirecTV, Dish and other cable providers. Brian Frederick,
executive director
of the advocacy group, stated that "Comcast clearly sees the public perception of its treatment of sports fans as a potential Achilles heel in efforts to acquire NBCU".
[26]
In a November 7, 2010 article in
The Oregonian
, Blazers
chief executive officer
Larry Miller continued to express frustration about the lack of availability for the team's CSN-televised games.
[27]
Related services
[
edit
]
NBC Sports Northwest HD
[
edit
]
NBC Sports Northwest HD
was a
1080i
high-definition
simulcast feed of NBC Sports Northwest. CSN Northwest broadcast 28 Portland Trail Blazers home games in HD in the 2007?08 season;
[3]
that number of high-definition game telecasts shown on the network increased to 32 for the
2008?09 season
. Former Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett announced during the network's game telecast against the
Los Angeles Clippers
on April 13, 2009, that CSN Northwest would broadcast all Trail Blazers games in HD from then onward.
NBC Sports Northwest HD was available on Comcast throughout Oregon and southwestern Washington; Comcast did not carry the high-definition feed in most of the remainder of Washington State (specifically its systems in the Seattle-
Tacoma
and
Spokane
markets) until early 2013, when it began to be carried on Channel 617. NBC Sports Northwest HD was only available on Comcast's digital preferred package in western and eastern Washington.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Mike Rogoway (May 29, 2007).
"Comcast's sports channels fuel bidding war"
.
The Oregonian
.
- ^
Cowley, Jared (June 9, 2021).
"Blazers agree to broadcast deal with Root Sports, end partnership with NBC Sports Northwest"
.
kgw.com
. Retrieved
10 June
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Comcast SportsNet, Blazers create network"
.
Portland Business Journal
.
American City Business Journals
. May 21, 2007.
- ^
CSN Staff (August 23, 2017).
"CSNNW set to become NBC Sports Northwest | CSN NW"
.
CSNNW.com
. Stamford, Connecticut: Comcast SportsNet Northwest, LLC
. Retrieved
August 23,
2017
.
In addition to the integration of the NBC Peacock in 2012, "Comcast SportsNet" changed to "CSN" in 2016.
- ^
CSN Staff (August 23, 2017).
"CSNNW set to become NBC Sports Northwest | CSN NW"
.
CSNNW.com
. Stamford, Connecticut: Comcast SportsNet Northwest, LLC
. Retrieved
August 23,
2017
.
NBC Sports Regional Networks will align the remainder of its five CSN-branded networks, as well as two TCNs, on October 2. The new names will incorporate "NBC Sports" with each of the networks' regional designations.
- ^
Cowley, Jared (June 9, 2021).
"Blazers agree to broadcast deal with Root Sports, end partnership with NBC Sports Northwest"
.
kgw.com
. Retrieved
June 10,
2021
.
- ^
Freeman, Joe (9 June 2021).
"Portland Trail Blazers' television broadcast moving to Root Sports with 4-year deal"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
31 July
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Kerry Eggers (March 24, 2016).
"Will CSN, Blazers reach new deal?"
. Retrieved
March 26,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"Trail Blazers extend television deal with CSN Northwest through 2020-21 NBA season"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
July 7,
2016
.
- ^
"Report: Trail Blazers To Leave TV Partner NBCSNW For ROOT Sports In 2021-22"
. KXTG (750 The Game). March 12, 2021
. Retrieved
March 30,
2021
.
- ^
"Trail Blazers Announce New Television Broadcast Partnership with ROOT SPORTS"
.
NBA.com
. June 8, 2021
. Retrieved
June 9,
2021
.
- ^
"CSN & Portland Thunder ink multi-year TV deal"
.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest
(Press release). March 11, 2014. Archived from
the original
on March 13, 2014.
- ^
"BLAZERS: Comcast Sports Net Northwest, Portland Trail Blazers Announce a New Regional Sports Network"
.
NBA.com
(Press release). May 21, 2007.
- ^
"Comcast Channel Lineup"
.
VisiOneClick
. Retrieved
October 15,
2018
.
- ^
"Digital Cable ? Channel Lineup"
.
BendBroadband
. Archived from
the original
on July 20, 2012
. Retrieved
December 21,
2011
.
- ^
"Channel Lineup"
.
Canby Telcom
. Retrieved
December 21,
2011
.
- ^
"MINET Channel Lineup"
(PDF)
.
MINET
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on January 13, 2012
. Retrieved
December 21,
2011
.
- ^
"Channel Locations"
.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest
. Retrieved
August 15,
2013
.
- ^
Allan Brettman (August 15, 2013).
"Charter, Comcast SportsNet Northwest reach agreement to broadcast Trail Blazers games"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
August 15,
2013
.
- ^
Luke Andrews (October 29, 2008).
"Area Blazer fans may remain left in the dark ? Sports ? MailTribune.com ? Medford, Oregon"
.
Mail Tribune
.
Local Media Group
. Retrieved
January 9,
2017
.
- ^
Richard Sandomir (November 6, 2008).
"A Game of Smashmouth Cable Football"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
April 30,
2010
.
- ^
Mike Rogoway (January 7, 2010).
"Disappointed Blazers "pursuing all of our rights" in Comcast deal"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
January 9,
2017
.
- ^
Joe Freeman (February 24, 2010).
"Legislature offers sympathetic ear, but little else, to Blazers fans frustrated with Comcast"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
February 25,
2010
.
- ^
"Comcast update: Trail Blazers ask FCC to force cable company to make game broadcasts available"
.
The Oregonian
. July 12, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Canzano: Frustration with Comcast grows as Trail Blazers games remain hard to get in some areas"
.
The Oregonian
. August 7, 2010.
- ^
"Blazer TV access: Stop hogging the ball, Comcast"
.
The Oregonian
. October 15, 2010.
- ^
Mike Tokito (November 7, 2010).
"Trail Blazers: As team continues to seek TV solution, events around country could affect Comcast standoff"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
January 9,
2017
.
External links
[
edit
]
Links to related articles
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