Any truth to this?

[wxctintern]

A co-worker of mine told me that she heard in 2006 or 2007 that the Boston Redsox were gonna launch their own TV Network Similar to how the Yankees have The YES Netowrk. Is there any truth to this? If it is true will they revamp NESN to launch this network or is it gonna be sepearte from NESN and Cable Customers gonna fight to get this channel added to the lineup?

[6tothebronx]

I wouldn't be surprised.  Sports teams owning their own networks is becoming a trend.  The Mets have started their own network called 'SportsNet New York' which will debut this spring.  www.sportsnetny.com


> A co-worker of mine told me that she heard in 2006 or 2007
> that the Boston Redsox were gonna launch their own TV
> Network Similar to how the Yankees have The YES Netowrk. Is
> there any truth to this? If it is true will they revamp NESN
> to launch this network or is it gonna be sepearte from NESN
> and Cable Customers gonna fight to get this channel added to
> the lineup?
>

[PortlandMainer]

> A co-worker of mine told me that she heard in 2006 or 2007
> that the Boston Redsox were gonna launch their own TV
> Network Similar to how the Yankees have The YES Netowrk. Is
> there any truth to this? If it is true will they revamp NESN
> to launch this network or is it gonna be sepearte from NESN
> and Cable Customers gonna fight to get this channel added to
> the lineup?
>
Wait, the Sox already own NESN and I thought I heard the YES network was the Yankees response to this.  If anything, my guess is that they are going to revamp NESN.  I don't think there is enough programming for three regional sports channels.

[raccoonradio]

> A co-worker of mine told me that she heard in 2006 or 2007
> that the Boston Redsox were gonna launch their own TV
> Network Similar to how the Yankees have The YES Netowrk.

Well there have been rumors on the _radio_ side of things that
the Sox might "take the games in-house". Produce the broadcast
themselves.

Is
> there any truth to this? If it is true will they revamp NESN
> to launch this network or is it gonna be sepearte from NESN
> and Cable Customers gonna fight to get this channel added to
> the lineup?
>

[Joseph_Gallant]

With the Red Sox already owing 80% of NESN, I could see an all-Sox channel in the future, with NESN splitting into two networks: One being 24/7/365 Boston Red Sox (including live game coverage), and the other being the current NESN (Boston Bruins, Boston College, Pawsox, "Sportsdesk"), but without the Red Sox.

I think that were this to occur, cable operators would pay the same per-subscriber-per-month fees for both networks that they now pay for NESN alone (which I think may be a distinct possibility) and place both networks on "expanded basic" tiers.

Such a move would likely result in not just the 120 or so regular-season Red Sox games now on NESN, but also the 30 or so regular-season Sox games now seen on over-the-air TV in Boston (on WSBK-38) moving to the Sox channel (these 30 or so games are already shown on NESN in other parts of New England).  

Interestingly, I believe the WSBK/Sox contract has expired. A few years ago, after a long-term contract with WSBK expired, the Bruins moved all of their games (other than those on national TV) to NESN. The Sox will probably follow suit, maybe as soon as 2006.

My guess: NESN will indeed split into two networks: an all-Sox network (including 150 or so regular-season games a year) and an "everything else" network which would retain the NESN name.

[KML0224]

It would sure suck to pay for a channel I'll never end up watching here in central Connecticut. Yeah, everybody's bill went up a tick when the YES Network (Yankees) was added to the lineup in 2002. I wish these channels would be available on an a la carte basis.

Tell me if I've got this correct: The Red Sox own 80% of NESN. The Boston Globe owns 17% of the Red Sox. Who owns the rest of NESN and the team?

[Joseph_Gallant]

In the case of NESN, the Red Sox own 80% and the Boston Bruins hockey team owns the remaining 20%.

The major owners of the Boston Red Sox are John Henry and Tom Werner (the latter made a fortune as a TV producer). I think Larry Lucchino may own a piece, and as has been noted, the New York Times Company (which is the Boston Globe's parent company) has 17%. I suspect there are other investors who own small pieces of the team.

[jlehmann]

> Tell me if I've got this correct: The Red Sox own 80% of
> NESN. The Boston Globe owns 17% of the Red Sox. Who owns the
> rest of NESN and the team?
>

I believe that the Bruins own the rest of NESN.

[WMC2005]

>> The major owners of the Boston Red Sox are John Henry and
> Tom Werner (the latter made a fortune as a TV producer). I
> think Larry Lucchino may own a piece, and as has been noted,
> the New York Times Company (which is the Boston Globe's
> parent company) has 17%. I suspect there are other investors
> who own small pieces of the team.
>

From RedSox.com:

Front Office  
 
 Officers  
 John W. Henry Principal Owner
 Thomas C. Werner Chairman
 David Ginsberg Vice Chairman
 Phillip H. Morse Vice Chairman
 Leslie B. Otten Vice Chairman
 Larry Lucchino President/Chief Executive Officer
 George J. Mitchell Director
 Lucinda K. Treat Chief Legal Officer, New England Sports Ventures


Partners
 Theodore Alfond  
 William Alfond  
 Ben Cammarata  
 David D’Alessandro  
 Thomas R. DiBenedetto
 Michael Egan  
 Ed Eskandarian  
 Michael Gordon  
 John A. Kaneb  
 New York Times Co. (Russ Lewis, Jim Lessersohn)  
 Arthur E. Nicholas  
 Frank Resnek  
 Samuel A. Tamposi, Jr.  
 Martin Trust  
 Jeffrey Vinik

[Ken]

> >> The major owners of the Boston Red Sox are John Henry and
>
> > Tom Werner (the latter made a fortune as a TV producer). I
>
> > think Larry Lucchino may own a piece, and as has been
> noted,
> > the New York Times Company (which is the Boston Globe's
> > parent company) has 17%. I suspect there are other
> investors
> > who own small pieces of the team.

Now why would the Red Sox want to start up a network when they already have NESN which is known well in all of New England. NESN is already the Red Sox Network. I doubt the Red Sox would do this as they already own a good piece of the NESN pie.