Mike
02-14-03, 11:42 PM
Tug of war continues over outlets for Astros telecasts
By DAVID BARRON
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/barron/1778429
It's probably too late to do anything about getting the Rockets on Fox Sports Net this season. Truth be told, it's also a bit late -- at least in the minds of Astros executives -- for FSN to be dickering over plans for the Astros' cable and over-the-air schedule this year.
But the dickering continued Thursday, with an eye toward finalizing a plan today that would keep 35 to 40 games on an over-the-air station -- almost certainly KNWS (Channel 51) -- while offering more games on Fox Sports Net.
FSN, which owns the Astros' broadcast rights, last year had 75 games on FSN and 62 on Channel 51. It was attempting to shop several over-the-air games to a second carrier, perhaps KTXH (Channel 20), but those plans fell through, leaving Channel 51 as the only station willing to take on a full schedule of Astros games.
If Channel 51's allotment is cut to 40 games, FSN's allotment theoretically would grow to nearly 100. That would have the added benefit of appeasing cable operators such as Time Warner, which can't be happy about the fact FSN wasn't able to come to terms on a Rockets agreement this season.
"We want to have as many Astros games as we can within our contract," said Time Warner spokesman Ray Purser.
Jon Heidtke, FSN's regional GM, was in Houston on Thursday to meet with Channel 51 owner Doug Johnson. The two could come to terms on a new agreement as soon as today, which will be none too soon for Astros broadcasting chief Jamie Hildreth.
Meanwhile, Johnson said he has received a retransmission offer from DirecTV and hopes to have the station on the satellite as early as next week. Channel 51 this year reached agreement with Dish Network to make its belated debut on the small dish.
By DAVID BARRON
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/barron/1778429
It's probably too late to do anything about getting the Rockets on Fox Sports Net this season. Truth be told, it's also a bit late -- at least in the minds of Astros executives -- for FSN to be dickering over plans for the Astros' cable and over-the-air schedule this year.
But the dickering continued Thursday, with an eye toward finalizing a plan today that would keep 35 to 40 games on an over-the-air station -- almost certainly KNWS (Channel 51) -- while offering more games on Fox Sports Net.
FSN, which owns the Astros' broadcast rights, last year had 75 games on FSN and 62 on Channel 51. It was attempting to shop several over-the-air games to a second carrier, perhaps KTXH (Channel 20), but those plans fell through, leaving Channel 51 as the only station willing to take on a full schedule of Astros games.
If Channel 51's allotment is cut to 40 games, FSN's allotment theoretically would grow to nearly 100. That would have the added benefit of appeasing cable operators such as Time Warner, which can't be happy about the fact FSN wasn't able to come to terms on a Rockets agreement this season.
"We want to have as many Astros games as we can within our contract," said Time Warner spokesman Ray Purser.
Jon Heidtke, FSN's regional GM, was in Houston on Thursday to meet with Channel 51 owner Doug Johnson. The two could come to terms on a new agreement as soon as today, which will be none too soon for Astros broadcasting chief Jamie Hildreth.
Meanwhile, Johnson said he has received a retransmission offer from DirecTV and hopes to have the station on the satellite as early as next week. Channel 51 this year reached agreement with Dish Network to make its belated debut on the small dish.