Root Sports Pittsburgh

Root Sports Pittsburgh
Launched	April 13, 1986 (as KBL)
Network	Fox Sports Networks
Owned by	DirecTV Sports Networks
Country	United States
Broadcast area	Pittsburgh and all of Western, Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania, all of West Virginia except the eastern panhandle counties (metro D.C.), eastern and southeastern Ohio, western Maryland and the extreme eastern counties of Kentucky (see Armstrong Group Cable) Nationally via Satellite
Formerly called	KBL Entertainment Network (1986–1994) Prime Sports KBL (1994–1996) Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (1996–2004) FSN Pittsburgh (2004–2011)
Website	http://pittsburgh.rootsports.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	659 (SD/HD)
Dish Network	428 (SD+HD for selected programming)
Cable
Available on select cable systems	Check local listings for channels
Comcast	843 (HD)
Verizon FiOS	76 (SD), 576 (HD)

Root Sports Pittsburgh is a regional sports network owned and operated by DirecTV Sports Networks and affiliated with Fox Sports Networks. Root Sports is the cable home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins. The network reaches more than 2.4 million viewers in six states and delivers more than 350 live events each year - all of which are also available in high definition

History

The channel first aired in the Pittsburgh metro area on April 13, 1986 as Pirates Cable Network with a Mike Lange announced Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs from Three Rivers Stadium, but then went off air until resuming continuous broadcast on April 24, 1986 in the then five county Pittsburgh Metro Area with its first regular broadcast being a Pirates game vs. the New York Mets from Three Rivers. At this point, the name was changed to KBL so that other sports could be included. On May 9, 1986 KBL expanded close to its modern day six-state broadcast area.

It was initially owned by TCI (now part of Comcast), then the Pittsburgh market's largest cable television provider. During TCI ownership, while KBL showed primarily sports-related programming, the station also served as a general entertainment station, essentially taking the spot from former independent station WPGH-TV when that station became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company around the time KBL went on the air. It aired children's programming during parts of the day, including reruns of the John Candy series Camp Candy.

TCI sold the station in 1994 to Prime Network, who immediately dropped all the non-sports related programming and made KBL a network of Prime SportsChannel America when Prime and SportsChannel America merged. In 1995, Prime Network's retail subsidary, Prime Sports Merchandising, purchased some sports apparel stores located inside shopping malls and rebranded them as Prime Sports Shops, promoting them on its networks including KBL. In 1996, News Corporation bought out Prime SportsChannel and changed KBL to Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh, with the retail stores keeping the Prime Sports name for many years after the Fox Sports re-branding of the parent networks.

In 2006, News Corporation transitioned FSN Pittsburgh to Liberty Media, the former parent of Prime Network, in a stock swap between the two companies of the DirecTV stock.^{citation needed}

On May 4, 2009, The DirecTV Group Inc. said it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off as a separate company called DirecTV which would own FSN Pittsburgh.

In December 2010, the name "Root Sports" was chosen for three DirecTV Sports Networks, including FSN Pittsburgh. The rebranding was launched on April 1, 2011 with the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

On April 27, 2011, Root Sports Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Penguins reached a 20-year contract extension that lasts until the end of the 2028-2029 NHL season.

Sports

Professional

• Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
• Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
• Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)

College

• Big East Men's & Women's Basketball (via ESPN Plus)
• Northeast Conference Basketball
• ACC Men's & Women's Basketball
• Big 12 Women's Basketball
• Pac-10 Men's & Women's Basketball
• California University of Pennsylvania Football, Mens & Women's Basketball

High School

• WPIAL High School Football

Regions Served

Root Sports Pittsburgh serves nearly all of Pennsylvania outside of the Philadelphia market, most of West Virginia, western Maryland, eastern and southeastern Ohio and New York, as well as Ashland, Kentucky.

Programming

National programming

• The Dan Patrick Show
• Bellator Fighting Championships
• Final Score
• Top Rank Boxing
• Sports Science
• UEFA Champions League Soccer
• Barclays Premier League Soccer
• Oscar DeLa Hoya’s Fight Night Club
• Pokerstars.net Million Dollar Challenge
• World Team Poker
• World Poker Tour: Seasons 1, 7 & 8
• XTERRA Eco Adventures
• Jay Glazer’s Training Camp Party
• The After Party with Jay Glazer
• Profiles
• Baseball’s Golden Age
• Women’s Professional Soccer
• Red Bull Air Race World Championships
• Atlantic Coast Conference Men's College Basketball - Sunday nights
• Big 12 College Football
• Pac-10 College Football
• Pac-10 Men's College Basketball - Thursdays, Saturdays, Sunday nights, and Pac-10 Conference Tournament
• Women's College Basketball from the Big 12, Pac-10 and ACC

Exclusive programming

• Pittsburgh Pirates live broadcasts - Over 150 Regular Season Games
  • Pregame and Postgame shows
  • Pirates Instant Replay - replayed broadcasts
  • Inside Pirates Baseball
  • Spring Training Games

• Pittsburgh Penguins live broadcasts
  • Pregame and Postgame shows
  • Penguins Rewind - replayed broadcasts
  • Penguins Instant Replay - replayed broadcasts
  • Inside Penguins Hockey
  • Stanley Cup Playoffs - Live Coverage

• Pittsburgh Steelers news
  • Mike Tomlin Press Conferences - Hosted by Stan Savran
  • The Mike Tomlin Show - Hosted by Stan Savran

• College football
  • Pittsburgh Panthers - Tuesday press conference
  • West Virginia Mountaineers - Tuesday press conference
  • Penn State Nittany Lions - Penn State Story
  • Notre Dame - Inside Notre Dame Football
  • Marshall University - Marshall Football Today

• College basketball
  • Pittsburgh Panthers - live broadcasts
  • West Virginia Mountaineers - live broadcasts
  • Robert Morris - live broadcasts
  • Duquesne University - Live Broadcasts
  • Notre Dame - Inside Notre Dame Basketball
  • Marshall University - Marshall Basketball Today

• High School Sports
  • McDonald’s High School Football - Thursday and Friday night live broadcasts
  • WPIAL Football Championships
  • Trib Total Media High School Edition

• PIHL Hockey
  • PIHL Penguins Cup

Personalities

Pittsburgh Penguins

• Paul Steigerwald (Play-by-play)
• Bob Errey (Color-commentator)
• Dan Potash (Sideline reporter for Pirates, Penguins, University of Pittsburgh)
• Jay Caufield (Studio analyst)

Pittsburgh Pirates

• Tim Neverett (Play-by-play)
• Greg Brown (Play-by-play)
• Bob Walk (Color-commentator)
• John Wehner (Color-commentator for road games only)
• Steve Blass (Color-commentator for home games only)
• Kent Tekulve (Studio analyst)

Anchors/Reporters

• Stan Savran
• Rob King
• Dan Potash
• Paul Alexander
• Robby Incmikoski

Former Personalities

• Lanny Frattare (Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play; Retired)
• Trenni Kusnierek (now with Comcast Sportsnet New England)
• Ryan Burr (now with the Golf Channel)
• Brent Stover (now with Big Ten Network)
• Pat Parris (now with Fox Sports Midwest)
• Guy Junker (now with WTAE-TV and WBGG (AM))
• Marshall Harris (now with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia)
• Mike Lange (Pittsburgh Penguins play-by-play, now with Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network)
• Rob Nikoleski
• Stephanie Gabos
• Keith Wilson
• Lacee Collins

External links

• Root Sports Pittsburgh