Ending a two-season absence with the club, Time Warner Cable will again present regional telecasts of San Diego Padres games.
Rights-holder Fox Sports San Diego and the nation’s No. 2 cable operator have reached a carriage agreement to launch the RSN on March 30 in the nation's 28th largest DMA and surrounding areas.
After San Diego starts its season on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 30 at Petco Park, Fox Sports San Diego will begin its Padres’ game schedule on April 1 against their NL West rivals to the north.
The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, completes Fox Sports San Diego’s distribution roster. Fox reached an affiliated pact with former rights-holder Cox Communications -- which televised the team's games from 1997 through 2011 -- for full carriage throughout the 2012 campaign and scored a deal for game and pre- and post-game fare with DirecTV. AT&T U-verse completed a contract late in the 2012 season. DirecTV launched the full RSN service the following year and Dish Network came on board for the entire 2013 campaign.
“We’re happy for the many Padres fans who are Time Warner Cable customers who now will be able to follow their hometown baseball team on TV all season long,” said Henry Ford, senior vice president and general manager, Fox Sports San Diego, in a statement. “With this agreement, Padres baseball will now be available in more homes in San Diego than ever before.”
Noted Time Warner Cable senior vice president of content acquisition Jennifer Chun: “We’re pleased to have reached a reasonable long-term agreement for Fox Sports San Diego, and we look forward to launching this network in the near future.”
The MSO will announce channel positioning at a later date.
Fox Sports acquired the Padres' rights in a deal reportedly valued at some $1 billion over 20 years, plus an equity stake in the RSN.
