MASN has picked up 30,000 more potential viewers with an
affiliation agreement with Fibrant, a new cable and broadband operator offering
service to Salisbury, N.C.
Starting next month, Fibrant will carry MASN
and MASN 2, as well as HD versions of each, on expanded basic. MASN 2
is an "overflow" channel that allows the sports net to air games from
both times when they are played simultaneously. The rest of the time it carries
ESPN2 programming.
Fibrant marks the ninth North Carolina system to launch the
regional sports net, which carries games of the Washington Nationals and
Baltimore Orioles, as well as college football and basketball of interest to
the state including games of a dozen NCAA sports in the Carolinas (Wake Forest,
East Carolina, and North Carolina State among them).
Also carrying the net in North Carolina are Mediacom, Charter, MI
Connections, Reds Cable, SkyBest and Tri County Cable, as well as DirecTV
and DISH.
MASN now reaches about six million homes on 25 systems in
seven states.
"North Carolina is a great sports marketplace with a lot of
passionate fans, and MASN is excited to return nightly major league
baseball to central North Carolina," said MASN spokesman Todd
Webster. MASN and Time Warner have been in a years-long dispute over
carriage of the network in North Carolina.
