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MSG Western New York is available on cable providers throughout Western New York. Most programming is available nationwide on satellite via DirecTV.
History
After the collapse of Empire Sports Network and its parent Adelphia,[1] MSG bought the rights to the Buffalo Sabres in 2006 under a 10-year deal; where telecasts are controlled by the team via the Sabres Hockey Network, including the sale of advertising, and the simulcast of Rick Jeanneret's commentary on both radio and television (although, during the 2015-16 season, the team experimented with having separate commentary teams on radio and television for selected games, which the Buffalo News speculated was in preparation for Jeanneret's eventual retirement), conditions that the Sabres always make as part of their telecast deals going back to the days of Empire.[2][3] After acquiring the rights, MSG divided its network into three regional broadcast "zones"; Sabres games were available within "Zone 3", which covered Buffalo and Rochester, and "Zone 2", the remainder of the state excluding Buffalo, Rochester, and New York City—which was shared by the Sabres, Devils, Islanders, and Rangers. The exact channel assignment for Sabres games varied by region (some games were carried by FSN New York in Zone 2), but all games were carried on the main MSG Network service within Zone 3.[4][5]
The Buffalo Sabres' regional television ratings are among the highest in the league; in the 2015-16 season, despite the team's poor overall performance, fan enthusiasm over star prospect Jack Eichel helped the team achieve the highest average regional viewership of all NHL teams for the first time since 2008-09, with a 6.55 share.[6] National telecasts on NBC and NBCSN have also had notably high ratings in Buffalo.[7][8]
It was speculated that Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which had recently bought the Sabres, Rochester Americans, Buffalo Bandits and Buffalo Bills, was planning to take advantage of the high viewership by establishing a team-owned regional sports network once the Sabres' existing television contract with MSG expired. The Buffalo News's Alan Pergament also acknowledged the impending end of the Sabres and Bills' radio contracts with WGR as a possibility that the group could, potentially, acquire a radio station to serve as a team-owned radio outlet if it is unable to renew its contract with Entercom (Entercom had purchased the Sabres' previous owned-and-operated station, 107.7 WNSA, in 2004, and merged its remaining programming onto WGR). Pegula eventually secured a contract extension with Entercom keeping the Bills and Sabres on WGR through the spring of 2021.[9] However, in regards to television, he felt that it was more likely for Pegula to partner with MSG to form a full-time, Buffalo-specific feed of MSG Network with additional local programming, rather than actually establishing a new, standalone outlet.[3][10]
Basically, what we have done is create our own platform, which is stronger because we already have the distribution on MSG, we have the benefit of MSG programming on there and the benefit of the platform of producing as much programming as we feel comfortable.
On June 20, 2016, Pegula announced that it had entered into a joint venture with MSG to establish a new service known as MSG Western New York. The channel, a sub-feed of MSG Network took over the former MSG Zone 3/Sabres game only channel, replacing the parent channel within the Sabres existing television market—which was also, notably, expanded to include the entirety of Rochester.[11] The arrangement allows Pegula access to MSG's existing distribution and statewide programming, while allowing opt-outs for an expanded slate of local programming dedicated to the Bills and Sabres, which is produced and controlled by Pegula. MSG as part of the agreement pays $19 to $20 million per-year in rights fees to broadcast Sabres games and programming, as well as Buffalo Bills programming; it is nearly double the value of the previous Sabres deal. As with the previous deal, Pegula controls team programming on the network, including advertising sales and production (which is handled through PSE's production wing PicSix Creative), and receives all advertising revenue, while MSG collects the retransmission consent fee. Besides original programming and broadcasts exclusive to MSG WNY, the network also carries selected programming from the main MSG Network channel.[6]
Pegula's executive vice president of media and content Mark Preisler explained that the deal was an alternative to establishing a new regional sports network from scratch, as the company would be able to expand on its relationship with MSG as a long-standing partner by leveraging its infrastructure and distribution, rather than needing to invest in building a network and negotiating carriage with television providers.[6][12]
The first promos seen for the channel ran during a Bills preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts on August 13, 2016 promoting its Bills programming. The channel debuted on September 10, 2016 at 8:00pm with a Western New York cut in showing the 2016 debut of The Rex Ryan Show and a special behind the scenes feature called Rex and Rob Reunited at 8:30 and 9pm, the daily feed followed on October 3.[13]
On April 4, 2017, news broke that James L. Dolan, controlling owner of MSG, was exploring the sale of his regional sports networks, including his share of MSG Western New York.[14]
On August 28, 2023, Pegula Sports and Entertainment was dissolved, with the Bills and Hockey Western New York LLC (the holding company that owns the Sabres, Americans and Bandits) becoming separate business entities and Terry Pegula assuming Presidency of the Sabres organization.[15]
On August 28, 2024, MSG Networks, along with the YES Network announced a combined streaming app for their teams called the Gotham Sports App. Their television rights are not affected.[16]
Programming
The network carries team programming related to the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills; the former including all 70 regional Sabres games and the latter including local Bills shows formerly aired by WKBW-TV; preseason telecasts began to be simulcast with WKBW beginning in 2017. In addition, the channel simulcasts The Instigators (formerly known as Sabres Hockey Hotline)[17] and One Bills Live (formerly known as The John Murphy Show) from WGR radio as part of a five-hour weekday block, originating from studios (dubbed the One Buffalo studios) at Highmark Stadium; Murphy's program was moved from the evening to the afternoon and had a co-host added. As an aspect of the overall deal, PSE agreed in principle to extend its radio rights with WGR.[citation needed]
MSG Western New York added a package of five Rochester Americans contests beginning in December 2016, moving the team's television broadcasts to MSG WNY from the moribund Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.[18] Select away playoff games are aired by the channel if the team is playing in a market where the home team has a television partner to simulcast from such as Leafs Nation Network for the Toronto Marlies. On September 7, 2017, it was announced that the channel would begin airing select Monsignor Martin Athletic Association high school football games produced by Pegula as part of a multi-year deal, including a three-game showcase at New Era Field.[19] The high school coverage moved exclusively online for 2018.[20][6] The remainder of MSG WNY's schedule consists of programming from the main MSG Network schedule, such as New York Knicks basketball.[6][11] In turn, MSG also has rights to air the Pegula-produced original programming and game converge on its other networks.[6][11]
In 2018, MSG-produced Bills preseason telecasts moved to the stations of Nexstar Media Group in all media markets outside Buffalo. As the Bills could not break their existing contract with WKBW in Buffalo, the rights in that city did not change until 2021, when Nexstar-owned WIVB-TV would begin carrying the games.[21]
Original programming
Hockey
Beyond Blue & Gold — a periodical Sabres magazine show that debuted in 2013[22]
The Instigators — daily talk show co-hosted by Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet with regular contributor Martin Biron; simulcast on WGR (formerly known as Sabres Hockey Hotline, Tuesday through Friday)
Both of the two primary cable providers in Western New York, Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable, which covers the vast majority of the state) and Atlantic Broadband (which covers a small portion of Cattaraugus County) have carried the network from its inception.
DirecTV
On August 10, 2016, the debut night of MSG Western New York it was revealed that DirecTV would not be running the network's full programming schedule.[30] The Sabres noted that MSG made the programming available to DirecTV but the provider was not willing to carry it.[31] This made MSG WNY a part-time channel on DirecTV with the provider continuing to air the channel as a game only service showing Sabres games only. For the 2017 NFL season, DirecTV began showing Bills All Access and irregularly showing the first runs of The Sean McDermott Show and Bills Tonight in addition to the Sabres games that the channel airs. A week later DirecTV began showing The Instigators and The John Murphy Show. DirecTV happens to be the service that Pegula owned properties like 716 Food and Sport, a sports bar and grill in downtown Buffalo use.
Dish Network
MSG Western New York, like MSG and MSG Sportsnet, is unavailable on Dish Network. As part of an ongoing feud with the family of Charles Dolan (owners of MSG), Dish has not carried any MSG network channel since the last agreement expired on October 1, 2010.[32]
Over-the-top services
FuboTV added the MSG networks for the fall 2017 season.[33]
MSG launched a standalone over-the-top service MSG+, which includes MSG Western New York within the Sabres' broadcast territory, in 2023.[34] It is slated to be merged into Gotham Sports, a joint venture with MSG and YES Network, some time in 2025.[35][36]
WWKB is a commercial radio station in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts a sports gambling format and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by Audacy in the Buffalo radio market, with WGR primarily broadcasting local sports programming. The studios are on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, New York. The station used the WKBW callsign from its 1926 founding until 1986, and had periods broadcasting pop-rock music and talk radio.
WGRZ is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo, and its transmitter is located on Warner Hill Road in South Wales, New York.
WIVB-TV is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WNLO. WIVB-TV and WNLO share studios on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WNLO's spectrum from a tower in Colden, New York.
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, Diamond Sports Group, Amazon, and The Blackstone Group, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company, which each own 13%. Primarily serving New York City, New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, it broadcasts a variety of sports events, as well as magazine, documentary and discussion programs; however, its main emphasis is focused on games and team-related programs involving the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.
The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by Sphere Entertainment.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation.
WBBZ-TV is a television station licensed to Springville, New York, United States, serving the Buffalo area. It has a primary affiliation with MeTV, but is otherwise programmed as an independent station. WBBZ-TV is owned by ITV of Buffalo, a company controlled by former news photographer Philip A. Arno. The station's studios are located at the Eastern Hills Mall in the town of Clarence, and its transmitter is located near Springville in the hills of southern Erie County.
WGR is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—utilized by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Hamburg.
Empire Sports Network was an American regional sports network that was owned by the Adelphia Communications Corporation. The network was available on cable providers in much of upstate New York, as well as parts of northern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The network ceased operations on March 7, 2005, in the midst of Adelphia's financial collapse and bankruptcy.
Altitude Sports and Entertainment is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, features a mix of professional, collegiate, and high school sporting events as well as some entertainment-based programming.
A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer. Minor league sports, College sports, and High school sports, may also be shown on such networks and are less commonly a focus of a channel such as the Longhorn Network and a few defunct Spectrum Sports channels such as Spectrum Sports and Spectrum Sports (Wisconsin).
WLKK is an American radio station located in Wethersfield, New York. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. It operates from studios at Audacy's Buffalo offices in Amherst, New York, with a transmitter located southwest of Warsaw.. Perhaps at least partly because of the station's unique ability to cover both the Buffalo and the Rochester radio markets with one rimshot signal, WLKK is known for its frequent format changes. Since the early 1980s, the station has changed formats approximately once every four to seven years. Its current format is country music, branded as "107.7 & 104.7 The Wolf".
MSG Sportsnet is an American regional sports network owned by Sphere Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cover the entire state of New York, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut and Northeastern Pennsylvania; MSG Sportsnet carries sports events from several of the New York area's professional sports franchises, as well as college sports events.
Spectrum Sports was a network of regional sports cable television stations serving much of the upstate New York area. The stations, which were owned and operated by Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016, were available in Rochester, Binghamton, Syracuse and Buffalo. The network broadcast a variety of local college and minor league sports games and was the de facto successor to the Buffalo-based Empire Sports Network. Unlike most regional sports networks, Spectrum Sports was never available on satellite television, nor was it available in areas of upstate that are served by companies other than Charter Spectrum/Time Warner Cable.
John Murphy is an American former sportscaster from Buffalo, New York. He is best known as the former voice of the Buffalo Bills Radio Network and host of One Bills Live on WGR and MSG Western New York. In addition to the Bills, he also served as commentator for the Buffalo Bisons, Canisius College Golden Griffins, Buffalo Bulls and Niagara University Purple Eagles in the 1980s.
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Terrence Michael Pegula is an American billionaire businessman and petroleum engineer. He is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and, with his wife Kim Pegula, the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He is also the president of both franchises. Amassing his fortune via investments in fracking, Pegula has interests in natural gas development, real estate, entertainment, and professional sports. His net worth is over $7 billion.
Kim S. Pegula is a South Korean-born American former businesswoman and the wife of American multibillionaire Terry Pegula. She was the president of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the holding company that managed the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League and the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, in addition to several other minor league sports teams and entertainment assets. By extension she was the president of several teams under Pegula Sports and Entertainment, including the Bills and Sabres; Pegula, Shahid Khan, Zygi Wilf were the only three NFL team owners who were not born in the United States. Pegula Sports and Entertainment was dissolved in 2023, following an incapacitating stroke she suffered the year prior.
Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) was an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after billionaire Terry Pegula combined his sports, property and entertainment assets into one company. The company's assets include the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League, the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, and the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. The company was operated by Kim Pegula, Terry's wife, as president and CEO.
The 2018 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2018, at Citi Field in the New York City borough of Queens. The tenth edition of the Winter Classic, the game featured the New York Rangers at the Buffalo Sabres; the Rangers won, 3–2, on an overtime goal by J. T. Miller. The game marked the 10th anniversary of the Winter Classic.
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