Courtesy Stamford Advocate

(January 6, 2010) It isn't nearly as big as the Red Sox beating the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs or winning two World Series in the past six seasons, but the news Monday that the cable network carrying their games is finally available here had fans cheering.

Cablevision added the New England Sports Network, which carries Red Sox games and analysis along with Boston Bruins hockey, to its "family basic'' lineup after years of lobbying by Milford officials and customers.

The addition, which took effect Dec. 29, is only in Milford, Orange and Woodbridge, Cablevision officials said. The rest of its service area is in Fairfield County, which is in the New York Yankees' home market.

Until NESN was added to the cable lineup here, Milford residents could only see Red Sox games when they were nationally televised on broadcast networks, or by buying a satellite dish or switching to AT&T's Uverse service.

"This means that Cablevision is an option again,'' team fan John Profetto said. "They kept coming to the door saying that they could save me money, but I'd tell them `unless you carry the Red Sox you can't do anything for me.''

But Profetto, an owner of The Rainbow Gardens Restaurant, made a business decision to keep DISH Network but get Cablevision in the bar so his customers who wanted to watch the Yankees could see their games.

"This is going to get some customers back for Cablevision,'' he said.

Jennifer Young, the governmental affairs director for Cablevision in Bethpage, N.Y. said, in a letter, that NESN's standard definition service is on Channel 65 and NESN HD occupies Channel 721. Customers are being notified through billing inserts and on-screen notices, Young told the state Department of Public Utilities Control.

Still, for something that a good number of residents have been clamoring for, the announcement has been rather low-key.

"It's already on?'' John O'Connell, the former aide to Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr., asked Monday.

"When I was in the mayor's office we'd get complaints from people who wanted to see Red Sox games but couldn't. I'd blame him," joked O'Connell, now the city's personnel director.

Richetelli, a Yankees fan, twice appealed to Cablevision and the DPUC trying to get NESN added to the cable lineup here. The mayor's secretary, Elinor Gregory, is also a fan of the team.

"I found it by accident yesterday,'' Gregory said. "I went back to that channel a few hours later and it was still there. It's a huge marketing thing for them, I'm surprised there hasn't been more notice about it."

O'Connell said local Red Sox fans had the option last year of buying a $170 "season ticket'' to Major League Baseball games on cable, which provided five games involving different teams each night. "But the split-second the game was over, they'd be off. No commentary, interviews or analysis,'' he said.

Gregory said that a friend of hers had signed up for another package, at MLB.com, that provided video streaming of all major league games, including the Red Sox. Those options, while expensive, avoided the market blackout rules that sometimes kept the team off of national broadcasts here.

NESN spokesman Gary Roy said the network already has a business relationship with Cablevision in the Litchfield area.

"The home team territory is decided by zip code, and all of Fairfield County is part of the "inner New York'' market for sports. "But Milford is within the territory of both the Boston and New York markets."

According to its web site, NESN is the most-watched regional sports network in the country. It carries Boston College football and college hockey games from several colleges including Harvard University, as well as original programming like "Charlie Moore Outdoors,'' a fishing show.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Accelerate Your Sports Broadcasting Career

Meet Employers

Secrets Revealed

Radio Demos, Resumes

TV Demos, Resumes

Sports Broadcasting Books

Sportscastings Jobs

Show Prep Links