MSG Network

MSG and MSG Plus also broadcast basketball games from the Metro Atlantic Athletic, Northeast, America East and Atlantic Coast Conferences; football games from the Southeastern Conference; and football and basketball games from the Pac-10 and Big 12 Conferences (with basketball games from the latter exclusive to women's teams). The Pac-10, Big 12 and ACC telecasts are carried though Fox Sports Networks (which maintains national broadcast rights to all three conferences), while the other games are either produced by the conferences themselves or through ESPN Plus. Additionally, MSG offers locally produced games from Hofstra University and other area colleges.

MSG formerly carried games from the Big East Conference, along with the coaches shows for Rutgers and St. John's University. In July 2008, the Big East and SportsNet New York announced a multi-year deal which gave SNY exclusive regional rights to Big East coaches shows and ESPN Plus-produced games.[10] However, MSG retains rights to a reduced schedule of Big East games, including any St. John's basketball games played at Madison Square Garden.

MSG, NY, a daily sports highlights and entertainment program which served as the network's flagship program, debuted in October 2006. Aired numerous times during the day, the program originated as the sports-focused MSG Sportsdesk, until a format change that occurred as part of MSG's 2006 rebranding and reformatting in which sporting events remain the primary focus while a secondary focus was placed on all events at Madison Square Garden.

The show however, gave expanded coverage to area sports teams that the channel holds game telecast rights; other New York City area teams were covered on the program, usually to a lesser extent. Along with coverage of Garden-related entertainment news, this was intended to prevent direct competition with SportsNite on SportsNet New York. MSG, NY was taped inside a street-level studio, with a window overlooking Madison Square Garden across the street. The program originally aired as a half-hour broadcast on Tuesday through Saturdays (with no editions on Sundays and Mondays, possibly as they were considered "low-viewership nights"), before expanding to an hour-long nightly broadcast in 2008, based on improved ratings over its predecessor Sportsdesk.[11] The studio is also used by SiTV Media Fuse. The show was cancelled in January 2009, due to the declining ratings; in its place, MSG usually offers team-specific post-game shows.

• The 50 Greatest Moments at Madison Square Garden – debuted in October 2006, the program looks at the historic sports and non-sports-related events that have been held at Madison Square Garden.
• MSG Originals – a series of programs expanding on 50 Greatest Moments to further discuss the history of Madison Square Garden, that debuted in 2007. Topics include Mecca of Boxing and Spring of 1994.
• MSG Vault – a series that debuted in 2006, featuring classic Knicks and Rangers games (among other events held at the Garden) from previous decades. In some cases, MSG no longer has complete tapes of the games, and so the content often consists of highlights; more recent episodes have seen Rangers and Knicks related content not originally produced by the channel. In launching MSG Vault, MSG indicated that it has over 90,000 tapes of Garden events in its archive. As noted, some tapes prior to the 1990s are incomplete (parts of events may have been taped over or erased). Hosted by Al Trautwig, "The Vault" remains one of MSG's most popular programs, with a cult-like following of viewers from all ages. Trautwig, along with a usual guest that pertains to the theme of the program, often describes the story about how the footage was found and other interesting info.[12] Buffalo Sabres archival content is occasionally broadcast, but less often and is shown as a separate program, generally hosted by Kevin Sylvester.
• WWE MSG Classics – debuted in 2006, it airs WWE Classic matches that have been held at Madison Square Garden, hosted by "Mean Gene" Okerlund.
• TXT MSG – a series highlighting classic sports events from MSG's library that debuted in 2010, which are reviewed in the style of Pop Up Video.
• 30 for 30 – Reruns of the ESPN Films series.

• Inside the Knicks – a weekly Knicks magazine show that debuted in 2005.
• SummerBall – debuted in 2006, a series that highlights the major summer basketball leagues in New York City, featuring Hoops in the Sun at Orchard Beach, Dyckman and the Uptowners Basketball League, and especially the EBC at Rucker Park; hosted by Michael Bivins.
• Friday Night Knicks – special Friday night New York Knicks games.

• Giants Opening Drive Live – a preview show hosted by Harry Carson and Anita Marks.
• Giants Game Day – a pregame show hosted by Bob Papa.
• Giants Chronicles – a 30-minute taped program that offers an in-depth look at the career of a Giants legend, hosted by Bob Papa.
• Coach's Press Conference – a weekly press conference with the Giants head coach.

• Inside the Rangers – a weekly Rangers magazine show that debuted in 2006.
• Islanders Illustrated – a monthly Islanders magazine show (2008–2009)
• Hockey Night Live! – a week-in-review show focusing on the Rangers; Islanders; Devils and Sabres that originally debuted in 2005 as Hockey Night New York Live, and was renamed to its current title in 2007, airing on Saturday nights during the NHL season. Al Trautwig is the primary host, with Ron Duguay, Mike Keenan, Stan Fischler, Dave Maloney, Ken Daneyko, Butch Goring, Steve Valiquette and John MacLean among the analysts.
• Beyond Blue & Gold — a periodical Sabres magazine show that debuted in 2013[13]

• High School Weekly – one of MSG's longest-running shows, focusing on high school football and basketball games from around the region, hosted by Mike Quick. Many NFL, NBA and WNBA athletes have appeared on the show during their high school days.
• High School Game of the Week – a weekly tape delayed broadcast of a high school football, basketball or lacrosse game from various parts of the New York City metropolitan area; the games typically feature schools from the suburbs (where MSG's sister company and former parent, Cablevision, serves as the dominant cable provider), or private schools in New York City proper. Selected games air live, such as the annual PSAL basketball championship at MSG, and occasional holiday football or basketball rivalry games. MSG Western New York also carries a high school game of the week, under its own brand High School Coverage focusing solely on the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association.
• The LAX Report – a local high school lacrosse show similar to High School Weekly that debuted in 2006, and is hosted by Mike Quick.

MSG's website, MSGNetworks.com, has offered exclusive podcast programming since 2006. These include:

• This Week in Hockey – debuted in 2006, it features guests from around the NHL and from MSG Networks, including Stan Fischler, Joe Micheletti, and a fantasy hockey perspective provided by the RinkRat.
• Batt'r Up! – debuted in 2006, it is a weekly baseball podcast hosted by Matt Loughlin and longtime baseball analyst Fran Healy, with guests from around Major League Baseball, and fantasy advice from The Knuckler. New York Post columnist and MSG baseball analyst Joel Sherman also contributes to the program.
• CenterCourt – debuted in 2006, is an all-basketball podcast hosted by Gus Johnson and featuring John Andariese and Walt "Clyde" Frazier. Johnson recaps NBA news and offers fantasy advice, while Frazier answers fan emails in a segment called "Dishin and Swishin" and Andariese tells basketball stories in the segment "Tall Tales". David Dominik hosts the "Three-Point Play" segment and conducts the "One-on-One" interviews with major NBA players.

• Halls of Fame – hosted by Fran Healy, the program features interviews with famous players and coaches from a variety of sports.
• The Game 365 (beginning in 2017 the show was changed to Focused) – hosted by Fran Healy, the program features profiles and interviews of players and coaches with the backdrop of following each episode's guest around for a day in his/her athletic environment.
• Hahn, Humpty & Canty – an in-studio simulcast of the midday radio show from New York City sports talk station WEPN-FM (98.7), hosted by Alan Hahn, Rick DiPietro and Chris Canty.
• 4 Courses – a general entertainment, half-hour talk show hosted by J. B. Smoove.
• The Mask – a general entertainment, half-hour talk show hosted by Henrik Lundqvist.
• People Talking Sports* (*and Other Stuff) — a general entertainment, half-hour late-night talk show hosted by Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson.[14][15]
• Follow the Money - Talk show carried on tape delay from Brent Musburger's Vegas Stats & Information Network.
• The MSG 150 - 150-minute news and discussion program.

• Boomer and Carton in the Morning – an in-studio simulcast of the morning radio show from New York City sports talk station WFAN (660 AM). The show later moved to CBS Sports Network.

From 1989 to 2001, the channel held cable television rights to the New York Yankees Major League Baseball franchise. MSG paid an average of $55 million a year for the broadcast rights, a deal that is widely credited with starting a national trend towards greater team coverage on regional sports networks, with more games being broadcast than the programming schedules of broadcast television stations could usually permit due to other programming commitments. MSG also produced radio broadcasts of Yankees games from 1994 to 2001, which aired on WABC (770 AM). MSG also held the over-the-air broadcast rights to Yankee games, which it sold to longtime broadcaster, independent station (later a WB affiliate) WPIX channel 11 from 1989 to 1998 and Fox owned-and-operated station WNYW (channel 5) from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, the Yankees terminated their agreement with MSG to form its own regional sports network, YES Network.

From 2002 to 2005, MSG held rights to Tuesday and Wednesday night games from the New York Mets, obtaining the rights from Fox Sports Net New York (MSG, Fox Sports New York and WPIX each carried about 50 games a season on consistent days of the week). Like the Yankees deal, MSG also maintained broadcast television rights, placing games on WWOR-TV (channel 9) before the games moved to WPIX in 1999.

Mets games moved to SportsNet New York, a regional sports network that is partially owned by the team (Comcast and Spectrum, which generally provide cable service to certain parts of the New York City metropolitan area – and in Spectrum's case, most of upstate New York – not served by Cablevision, are the other partners), after the 2005 season; although, WPIX retained rights to a reduced slate of games.

• Steve Cangialosi – Devils play-by-play announcer
• Ken Daneyko – Devils color analyst
• Erika Wachter – Devils studio host; Liberty home games sideline reporter
• Bryce Salvador – Devils studio analyst

• Brendan Burke – Islanders play-by-play announcer
• Jiggs McDonald – Islanders alternate play-by-play announcer
• Butch Goring – Islanders color analyst
• Shannon Hogan – Islanders host/reporter
• Stan Fischler – hockey analyst

• Sam Rosen – Rangers play-by-play announcer
• Joe Micheletti – Rangers color analyst
• John Giannone – Rangers rinkside reporter and fill-in play-by-play announcer; Inside the Rangers
• Bill Pidto – Studio host for Rangers and Knicks road games[16]
• Anson Carter – Rangers studio analyst
• Steve Valiquette - Rangers studio analyst
• Dave Maloney – Rangers studio/color analyst and fill-in rinkside reporter

• Rick Jeanneret – Sabres play-by-play announcer
• Dan Dunleavy – Sabres alternate play-by-play announcer
• Rob Ray – Sabres color analyst
• Brian Duff – Sabres studio host
• Martin Biron – Sabres studio analyst

• Kenny Albert – Knicks alternate play-by-play announcer
• Mike Breen – Knicks play-by-play announcer
• Swin Cash – Knicks studio analyst
• Ed Cohen – Liberty play-by-play announcer
• Walt Frazier – Knicks game color analyst
• Alan Hahn – Knicks studio analyst
• Rebecca Haarlow – Knicks sideline reporter
• Jill Martin – Knicks sideline reporter; host of "New York Minute" halftime segment (home games only)
• Wally Szczerbiak – Knicks studio analyst, alternate color analyst
• Al Trautwig – Rangers and Knicks studio host; host of New York Hockey Night Live and Inside the Knicks
• Julianne Viani – Liberty game color analyst

• Steve Cangialosi – Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
• Shep Messing – Red Bulls color analyst
• Michelle Gingras – Red Bulls sideline reporter and studio host; host of Red Bulls Insider
• Kristian Dyer – Red Bulls insider and studio analyst
• Jonathan Yardley – Red Bulls alternate play-by-play announcer and studio analyst

• Fran Healy – host of Halls of Fame and The Game 365

• Kenny Albert – Rangers primary play-by-play announcer
• Brendan Brown – Knicks radio color analyst
• Bill Daughtry – Knicks studio host
• Don La Greca – Rangers studio host and fill-in Rangers play-by-play announcer
• Dave Maloney – Rangers color analyst
• Matt Harmon - Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
• Steve Jolley - Red Bulls color analyst

• Roberto Abramowitz - Spanish-language play-by-play announcer
• Marv Albert – Knicks and Rangers play-by-play announcer; MSG SportsDesk anchor (now with TNT)
• John Andariese – Knicks radio and TV color analyst (deceased)
• Gary Apple – MSG SportsDesk anchor (now with SportsNet New York)
• Bill Chadwick – Rangers radio and TV color analyst (deceased)
• Jonathan Coachman – MSG, NY host; Knicks pre-game and halftime host, Liberty play-by-play announcer
• Doug Collins – Knicks color analyst (early 2000s; now with ESPN)
• Mike Crispino – Knicks alternate play-by-play announcer[17]
• John Davidson – Rangers color announcer (now president of the New York Rangers)
• JP Dellacamera – Red Bulls play-by-play announcer (now with ESPN)
• Mike "Doc" Emrick – Devils play-by-play announcer (now NHL play-by-play announcer for NBC and NBCSN)
• Danny Gare – Sabres studio analyst
• Jim Gordon – Rangers TV play-by-play announcer (deceased)
• Keith Hernandez – Mets color analyst (now with SportsNet New York)
• Gus Johnson – Knicks Radio play-by-play announcer (now with CBS Sports, Fox Sports and Big Ten Network)
• Jim Kaat – Yankees color announcer (left for YES Network; now analyst with MLB Network)
• Michael Kay – Yankees reporter and pre-game host (now with YES Network and WEPN-FM)
• Tony Kubek – Yankees announcer
• Jim Lorentz – Sabres color analyst
• Brad May – Sabres studio analyst
• Curt Menefee – Unnecessary Roughness host and MSG SportsDesk lead anchor (now with Fox Sports)
• Harry Neale – Sabres color analyst
• Bob Page – MSG SportsDesk anchor
• Glenn "Chico" Resch – Devils color analyst
• Mike Robitaille – Sabres studio analyst
• Malik Rose – Knicks halftime studio analyst (now with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia)
• Spencer Ross – Knicks studio host; Fill-in Knicks radio play-by-play announcer
• Dave Sims - Knicks Post Game, Hosted a Simulcast of 66 WNBC SportsNight 1986–1988, Host of GameFace on MSG Metro Channel June 2000 - December 2001
• Ken Singleton – Yankees color announcer (now with YES Network)
• Kenny Smith – Knicks color analyst (2005–08, concurrent with his time with TNT) (now with TNT)
• Tommy Smyth – Red Bulls color analyst (now with ESPN)
• Kevin Sylvester – Sabres studio host
• Jenna Wolfe – sports reporter (now moderator of "First Things First" on FS1)
• Ethan Zohn – co-host of MSG Soccer Report

MSG is available on most cable providers in Upstate New York. Rangers, Devils and Islanders games are blacked out in the primary broadcast territory of the Buffalo Sabres – the Buffalo, Rochester and Albany Capital District television markets. However, Knicks games are broadcast on a temporary alternate channel when there is a conflict with the Sabres – except in Chautauqua County, part of which is within 100 miles (160 km) of Cleveland, in the market area of the Cleveland Cavaliers, which broadcast rights with Fox Sports Ohio (as per NBA rules, only games from that team are receivable in that area). The Knicks are also subject to blackout rules in the easternmost areas of Connecticut, within 100 miles (160 km) of Boston. However, Knicks games are not blacked out in favor of the Toronto Raptors in most of Erie (including Buffalo) and Niagara Counties, a territory located within the 100-mile (160 km) radius of Toronto. This is most likely because the Raptors' exclusive territory ends at the U.S. border, although select games did air on the Empire Sports Network during its existence and CBC Sports programming is usually not blacked out by U.S. cable operators offering a CBC station.

All Sabres games as well as games featuring the Rangers, Islanders or Devils under certain conditions are viewable on MSG in most of upstate New York (notably Albany, Binghamton and Syracuse). A maximum of 50 to 60 games per team can be broadcast outside the New York City designated market area each season under current NHL rules; this also covers broadcasts in parts of the Hartford/New Haven and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre media markets. The exact number of games aired in outer markets varies each year, depending on that season's NBA and NHL schedules. MSG's website lists which games are subject to blackout, and where, with each region designated as a "zone". Outside Buffalo and Rochester, Knicks games always air on MSG, while MSG Plus carries the Sabres, should both play at the same time.

The presence of Sabres games in the Utica and Albany market led to some controversy, because most cable systems in that market that were not served by Adelphia had not carried the Empire Sports Network for several years, and the fanbase for the Sabres is widely thought to be smaller than that of the New York City-area teams (and even Boston-area teams, as WSBK-TV (channel 38) served the region for several years before each upstate market received their own local affiliates of now-defunct networks UPN and The WB).

MSG was dropped from Dish Network due to a contract dispute in October 2010; the dispute remains unresolved.[18] MSG was removed from Time Warner Cable at midnight on December 31, 2011 as the two companies could not agree on a new carriage contract; the network was restored on all TWC systems on February 17, 2012.[19] MSG HD was not available on Verizon FiOS until several months after a court order forced MSG to provide the network's HD feed to that provider.[20]

Following the collapse of Empire Sports Network and its parent, Adelphia, MSG also picked up rights to the Buffalo Sabres, and agreed to a 10-year contract in 2006. The Sabres, through its broadcast arm, the Sabres Hockey Network, control the entire broadcast, including the sale of advertising, and pre- and post-game programming.[21][22]

During the inaugural season, all regionally-televised Sabres games were available to viewers outside of the New York City area, falling within MSG's "Zone 3" (Buffalo and Rochester) and "Zone 2" (which encompasses the remainder of Upstate New York and is shared with the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers). In Zone 3, all Sabres games were shown on the main MSG channel, but some games aired in Zone 2 on MSG Plus (then known as FSN New York) instead.[23][24]

As part of a contract extension for the 2016–17 season, MSG entered into a joint venture with Terry and Kim Pegula's ownership group to create an expanded opt-out feed known as MSG Western New York over the former Zone 3. The feed is carried in place of MSG's main network within the Sabres' television market of Upstate New York (defined as virtually all of the state outside the New York City television market). In addition to coverage of Sabres games, the feed also carries Pegula-produced studio programming dedicated to the Sabres and their sister NFL team, the Buffalo Bills.[25]

From the fall of 1998 until the spring of 2005, Cablevision chose not to launch an additional MSG2 channel, instead placing games on its MSG Metro Channels, which were only available in a limited coverage footprint. Sometimes, games were also carried by Riverhead–licensed WLNY-TV (channel 55). During this period, when two of the teams that the MSG channels maintained game broadcast rights to played against one another, only one broadcast would usually be produced using one of the team's announcing staffs (this was either due to MSG's television contracts or a desire to show a different sporting event at the same time).

With the discontinuation of Metro, and the loss of the New Jersey Nets from the network's winter lineup, the MSG channels now produce two broadcasts when two of the area teams with broadcast rights held by the network are playing against each other. Since 2009, the channel now has gone back to producing a single unified broadcast, though it will use two sets of commentators (particularly for Buffalo, where the Sabres' radio announcers are simply dubbed over the MSG broadcast when they play the Rangers, Islanders or Devils).