FSN New York
On June 30, 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks—a joint venture between News Corporation (then the parent company of the New York Post and Fox owned-and-operated station WNYW) and Liberty Media (a spin-off of TCI, an American cable-television group) -- purchased a 40% interest in the SportsChannel networks, Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers from Cablevision. The deal was intended to expand the reach of Fox Sports Net—a group of regional sports networks launched by Fox/Liberty in November 1996 through News Corporation's purchase of Liberty's Prime Network—by integrating the SportsChannel networks into the group; SportsChannel New York would also be rebranded as Fox Sports New York, while MSG would also become an FSN outlet, while retaining its existing brand.[11][12][13][14]
National Sports Partners, the venture formed through Cablevision's entry into the News Corporation/Liberty partnership to operate the existing and newly acquired Fox Sports owned-and-operated regional networks, later announced that the other SportsChannel networks would be relaunched under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.[14] Prior to the deal with Cablevision, FSN programming had aired on then-independent station WBIS-TV during its S+ era, where it carried a hybrid of sporting and business programming; by June 1998 the station dropped the format and eventually became WPXN-TV (though it continued to air Fox-sourced programming until August); FSN programming was subsequently picked up by SportsChannel in the run-up to the relaunch as FSNY, with SportsChannel's own national programming being discontinued in favor of Fox's programming. The last event broadcast on the network as SportsChannel New York aired on January 27, 1998, was an NBA game between the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.
SportsChannel New York officially became Fox Sports New York the following day on January 28, with the first event aired as a Fox Sports Net outlet that evening being an NBA game between the Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers at Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. Five of the seven other remaining SportsChannel networks relaunched as member networks of Fox Sports Net later that week (SportsChannel Florida, which was rechristened Fox Sports Florida, was the last to join FSN in March 2000, after Rainbow bought Florida Panthers owner Wayne Huizenga's controlling interest).[15] The network was later rebranded as Fox Sports Net New York in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner.
In April 2002, Fox Sports Net New York began sharing the broadcast rights to the Mets with MSG, as the newly launched YES Network took the regional television rights to the Yankees and Nets (both owned by their and the network's co-parent at the time, YankeeNets) from FSN. In 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN New York, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand.
On February 22, 2005, Cablevision and News Corp agreed to trade several sports-related assets. Cablevision acquired majority control in Fox Sports New York, Fox Sports Chicago, Madison Square Garden and its associated properties, and a 50% share of Fox Sports New England; News Corp, meanwhile, received Cablevision's ownership stakes in Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Florida. (Fox Sports Bay Area was not included in the deal, as News Corp and Cablevision chose to retain joint ownership of that network.)[16] (News Corporation would later reverse course and purchase a 49% stake in YES Network in November 2012.)
In 2005, the Mets announced that it would launch its own sports network to carry the team's games after FSN New York's contract with the team expired; SportsNet New York became the Mets new cable home when it launched in April 2006, at the start of that year's regular season. As a result of losing the Yankees, Nets, and Mets over the span of three years, FSN New York and MSG went from being the sole rightsholders to seven of the New York area's major sports franchises to only four.
