network which was called madison square garden network from 1977 to 1980 see usa network . for the spin off channel from 1998 to 2005 see msg metro channels . msg launched october 15 1969 1969 10 15 owned by msg networks inc. nyse msgn picture format 1080i hdtv 480i sdtv slogan united we watch country united states language english broadcast area nationwide primarily serves the new york city metropolitan area headquarters pennsylvania plaza new york ny 10001 formerly called madison square garden network 1978 1991 msg network 1991 2006 replaced empire sports network western new york only sister channel s msg plus msg western new york msg 2 msg plus 2 website www.msgnetworks.com availability some events may air on overflow feed msg 2 due to event conflicts satellite directv 634 hd sd msg 2 635 3 hd sd msg western new york buffalo sabres games only 635 1 hd sd dish network tba cable available on select u.s. cable systems consult your local cable provider for channel availability verizon fios 77 or 78 sd 577 or 578 hd msg 2 new york city 579 hd 79 sd msg is an american regional cable and satellite television network and radio service owned by msg networks inc. a spin off of the madison square garden company which itself a spin off of local cable provider cablevision . primarily serving the mid atlantic united states its programming focuses on events featuring and other programs about new york city sports teams . the channel is named after the madison square garden sports and entertainment venue in midtown manhattan . contents 1 history 2 programming 2.1 collegiate sports 2.2 original programming 2.2.1 msg ny 2.2.2 archival programs 2.2.3 basketball 2.2.4 football 2.2.5 hockey 2.2.6 high school sports 2.2.7 online programming 2.2.8 talk shows 2.3 former sports rights 2.3.1 new york yankees 2.3.2 new york mets 3 on air staff 3.1 current on air staff 3.1.1 hockey 3.1.2 basketball 3.1.3 baseball 3.1.4 soccer 3.1.5 msg radio network 3.2 former on air staff 4 broadcasters 5 channel carriage and blackout restrictions 5.1 upstate new york 5.2 retransmission negotiations 6 alternate channels 6.1 buffalo sabres broadcast issues 6.2 metro channels 7 msg hd 8 msg 3d 9 radio division 10 see also 11 references 12 external links history edit what would become msg debuted on october 15 1969 with an nhl hockey game between the new york rangers and the minnesota north stars . as a result it became the first regional sports network in north america and one of the first of its kind in the world . the channel which at the time did not even have a name was carried by manhattan cable television under a one year 125 event deal that was signed in may 1969 . at the time the cable provider which had televised new york knickerbockers currently known as the new york knicks and rangers post season games the previous spring for a 25 000 rights fee had only 13 000 subscribers . 1 madison square garden renewed the deal with what was now sterling manhattan cable television in the fall of 1970 in a five year deal at an estimated rights fee of 1 1.5 million . charles dolan who later headed msg and cablevision was the president of sterling manhattan at the time . 2 games held at madison square garden later appeared on premium cable network home box office hbo during the network s early years . on september 22 1977 the current channel debuted as ua columbia msg and was later sold to gulf western along with its namesake sports arena ; the company would rename itself to paramount communications after sister companies paramount pictures and paramount television in 1989 . by 1978 the first mentions of the temporarily named madison square garden network appeared in print advertising . 3 by the mid 1980s the channel was using both the full name madison square garden network and its new abbreviated form msg network . by the early 1990s the channel s name became msg full time . in 1994 paramount communications was acquired by viacom itself a cable giant having once owned various cable systems in the u.s. under the viacom cablevision banner and also owner of mtv networks which in turn sold the msg properties to cablevision and itt corporation which each held a 50 % ownership stake ; itt would sell its share to cablevision three years later . on october 5 2006 msg underwent an extensive rebrand with the introduction of a new logo and graphics package and the removal of the word network from the channel s promotions . since the rebrand the channel has incorporated more entertainment oriented programming including concerts and professional boxing and wrestling cards that have taken place at madison square garden or radio city music hall both operated by msg entertainment . in february 2010 cablevision spun off msg network the madison square garden venue and other related properties into the madison square garden company . in september 2015 the msg networks division was spun out as a separate entity from the company s sports ownership and entertainment arms . 4 5 programming edit among other teams it has long produced radio and television broadcasts of the nba s new york knicks the nhl s new york rangers and the wnba s new york liberty which play their home games at the garden . upon its launch in 2014 msg also became the television home of the westchester knicks the new york knicks farm club in the nba development league . msg also holds television rights to mls s new york red bulls which play at red bull arena and the nhl s buffalo sabres ; rangers games are blacked out west of the syracuse market while sabres games are blacked out south of the albany or binghamton markets . in 2010 msg began broadcasting exclusive content from the nfl s new york giants . 6 msg also operates a sister channel msg plus which is the primary home of the nhl s new jersey devils and new york islanders as well as sabres games for viewers outside of the buffalo and rochester markets due to scheduling conflicts with knicks telecasts . the network also broadcast nightly highlights of races held at tracks sanctioned by the new york racing association as well as a weekly magazine show ; live races normally graded stakes races also air on select saturday afternoons . msg network broadcasts soccer events from the premier league since 2002 consisting of game rebroadcasts from fox soccer and later fox soccer plus and a weekly highlight program and the uefa champions league since 2009 with a live game each tuesday of competition produced by fox soccer plus with a second game originally aired on fox soccer plus also rebroadcast on msg or msg plus . it also runs extended highlights from concerts held at msg or other venues owned by the dolan family through the cablevision systems corporation along with other shows focused on new york musicians which are frequently used as filler programming in blackout zones ; as well as movies generally sports related in addition to some hollywood blockbusters and several new york sports related fiction or documentary programs that were originally broadcast on espn which are most commonly seen during the summer nhl and nba offseason . collegiate sports edit 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 . 7 however msg retains rights to a reduced schedule of big east games including any st. john s basketball games played at madison square garden . original programming edit msg ny edit 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 . 8 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 . archival programs edit 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 . 9 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 . basketball edit 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