Launched 1989 (1989) | Closed 1998 (1998) Owned by Cablevision | |
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)480i (SDTV) | ||
SportsChannel Cincinnati is a defunct American regional sports network that was owned by the Rainbow Media division of Cablevision, and operated as an affiliate of SportsChannel. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the channel used to broadcast regional coverage of sports events throughout the Miami Valley, focusing mainly on professional sports teams based in the Cincinnati area.
History
The network launched in 1989, with coverage of Major League Baseball games involving the Cincinnati Reds as its flagship programming. In 1996, the network's Reds broadcasts were fed to Tennessee and western North Carolina via Fox Sports South; much of that area is part of the Reds' home territory as defined by the league.
On June 30, 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks (owned as a joint venture between News Corporation and Liberty Media) purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties (including the SportsChannel networks, Madison Square Garden, and the New York Knicks and New York Rangers) for $850 million. In January 1998, SportsChannel was integrated into Fox Sports Net, a group of regional sports networks created by Fox/Liberty in November 1996. At that time, SportsChannel Cincinnati was folded into Fox Sports Ohio (the former SportsChannel Ohio), serving as a regional subfeed of that network.