The mantra at the unveiling of the Mets' cable network yesterday was that the channel will be about much more than the Mets, that it will also be built around hours' worth of evening and morning news programs. The spin felt awkward, as if a distance were being placed between the network and the Mets - the centerpiece of a schedule without a winter diet of N.B.A. or N.H.L. games.
"We're a sports service, not entirely a Mets service," Fred Wilpon, the team's principal owner, said during a news conference at the network's new street-level studio in Manhattan, where he was accompanied by Pedro Martínez, José Reyes, Manager Willie Randolph and General Manager Omar Minaya.
To underscore the network's eclecticism, its name offers no hint that it is the home of the Mets and will carry 125 games starting in 2006. SportsNet New York is a muted, generic name that says almost nothing; its logo - a blue and white SNY - makes no use of the familiar, 43-year-old design of the Mets' "NY."
The name comes from Comcast, which operates four other regional sports networks, all with the SportsNet name in them. Comcast owns the smallest portion of SportsNet New York, about 11 percent, but will run the network. Time Warner owns 22 percent, the Mets the rest. The Time Warner-Comcast union provides the network with an immediate guarantee of its availability to 3 million local households.
Jon Litner, SportsNet New York's president, said the name combines the equity of SportsNet - which is barely known locally, so what's the allure to viewers? - with the New York locale to stress "we're about sports news and information."
Funny, I thought the reason the Mets paid $54 million to make an early escape from their contract with Cablevision's MSG Network and Fox Sports New York was to have the freedom to be all Mets, all the time, with no filter to dilute their message. The Yankees and their partners applied that lesson with the christening of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, reduced memorably to YES. Perhaps the Mets should have gone with SportsMet New York - or the MetWork.
Surely, the new network will be Mets-centric. It must be. Beyond the evening "SportsNite" and morning "SportsRise" studio programs, the only other rights it now has are syndicated Big East and Big Ten basketball and football games. All other professional winter programming is spoken for locally: MSG and FSNY have amassed the Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders; YES has the Nets.
"It's a lot of programming time to fill," said Jack Williams, the president of Comcast
SportsNet, referring to the new network's lack of N.B.A. or N.H.L. rights. "We have to be smart about what we look for."
But SportsNet New York is better positioned without pro basketball or hockey than if it started without the more potent baseball. MSG and FSNY face an uncertain future, losing the Mets and needing to find summer replacement filler.
By moving aggressively into news and information, SportsNet New York will diverge from YES, which carries pregame and postgame programs, but has avoided producing anything like ESPN's "SportsCenter" as duplicative of what is on other networks.
Mets games will be dubbed "Baseball Night in New York," an adaptation from Canadian hockey broadcasts, and will feature access to players, fan interaction, wireless microphones, enhanced audios and so-called unique camera angles.
No mention was made yesterday about who will call Mets games on the new network.
It would be wrong to shift Gary Cohen or Howie Rose, a stellar radio team, to TV, but smart to find a true, singular voice of the Mets. One smart move would be to give Dave O'Brien, Channel 11's play-by-play announcer, that role. For analysts, one prime candidate should be Al Leiter, if he retires and can look past his stormy departure from the team; Keith Hernandez might be worth serious consideration.
SportsNet New York can take a stand for quality sportscasting by not taking on Fran Healy, whose longevity on Mets telecasts for 22 years shows him to be a survivor despite a voice that is best muted and a fanny pack full of mediocre insights. Still, the team's loyalty to him might prompt it to let him contribute to the new network, but not on games.
The startup of a network is usually filled with promise and glee, and SportsNet New York's was no different. Litner would not court any pessimism when asked if Cablevision, which unsuccessfully sued the Mets over the timing of their plan to start the network, and previously boycotted YES for a year, would block the new network's launch in territory that is largely in the heart of the Mets' fan base. "We anticipate we will be fully distributed," Litner said. "We're moving on. We're ready to go."
"We're a sports service, not entirely a Mets service," Fred Wilpon, the team's principal owner, said during a news conference at the network's new street-level studio in Manhattan, where he was accompanied by Pedro Martínez, José Reyes, Manager Willie Randolph and General Manager Omar Minaya.
To underscore the network's eclecticism, its name offers no hint that it is the home of the Mets and will carry 125 games starting in 2006. SportsNet New York is a muted, generic name that says almost nothing; its logo - a blue and white SNY - makes no use of the familiar, 43-year-old design of the Mets' "NY."
The name comes from Comcast, which operates four other regional sports networks, all with the SportsNet name in them. Comcast owns the smallest portion of SportsNet New York, about 11 percent, but will run the network. Time Warner owns 22 percent, the Mets the rest. The Time Warner-Comcast union provides the network with an immediate guarantee of its availability to 3 million local households.
Jon Litner, SportsNet New York's president, said the name combines the equity of SportsNet - which is barely known locally, so what's the allure to viewers? - with the New York locale to stress "we're about sports news and information."
Funny, I thought the reason the Mets paid $54 million to make an early escape from their contract with Cablevision's MSG Network and Fox Sports New York was to have the freedom to be all Mets, all the time, with no filter to dilute their message. The Yankees and their partners applied that lesson with the christening of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, reduced memorably to YES. Perhaps the Mets should have gone with SportsMet New York - or the MetWork.
Surely, the new network will be Mets-centric. It must be. Beyond the evening "SportsNite" and morning "SportsRise" studio programs, the only other rights it now has are syndicated Big East and Big Ten basketball and football games. All other professional winter programming is spoken for locally: MSG and FSNY have amassed the Knicks, Rangers, Devils and Islanders; YES has the Nets.
"It's a lot of programming time to fill," said Jack Williams, the president of Comcast
SportsNet, referring to the new network's lack of N.B.A. or N.H.L. rights. "We have to be smart about what we look for."
But SportsNet New York is better positioned without pro basketball or hockey than if it started without the more potent baseball. MSG and FSNY face an uncertain future, losing the Mets and needing to find summer replacement filler.
By moving aggressively into news and information, SportsNet New York will diverge from YES, which carries pregame and postgame programs, but has avoided producing anything like ESPN's "SportsCenter" as duplicative of what is on other networks.
Mets games will be dubbed "Baseball Night in New York," an adaptation from Canadian hockey broadcasts, and will feature access to players, fan interaction, wireless microphones, enhanced audios and so-called unique camera angles.
No mention was made yesterday about who will call Mets games on the new network.
It would be wrong to shift Gary Cohen or Howie Rose, a stellar radio team, to TV, but smart to find a true, singular voice of the Mets. One smart move would be to give Dave O'Brien, Channel 11's play-by-play announcer, that role. For analysts, one prime candidate should be Al Leiter, if he retires and can look past his stormy departure from the team; Keith Hernandez might be worth serious consideration.
SportsNet New York can take a stand for quality sportscasting by not taking on Fran Healy, whose longevity on Mets telecasts for 22 years shows him to be a survivor despite a voice that is best muted and a fanny pack full of mediocre insights. Still, the team's loyalty to him might prompt it to let him contribute to the new network, but not on games.
The startup of a network is usually filled with promise and glee, and SportsNet New York's was no different. Litner would not court any pessimism when asked if Cablevision, which unsuccessfully sued the Mets over the timing of their plan to start the network, and previously boycotted YES for a year, would block the new network's launch in territory that is largely in the heart of the Mets' fan base. "We anticipate we will be fully distributed," Litner said. "We're moving on. We're ready to go."
