MSG Network

The MSG Network is an American cable and satellite television network and radio service owned by Sphere Entertainment, a company that spun off from the main Madison Square Garden Company. It is named after the famous Madison Square Garden sports and entertainment venue in Midtown Manhattan.

MSG mainly serves the Mid-Atlantic United States and focuses on sports teams from New York City. You can watch live games of the New York Knicks from the National Basketball Association, the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and New Jersey Devils from the National Hockey League, as well as Gotham FC from the National Women's Soccer League. This network brings fans exciting sports action right to their homes.

History

MSG began on October 15, 1969, with a hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Minnesota North Stars. It was the first regional sports network in North America. At first, it didn’t even have a name and was shown through Manhattan Cable Television. It started with just 13,000 homes receiving it.

Over the years, MSG grew. In 1980, it started using the name “MSG Network.” It added more sports, like games from the New York Yankees. By 2006, it changed its logo and added more entertainment shows, like concerts and wrestling from Madison Square Garden. In 2021, MSG became part of a new company called Sphere Entertainment.

Programming

MSG Network shows many sports games and events. It has long broadcast games from the NBA's New York Knicks and the NHL's New York Rangers and New York Islanders. It also shows games from teams like the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, and Gotham FC.

Besides live games, MSG Network has special shows about sports teams, highlights from concerts, and programs about New York musicians. It also airs movies and sports-related documentaries. The network has produced many of its own shows, including daily sports highlights, weekly magazine shows for different teams, and programs focusing on high school sports in the area.

On-air staff

Basketball

• Mike Breen – Knicks play-by-play announcer
• Kenny Albert – Knicks alternate play-by-play announcer
• Walt Frazier – Knicks game color analyst
• Alan Hahn – Knicks studio host, alternate color analyst, sideline reporter
• Wally Szczerbiak – Knicks studio analyst, alternate color analyst
• Gus Johnson - Knicks alternate play-by-play announcer
• Jamal Crawford - Knicks alternate color analyst
• Ed Cohen – Liberty play-by-play announcer
• Tyler Murray - Knicks radio play-by-play announcer
• Monica McNutt - Knicks radio color analyst, alternate TV color analyst
• Julianne Viani – Liberty game color analyst

Hockey

Rangers

• Kenny Albert – Rangers play-by-play announcer
• Alex Faust – Rangers fill-in TV play-by-play announcer
• Dave Maloney – Rangers color analyst
• John Giannone – Rangers rinkside reporter and fill-in play-by-play announcer
• Bill Pidto – Studio host for Rangers and Knicks road games, fill-in play-by-play announcer for Knicks games
• Steve Valiquette – Rangers studio analyst
• Henrik Lundqvist – Rangers studio analyst
• Michelle Gingras – Rangers intermission/Locker room reporter (Home games)

Devils

• Don La Greca – Devils play-by-play announcer
• Ken Daneyko – Former Devils player (retired); Devils color analyst
• Rachel Herzog – Devils studio host
• Bryce Salvador – Former Devils player (Captain); Devils studio analyst

Islanders

• Brendan Burke – Islanders play-by-play announcer
• Alan Feuhring – Islanders alternate play-by-play announcer
• Butch Goring – Islanders color analyst
• Thomas Hickey – Islanders alternate color analyst
• Shannon Hogan – Islanders host/reporter
• Corey Schneider – hockey analyst

Sabres

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

Soccer

• 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

MSG Radio Network

• Alex Faust – Rangers primary play-by-play announcer
• Dave Starman – Rangers primary radio color commentator
• Tyler Murray – Knicks primary play-by-play commentator
• Brendan Brown – Knicks radio color analyst
• Bill Daughtry – Knicks studio host
• Alex Thomas - Rangers fill-in play-by-play announcer
• Pete Stemkowski – Rangers fill-in color analyst
• Matt Harmon - Red Bulls play-by-play announcer
• Steve Jolley - Red Bulls color analyst

Former on-air staff

• Roberto Abramowitz - Spanish-language play-by-play announcer
• Marv Albert – Knicks and Rangers play-by-play announcer; MSG SportsDesk anchor
• John Andariese – Knicks radio and TV color analyst
• Gary Apple – MSG SportsDesk anchor (now with SportsNet New York)
• Bill Chadwick – Rangers radio and TV color analyst
• Jonathan Coachman – MSG, NY host; Knicks pre-game and halftime host, Liberty play-by-play announcer
• Doug Collins – Knicks color analyst (2003–04)
• Mike Crispino – Knicks alternate play-by-play announcer
• John Davidson – Rangers color analyst
• JP Dellacamera – Red Bulls play-by-play announcer (now with ESPN)
• Mike "Doc" Emrick – Devils play-by-play announcer
• Danny Gare – Sabres studio analyst
• Jim Gordon – Rangers TV play-by-play announcer
• Keith Hernandez – Mets color analyst (now with SportsNet New York)
• Gus Johnson – Knicks Radio play-by-play announcer (now with Fox Sports and Big Ten Network)
• Jim Kaat – Yankees color announcer
• 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
• Howie Rose – Islanders play by play
• Malik Rose – Knicks halftime studio analyst (now with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia)
• Sam Rosen – Rangers play-by-play announcer
• 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
• 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
• Steve Cangialosi – Devils play by play
• Rick Jeanneret – Sabres play by play
• Fran Healy – host of Halls of Fame and The Game 365
• Erika Wachter – Devils studio host
• Bill Spaulding – Devils play-by-play announcer

Carriage disputes

MSG faced some issues with getting its channel on different TV services. In October 2010, Dish Network stopped carrying MSG because of a disagreement about their contract. This problem has not been fixed yet. At the end of 2011, Time Warner Cable also stopped showing MSG because they could not agree on a new contract, but MSG came back on February 17, 2012.

MSG HD was not on Verizon FiOS for several months after a court said MSG had to offer its HD feed to that service. In September 2021, Comcast stopped carrying MSG and it is still not available there. On January 1, 2025, Altice USA removed MSG from its systems, but this dispute has now been settled.

Alternate channels

MSG has extra channels called MSG2 and MSG Sportsnet 2 to help show many sports games. When two teams play at the same time, like the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, one game might show on MSG Sportsnet. Sometimes, if there are too many games, MSG shows the Knicks or Rangers games and puts others on MSG2 or MSG Sportsnet 2.

There was also a channel called MSG3 used in the 1990s when there were even more games. Some areas use different channels to show these games, and MSG has a website to help viewers find where to watch.

MSG Western New York

MSG also shows games for the Buffalo Sabres. In 2006, MSG made a special channel called MSG Western New York to show Sabres games and related programming.

Metro Channels

From 1998 to 2005, MSG used special channels called MSG Metro Channels to show games when there were too many at once. Sometimes games were also shown on WLNY-TV.

WBIS-TV/S+

In 1996, a new channel called WBIS-TV, or "S+", was made to show some Knicks, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, and Nets games. But this did not last long, and the channel changed back before the end of 1996.

Related services

High definition

MSG HD is a high definition version of MSG Network. It shows most of the same sports games and shows in clear, sharp pictures. You can watch it on services like DirecTV, Optimum, Spectrum, RCN, AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS.

3D

In 2010, MSG Network tried showing games in 3D with MSG 3D, but only for one game and only for Cablevision customers in New York City. After that, they stopped making 3D broadcasts.

MSG+

In 2023, MSG Network started a streaming service called MSG+. For a monthly fee, you can watch live games and sports events from teams like the Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres. Some games can also be bought individually. People who already pay for certain TV services can watch MSG+ for free. In 2024, MSG joined with another network to create a new app for streaming sports.

MSG Sports Zone

MSG Sports Zone is a free channel that shows sports talk and other shows. You can watch it on devices like Vizio and Plex.

Radio division

The Madison Square Garden Radio Network creates broadcasts for the Knicks, Rangers, and Red Bulls for the New York City ESPN Radio station WHSQ (880 AM) and other nearby radio stations. Before 2004, these games were shown on WFAN. Ray Santiago is in charge of producing these radio shows.

MSG Network also offers some games in Spanish. You can hear this on most TV sets using the second audio option. This comes from their radio partners. All Knicks home games and some away games are broadcast in Spanish from WADO (1280 AM). Spanish broadcasts of Red Bulls and Rangers games come from ESPN Radio station WEPN (1050 AM).