Wednesday, August 02, 2006

MASN Expands reach adds Georgetown and CAA

Jim Williams
The Examiner
Aug 2, 2006 5:00 AM (5 hrs ago)
Current rank: # 2 of 6,434 articles

WASHINGTON - The television home of the Washington Nationals has expanded its programming to offer round-the-clock sports action. The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network was scheduled to roll out its full programming schedule at 6 this morning.


Anchored by Nationals and Baltimore Orioles coverage, MASN will air 300 live MLB contests starting in 2007.

“Because MASN is owned by the home teams, MASN can bring fans special in-game enhancements and inside access to the Nationals and Orioles that a corporate-owned RSN could never deliver,” said MASN spokesman Todd Webster. “This is a new approach to regional sports programming that removes the middle man between the fans and their teams. MASN is must-see TV delivered from the teams directly to our fans.”

MASN has also corralled Georgetown basketball as the growing network crafts a strong college sports lineup.

It will air upwards of 50 NCAA Division I football games from the Big Ten, Big East, WAC, MAC and Sun Belt conferences. Nationally-ranked football teams featured on MASN this fall include West Virginia, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Louisville and Iowa.

In 2007, the Colonial Athletic Association will join the college football lineup.

During the 2006-2007 season, MASN will show more than 100 NCAA Division I men’s college basketball games, including six Georgetown and four West Virginia games. Featured conferences include the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Colonial, WAC, MAC, and Sun Belt.

MASN will also be home to the 2007 Men’s Colonial Athletic Association Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals and will make additional announcements in the near future.

For those whose allegiances lie up I-95, MASN took the Ravens from Comcast SportsNet starting this season.

MASN will carry the Ravens’ four preseason games (vs. the Giants, Eagles, Vikings, and Redskins) as well as special programming including Ravens GamePlan, Ravens Wired, Ravens Report, The Brian Billick Show, Ravens Pre-Game Kickoff and Ravens Postgame Extra.

Radio you can see


» Want to see what Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban really look like? MASN and WTEM SportsTalk 980-AM are in preliminary talks about simulcasting programming on the network. In Baltimore, MASN has a deal in place to air shows from ESPN 1300-AM, so the network’s goal is to find a radio station in the D.C. area to serve the market with local programming.

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.

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