One of the best sports brands in the world—the NY Yankees—is about to become more clearly defined. After 5 years of programming (Mar 19), YES Net is launching Apr 1 a standalone HD channel, just in time to catch Jeter, A-Rod & Co open the ’07 season the following day. DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision will all carry the net. Every Yankee and NJ Nets contest, plus pre- and post-game coverage, will hit the new channel, which begins with roughly 8 programming hours/day, said COO Ray Hopkins. YES is also expanding its interactive baseball app on DirecTV, overall usage of which jumped 27% during last season. Added will be more real-time stats, score updates and access to a “bonus camera” during away games, as well. “Over the next 5 years you’ll see us morphing into a digital company,” said Hopkins. To that end, the net inked a deal with Google for a dedicated channel, slated to offer a variety of YES content.

The Daily

Subscribe
Friday–January 15

C-band Auction Concludes

The C-band auction officially came to a close Friday after 97 rounds of bidding that grossed just under $81bln, cementing its place as the highest-grossing spectrum auction held in the US. FCC chairman Ajit

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up