The Houston Rockets and Astros' own network, launched in 2012 with Comcast/NBC Sports. It never reached most Houston homes and went through a contested Chapter 11 in Houston. Its studio staff lost their jobs when the channel passed to new owners in 2014.
Houston · Bankruptcy: Comcast forced the network into Chapter 11; in 2014 it was handed to DirecTV and AT&T and relaunched under the Root Sports name
The Houston Rockets and Houston Astros wanted a television network of their own, and in October 2012 they launched one with Comcast and NBC Sports. Comcast SportsNet Houston was owned by Houston Regional Sports Network, L.P., a joint venture of the two teams and the NBC Sports Group. It worked from downtown Houston studios and covered a five-state territory stretching into Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. Comcast lent the venture $100 million for start-up costs, the studio build-out and early rights payments. In 2010, NBC Sports' 22 percent stake had been valued at $700 million.
The network's problem was distribution. It sought a subscriber fee of about $3.40 a month, and the big providers would not pay it. By May 2013 CSN Houston was signing small Texas cable systems in towns such as Ozona, Buffalo and Fulshear, yet it reached only about 40 percent of Houston's 2.2 million television homes, mostly through Comcast. DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Time Warner Cable, Suddenlink, Charter and Verizon never carried it. Multichannel News reported that the network never generated nearly enough affiliate revenue to pay the teams their rights fees and meet its bills.
Comcast then forced the joint venture into Chapter 11. The Astros fought the move. In February 2014, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur in Houston rejected the team's argument that reorganizing Houston Regional Sports Network was futile and the case should be dismissed. The plan that emerged gave the network to DirecTV and AT&T U-verse, which would run it under the Root Sports name. Comcast opposed it. It wanted compensation for its $100 million loan and fair value for the NBC Sports stake, which the plan would sell for $5,000. A dispute also arose over the furniture and equipment in CSN Houston's downtown studios, which the new owners wanted to keep using.
The end came in the fall of 2014. CSN Houston ended its live news and studio programming on October 22, and the plan called for 96 employees to lose their jobs. Closing arguments were set for October 30, while the channel kept airing Rockets games until the handover.
| City | Where | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | downtown Houston studios | 2012-2014 | ↗︎ |
| Sought a monthly subscriber fee of about $3.40 but reached only about 40 percent of Houston's 2.2 million TV homes, mostly on Comcast and small providers. | ↗︎ |
| Comcast had lent the network $100 million for start-up costs, the studio build-out and early rights fees; NBC Sports' 22 percent stake had been valued at $700 million in 2010 and was to be sold for $5,000 under the plan. | ↗︎ |
| 96 employees were to lose their jobs under the bankruptcy plan. | ↗︎ |
| Carried the Rockets and Astros across a five-state territory stretching to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. | ↗︎ |