It looks like the Comcast SportsNet Houston drama is coming to an end. And out of the ashes rises ROOT Sports Southwest regional sports network. Here is the full release.
ROOT Sports Southwest regional sports network officially made its debut on the air this morning. The new television home of the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets began broadcasting today at 6 a.m. CT.
ROOT Sports Southwest will carry Astros regular season and Spring Training games beginning in March of 2015.
ROOT Sports Southwest, which is under DirecTV and AT&T ownership, will produce all Astros and Rockets coverage exclusively in high-definition. A full comprehensive schedule will be released in the upcoming weeks.
"We are extremely excited that ROOT Sports Southwest is on the air," said Astros Owner and Chairman Jim Crane. "Our goal has always been to secure a deal that will both provide broad coverage of Astros games for the fans and provide the financial revenue to enable us to compete for championships.
"We truly appreciate the patience that our fans have shown throughout this process. We are pleased that fans across our entire region will now have the chance to watch this young and exciting team."
The Astros television broadcast team of the last two seasons (2013-14), consisting of Bill Brown, Alan Ashby, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales, is scheduled to return for 2015. The upcoming season will be Brown's 29th calling Astros games.
Channel Information
ROOT Sports Southwest is now available to AT&T U-verse subscribers on channels 758 in SD and 1758 in HD and DIRECTV customers on channel 674. Local Comcast cable customers will see ROOT Sports Southwest in place of CSN Houston on channels 39 in SD and 639 in HD. The new network's programming schedule is available on www.rootsports.com.
In addition to ROOT Sports Southwest, DIRECTV also operates three other ROOT Sports networks in Pittsburgh, Denver and Seattle.
