AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is an American

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region ...

owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the

AT&T SportsNet AT&T Sports Networks, LLC (ATTSN) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States that primarily own and operate AT&T Sports Networks (founded in 2009, as Liberty Sports Holdings, later DirecTV Sports Networks, LLC). It is owned by W ...

brand of networks and is an affiliate of

Bally Sports The Bally Sports Regional Networks are a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint-venture company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. The naming rights to the network ...

. Headquartered in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, the channel broadcasts local coverage of sports events throughout

Greater Pittsburgh Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, B ...

and

western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

, as well as national programs from Bally Sports including college sports, and magazine, entertainment and documentary programs. It is the exclusive home of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. , AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is available on

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

providers throughout nearly all of Pennsylvania (outside the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

market), almost all of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, western

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, eastern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, southwestern border areas of New York and

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

, reaching more than 2.4 million homes; it is also available in the Columbus, Ohio market through

DirecTV Stream DirecTV Stream is a family of streaming multichannel television services offered in the United States by DirecTV. The brand encompasses three separate services sharing similar infrastructure and software. DirecTV Stream, launched nationally as A ...

, though Penguins broadcasts are blacked out due to the presence of the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

. It is also available nationwide on

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

via

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

History

The channel launched on April 13, 1986 as Pirates Cable Network, exclusively serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area; its first sports event telecast on that date was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

game between the

and Chicago Cubs from

Three Rivers Stadium Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Buil ...

, announced by

Mike Lange Mike Lange (born March 3, 1948) is a retired American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a play-by-play announcer for Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. In 2001, he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding work as an N ...

, in which the Pirates shut out the Cubs, 8–0. The network commenced full-time broadcasts on April 24, 1986 as the KBL Entertainment Network, in order to allow other sports besides the Pirates to be included on the network. Its first regular broadcast was a Pirates home game against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. The network was initially owned by

Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone. The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Co ...

(now part of Comcast), then the largest

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

provider in the Pittsburgh

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

. KBL quickly expanded its cable coverage. As early as May 9, 1986; its cable footprint roughly approximated its present six-state coverage area. While it primarily carried sports-related programming, KBL also served as a general entertainment cable channel while under TCI ownership, essentially filling the void left after independent station

WPGH-TV WPGH-TV (channel 53) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT (channel 22). Both stations share studios on ...

(channel 53) became a charter affiliate of the

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...

seven months after KBL's debut. It aired

children's programming Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early eveni ...

for part of the day, including reruns of the

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...

animated series ''

Camp Candy ''Camp Candy'' is a 1989-1992 animated television series produced by DIC Animation City, Saban Entertainment and Worldvision Enterprises, in association with Frostbacks Productions, with comedian John Candy providing the voice for an animated versi ...

''. In 1994, TCI transferred the channel to its corporate parent Liberty Media; KBL then immediately dropped all entertainment programming and converted the renamed Prime Sports KBL into an affiliate of Prime SportsChannel America, a partnership between Liberty's

Prime Network Prime Sports (originally known as the Prime Sports Network (PSN), and also known as Prime Network or simply Prime) is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that were owned by Liberty Media, ope ...

and the

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

-owned

SportsChannel America SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC. Operating from March 1, ...

regional sports network groups. In 1995, Prime Network's retail subsidiary, Prime Sports Merchandising, purchased some sports apparel stores located inside

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s and rebranded them as Prime Sports Shops, promoting them on its networks including KBL.

In 1996,

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

, which formed a sports division for the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network two years earlier after it obtained the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference and sought to create a group of regional sports networks, acquired a 50% interest in the Prime Network from TCI parent Liberty Media. Later that year on November 1, News Corporation and Liberty Media relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the new

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

group, with Prime Sports KBL officially rebranding as Fox Sports Pittsburgh. The deal temporarily ended the Prime SportsChannel partnership, although News Corporation subsequently acquired most of the SportsChannel networks the following year; the retail stores, meanwhile, retained the "Prime Sports" name for many years after the rebranding of the regional networks as part of Fox Sports Net. The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Pittsburgh, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand. On December 22, 2006, News Corporation sold its interest in FSN Pittsburgh and sister networks

FSN Utah Root Sports Utah was an American regional sports network that was owned by the AT&T Sports Networks subsidiary of AT&T Inc., as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks and is an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks. Headquartered in Salt Lake ...

, FSN Northwest and

FSN Rocky Mountain AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain is an American regional sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks, and is an affiliate of Bally Sports. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, ...

to Liberty Media, in an asset trade in which News Corporation also traded its 38.5% ownership stake in satellite provider

for $550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for Liberty Media's 16.3% stake in the company. On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off into the separate company under the DirecTV name, in a deal in which Liberty would increase its share in DirecTV from 48% to 54%, with Liberty owner

John Malone John Carl Malone (born March 7, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman, landowner and philanthropist. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a cable and media giant, for twenty-four years from 1973 to 1996. ...

and his family owning a 24% interest. DirecTV would operate its newly acquired FSN-affiliated networks through

DirecTV Sports Networks AT&T Sports Networks, LLC (ATTSN) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States that primarily own and operate AT&T Sports Networks (founded in 2009, as Liberty Sports Holdings, later DirecTV Sports Networks, LLC). It is owned by W ...

, a new division formed when the split off from Liberty Media was completed on November 19, 2009. On December 17, 2010, DirecTV Sports Networks announced that its four Fox Sports Networks-affiliated regional outlets would be relaunched under the "

Root Sports AT&T Sports Networks, LLC (ATTSN) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States that primarily own and operate AT&T Sports Networks (founded in 2009, as Liberty Sports Holdings, later DirecTV Sports Networks, LLC). It is owned by ...

" brand. The network officially rebranded as Root Sports Pittsburgh on April 1, 2011, coinciding with the start of the

2011 Major League Baseball season The 2011 Major League Baseball season began on Thursday, March 31, and ended on Wednesday, September 28. This marked the first time a season began on a Thursday since 1976, and the first time a regular season ended on a Wednesday since 1990. The ...

. For nominal purposes, the Root Sports networks continued to carry programming distributed mainly to the Fox Sports regional networks to provide supplementary sports and entertainment programming. On April 8, 2016, DirecTV Sports Networks rebranded under the AT&T name as AT&T Sports Networks. On June 12, 2017, AT&T Sports Networks announced that the network, along with Root Sports Southwest, and Root Sports Rocky Mountain, would rebrand as AT&T SportsNet with the channel becoming AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. All network programming and on-air talent remained intact, with the exception of

Paul Steigerwald Paul Steigerwald (born August 6, 1954) is an Emmy award winning American sportscaster, who through the 2016-17 NHL hockey season worked as the Pittsburgh Penguins' primary television announcer on Root Sports Pittsburgh (now AT&T SportsNet Pitts ...

, who was replaced in October 2017 by Steve Mears as the play-by-play announcer of the Penguins. The name change took effect on July 14, 2017.

Possible sale

On April 26, 2019, it was reported that

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

(owners of WPGH-TV &

WPNT WPNT (channel 22) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate WPGH-TV (channel 53). Both stations share studios on Ivory Avenue ...

in Pittsburgh, as well as other stations throughout the channel's coverage area) was the successful bidder of the Fox Sports Networks that were required to be divested as a condition of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

's acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox."EXCLUSIVE: Sinclair places top bid, reaches 'handshake agreement' with Disney for Fox Regional Sports Networks"
/ref> While it wouldn't directly affect AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, it is not known if Sinclair would keep the Fox Sports Networks programming (presumably to be merged into Stadium) on the channel or move it to Sinclair's over-the-air properties. Within AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh's viewing area, Sinclair either owns or operates WPGH-TV/WPNT in Pittsburgh,

WHP-TV WHP-TV (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has st ...

WXBU WXBU (channel 15) is a television station licensed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of the digital multicast network TBD. The station is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, a partner ...

in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,

WCHS-TV WCHS-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, United States, serving the Charleston– Huntington market as an affiliate of ABC and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain se ...

WVAH-TV WVAH-TV (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, United States, serving the Charleston– Huntington market as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Decades. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, whi ...

in Charleston/ Huntington, West Virginia,

WJAC-TV WJAC-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Johnstown– Altoona– State College market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pro ...

WWCP-TV WWCP-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Johnstown– Altoona–State College market. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which provides certain serv ...

WATM-TV WATM-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Johnstown–Altoona– State College market. It is owned by Palm Television, L.P., which maintains a local ma ...

in Johnstown/ Altoona/

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

WOLF-TV WOLF-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is the flagship property of locally based New Age Media, LLC, and is co-ow ...

WQMY WQMY (channel 53) is a television station licensed to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by locally based New Age Media, LLC, alongside Hazleton-licensed Fox ...

WSWB WSWB (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with New Age M ...

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

, and

WTOV-TV WTOV-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Steubenville, Ohio, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio media market, market as an affiliate of NBC and Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. Owned by Sinclair ...

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

. In July 2019, it was reported that AT&T was looking to sell AT&T SportsNet to reduce debt related to its acquisition of

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

as well as rolling out 5G on its cell phone networks. Following Sinclair's closure of its purchase of the Fox Sports Networks, it was reported that Sinclair and Comcast (the latter of which owns

NBC Sports Regional Networks NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

) could purchase AT&T Sports Networks. Such deals could reunite AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh with its former Fox Sports Network siblings through Sinclair or reunite it with TCI successor Comcast; the former would also make it a sister network to WPGH-TV/WPNT while the latter would make it a partial sister network with the

Pittsburgh Cable News Channel The Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC) is a regional cable news television channel serving the Western Pennsylvania area. It is owned by Cox Media Group, which also owns WPXI, another Pittsburgh-area station from which PCNC simulcasts or replays ...

co-owned between Comcast and

WPXI WPXI (channel 11) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Cox Media Group. The station's offices and studios are located on Evergreen Road in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsbur ...

. On October 1, 2021, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, along with sister networks AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, and Root Sports Northwest, was removed from Dish Network satellite and Sling streaming TV services.

Programming

AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh carries more than 350 live sports events annually (all of which are also available in high definition), featuring a mix of professional, collegiate and high school sports. To fill out its schedule outside various local sports, the network also carries syndicated sports events, documentary and magazine programs including outdoor programming, pro

footvolley Footvolley ( pt, Futevôlei in Brazil, ''Futevólei'' in Portugal) is a sport which combines aspects of beach volleyball and association football. Footvolley was created by Octavio de Moraes in 1965 in Brazil. Footvolley combines field rules tha ...

, kickboxing, poker,

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

programming, '' Sports Stars of Tomorrow'' and ''

In Depth with Graham Bensinger Graham Michael Bensinger (born August 17, 1986) is an American journalist and entrepreneur known for his eponymous show ''In Depth with Graham Bensinger''. Bensinger is known for interviewing a number of personalities in American sports, and won an ...

''.

Professional sports

Pittsburgh Pirates

The network holds the regional cable television rights to the

, carrying over 150 regular season and Spring training games annually, as well as rebroadcasts of recent games (as part of ''Pirates Instant Replay'') and the team analysis program ''Inside Pirates Baseball'' presented by Allegheny Health Network. From the 2013 to 2018 seasons, AT&T's telecasts of Pirates games were blacked out on DirecTV in many portions of the Pirates' claimed territory, including the Columbus, Ohio market, for reasons not released publicly. Despite the blackout, DirecTV did not allow Pirates games to be shown in the blacked-out area on its

MLB Extra Innings MLB Extra Innings is an out-of-market sports package distributed in North America by satellite provider DirecTV since 1996 and by most cable providers since 2001. The package allowed its subscribers to see up to 80 out-of-market Major League Bas ...

package. The blackout was lifted in time for the 2019 season.

Pittsburgh Penguins

AT&T SportsNet also maintains exclusive regional rights to most regular season and any early-round Stanley Cup playoff games involving the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

; it also carries Penguins-related programs such as ''Penguins Instant Replay'', ''Inside Penguins Hockey'', ''Pens Pulse'', and ''In The Room.'' On April 27, 2011, the network reached a 20-year contract extension with the Penguins, allowing the network to continue carrying most of the team's NHL game telecasts through the end of the 2028–29 NHL season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The network formerly served as the cable home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, broadcasting team-related magazine and analysis programs such as weekly

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

s held by coach

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, s ...

during the regular season and the team coach's show ''The Mike Tomlin Show'' (both were hosted by Stan Savran). This continued through the 2016 season.

KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division a ...

now airs ''The Mike Tomlin Show'', while Tomlin's Tuesday press conference is no longer televised live. Although regular Steelers coverage is no longer part of the network’s lineup, team documentary programming continues to air from time to time, usually focused on historical figures such as

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL), from 1933 until his death ...

and

Chuck Noll Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

Minor league sports

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

The network currently serves as the cable home of the AHL's

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barr ...

, broadcasting weekend home games during the regular season. Prior to the network acquiring the rights to the games, the team had no television coverage in either Pittsburgh's or Wilkes-Barre's DMAs.

College sports

Current Programming

Select football and basketball games from the Division 2

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 12 schools, mo ...

are occasionally aired, the most recent of which being a football contest between Fairmont State and Frostburg State in October 2022. Occasionally, the network will pick up football and basketball games aired by its 3 sister networks, including basketball from the West Coast Conference and

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

and football from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Additionally, the network airs insider programming featuring the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

, and

Duquesne Dukes The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Dukes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Football and bowling, however ...

West Virginia Mountaineers

AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh formerly carried the exclusive rights to the West Virginia Mountaineers, carrying all football and men's basketball games not picked up by a national network, as well as select women's basketball games, select other live events (women's soccer, baseball, etc.), and the football team's weekly Tuesday press conferences. Although the network lost rights to the live events portion of their WVU coverage to ESPN+ beginning with the 2020-2021 season, a coaches show involving all Mountaineer sports and ''Mountaineer Gameday'', a live pregame show for Mountaineer football and men’s basketball, still air on the channel.

Pittsburgh Panthers

The network formerly carried football, men's and women's basketball, and other events featuring the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

, which were produced first by

ESPN Regional Television ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events f ...

and later by

Fox Sports South Bally Sports South (BSSO) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports Networks. The network carries regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events from across ...

and Raycom Sports once the Panthers moved to the ACC. Additionally, the network aired a number of Panthers-related insider programming, including

Pat Narduzzi Patrick Regan Narduzzi (born April 22, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He was formerly the defensive coordinator at Michigan State. He attended Youngstown State Universit ...

’s weekly press conferences, The ''Pat Narduzzi Show'' with Larry Richert, and the magazine program ''Beyond The Script'', which was hosted by the network’s Rob King. The partnership ended following the 2020-21 athletic year.

Duquesne Dukes

The network has served as the regional home of Duquesne Dukes men’s and women’s basketball several times throughout its 30+-year history, the most recent of which lasted for 2 seasons between 2017 and 2019. As of August 2019, these rights have been moved to the streaming service ESPN+, although a weekly coaches show still airs on the network.

High school & youth sports

West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC, but colloquially referred to as SSAC) is the main governing body of high school sports, cheerleading, and marching bands in West Virginia, United States. For sports other than basket ...

high school football, baseball, softball, and boys' and girls' basketball championship games, as well as occasional broadcasts of regular-season WVSSAC football contests, are carried by AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. The network is the regional home of the annual

PONY League World Series PONY Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, Pennsylvania. Started in 1951, PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments, as over 500,000 players annually play PONY in over 4,000 l ...

, which is held locally in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Former Pirates' play-by-play announcer

Lanny Frattare Lanny Lawrence Frattare (born March 23, 1948) is an American former sportscaster. For 33 years he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, the longest such tenure in the team's history. In 2008, he was nomina ...

calls most games. Until 2019,

Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...

regular season, playoff, and championship football games were a network staple. WPCW-TV took over the rights to all 6 championship games in 2018, and the rights to additional playoff and regular season games in 2019.

Studio Programming

The network provides live pre- and postgame coverage of all Penguins and Pirates games it airs. Usually, these shows last between 30 minutes to an hour and are produced from the network’s studios for away games and on-location (

PPG Paints Arena PPG Paints Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Pittsburgh, that serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). It previously was the home of the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2 ...

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 MLB season, after the controlled implosion of the Pira ...

) for home games. However, the network does not provide this coverage for playoff games (other than the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs) or regular season games aired nationally, making the station one of few regional sports networks in the country whose team studio coverage is limited to only the games it produces. Since 2021, AT&T SportsNet has served as the local affiliate of VSIN's ''Follow The Money'', a 3-hour sports betting program that airs weekdays from noon-3pm. Previously, the network aired simulcasts of Audience Network's '' The Rich Eisen Show'' and ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepe ...

'' in this time slot. Throughout the previous 2 decades, locally-produced studio programming has been drastically reduced from nightly programs to pre- and postgame coverage only. ''Savran on SportsBeat'', ''Pittsburgh Sports Tonight'', and live Steelers coverage are just some of the local studio shows that were cancelled during the network’s ownership under Liberty Media in the late 2000s. Nationally-distributed Fox Sports studio shows also aired in both live and tape-delay until they were moved to

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

upon its 2013 launch.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Pittsburgh Penguins

* Steve Mears - play-by-play announcer *

Bob Errey Robert Errey (born September 21, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left wing and current sportscaster for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 15th overall by Pittsburgh in the 1983 NHL E ...

- color commentator * Dan Potash - rinkside reporter * Rob King - studio host *

Jay Caufield John Jay Caufield (born July 17, 1960) is an American former NHL right winger. Caufield was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was raised in the Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania, area about a mile outside Lansdale borough. He graduated ...

- studio analyst *

Colby Armstrong Colby Joseph Armstrong (born November 23, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in a 9- ...

- studio analyst

Pittsburgh Pirates

* Greg Brown – play-by-play announcer * Joe Block - play-by-play announcer *

John Wehner John Paul Wehner (pronounced "Way-ner") (born June 29, 1967) is an American former utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB) and a current broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His nickname is "Rock". Career A Pittsburgh native and graduate ...

- color commentator *

Bob Walk Robert Vernon Walk (born November 26, 1956), nicknamed "The Whirly Bird", is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (), Atlanta Braves (–), and Pittsburgh Pirate ...

- color commentator * Neil Walker - color commentator * Kevin Young - color commentator *

Matt Capps Matthew Dicus Capps (born September 3, 1983) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He is a 2002 graduate of Alexander High School in Douglasville, Georgia, where he lettered in football, basketball, cross-country and base ...

- color commentator *

Michael McKenry Michael Charles McKenry (born March 4, 1985), nicknamed "The Fort", is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. High schoo ...

- color commentator and studio analyst * Robby Incmikoski - field reporter * Stan Savran - studio host * Aly Cohen - studio host

Studio Anchors

* Rob King (also serves as play-by-play announcer for WVU football and basketball) * Stan Savran * Aly Cohen (mostly during Pirates broadcasts)

Notable former on-air staff

* Paul Alexander – studio anchor and sideline reporter * Warren Baker – WVU men's basketball color commentator, now with ESPN+ *

Steve Blass Stephen Robert Blass (born April 18, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a ...

– Pittsburgh Pirates color commentator (retired after 2019 Pirates' season) * Mark Bulger – WVU football color commentator * Meg Bulger – WVU football sideline reporter *

Ryan Burr Ryan Burr (born March 17, 1978, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a sports television journalist. Burr worked for the NBC Sports Group from 2012 to 2021, with his duties mainly consisting of hosting all programs on Golf Channel and college basketball ...

– now with the

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

* Ellis Cannon – Duquesne basketball color commentator * Trenni Casey – now with

NBC Sports Boston NBC Sports Boston is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports events thr ...

* Lacee Collins – sideline reporter for the Pittsburgh Pirates and other events * Lanny Frattare – Pittsburgh Pirates' play-by-play (semi-retired, currently the play-by-play announcer for PONY League World Series telecasts) * Marshall Harris – now with

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Str ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

* Guy Junker – co-host of ''SportsBeat'' (later with

WTAE-TV WTAE-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed o ...

; now retired from Television) *

– Pittsburgh Penguins play-by-play (later with the

Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network The Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network is a radio network operated by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League that provides broadcasts for all the team's games. Josh Getzoff assumed play-by-play duties at the start of the 2021-22 seaso ...

) (now retired) * Mike Logan – WVU football color commentator *

Rasheed Marshall Rasheed Malik Marshall (born July 11, 1981) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 5th round (174th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football for West Virginia University. ...

– WVU football color commentator *

Tim Neverett Timothy Joseph Neverett (born March 19, 1966) is an American sportscaster who currently works as a television and radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously worked as a play-by-play a ...

– Pittsburgh Pirates and college basketball play-by-play (now with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

) *

Eddie Olczyk Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. (; born August 16, 1966) is a former center in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He ...

– Pittsburgh Penguins color commentator (now with ''

NHL on TNT The ''NHL on TNT'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports), and televised on TNT in the United States. In 2021, Turner Sports reached a seven- ...

'' and

Root Sports Northwest ROOT SPORTS Northwest (stylized as ROOT SPORTS Northwest) is an American regional sports network owned as a 60/40 joint venture between the Seattle Mariners and Warner Bros. Discovery respectively, the latter of which operates it through its spo ...

) * Pat Parris – Pittsburgh Penguins sideline reporter, studio anchor (now with

Fox Sports Midwest Bally Sports Midwest is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional ...

) *

Mike Rupp Michael Ryan Rupp (born January 13, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, ...

- Pittsburgh Penguins' studio analyst (now with NHL Network) * Chris Schneider – high school football analyst *

– Pittsburgh Penguins play-by-play (now with the communications and marketing department of the Penguins' front office) * Brent Stover – now with Big Ten Network * Peter Taglianetti – Pittsburgh Penguins color commentator * Josh Taylor - Duquesne basketball play-by-play *

Kent Tekulve Kenton Charles Tekulve ( ; born March 5, 1947), nicknamed "Teke", is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played f ...

– Pittsburgh Pirates' studio analyst (retired after 2017 Pirates' season) * Rich Walsh – sideline reporter (now with

) *

Craig Wolfley Craig Alan Wolfley (born May 19, 1958) is a former football player and current color analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along with former teammate Max Starks, he hosts a show on 970 ESPN. College career Wolfley attended Syracuse Univer ...

– high school football and Steelers analyst (now with

Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network The Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 39 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2013, c ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ATandT SportsNet Pittsburgh AT&T SportsNet Television stations in Pittsburgh Bally Sports SportsChannel Prime Sports Former Liberty Media subsidiaries Television channels and stations established in 1986 Cable television in the United States Fox Sports Networks 1986 establishments in Pennsylvania Turner Sports