Cox Sports was a
regional sports network that served the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region until 2012. Cox Sports New England served as the local programming outlet for
Cox Communications, the cable service provider in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
and parts of
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
.
Cox Sports New England focused primarily on local high school and college sports, including
Providence College Friars and
UConn Huskies of the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
and
University of Rhode Island Rams of the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
. Other college teams covered included:
Central Connecticut State University,
Rhode Island College,
Bryant University and more.
Professional teams included:
Pawtucket Red Sox,
New England Revolution and
Boston Cannons.
Cox Sports provided an extensive look at high school sports, broadcasting over 40 high school games annually. In addition, Cox Sports featured ''Varsity Life'', a show co-produced with
WJAR focusing on highlights and issues of relevance to high school student athletes. Cox Sports also hosted the RI Sports Awards every June in Providence.
Cox Sports had also teamed up with Eric Scott Latek of Phantazma Pictures to produce two original documentary series. In 2007, they began producing an original documentary series
3 degrees which garnered two Telly Awards for Best Series and Best Cinematography. The show focuses on the struggle of 4 different local martial artists as they balance life inside and outside the ring. It returned for a second season of six episodes in 2009. The 2009 winter season also premiered Xposé, an eight show series featuring the people on the frontlines, goal lines and side lines in local traditional and adventure sports throughout Rhode Island. Featured episodes include
Darren Rizzi's (now an assistant coach for the Miami Dolphins) first and only season as head coach of the University of Rhode Island Football Team, The Women of Providence Roller Derby, the New England Collegiate Baseball League's Newport Gulls, the Rhode Island National Guard and "Driven," which highlights the attempt of two local businessmen to create a custom car business in Rhode Island that focuses on fundraising for charity and community involvement.
Also broadcast on Cox Sports were
ESPN Plus college football and basketball games,
CFL football, coaches' shows for the many teams, outdoors programming,
ESPNEWS
ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News," stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hear ...
, and other select events and shows.
Cox Sports also simulcasted the 10 p.m. newscast from Boston
CW affiliate
WLVI, which is produced by
WHDH. This was the only access via cable to a Boston newscast available in Rhode Island; its addition to the network in January 2001 (when the network was programmed as a general
cable access channel branded simply as Cox 3) came after Cox dropped
WBZ-TV from its systems.
Even though the network relaunched as a regional sports network on September 30, 2004 and the production of the newscast shifted from WLVI itself to WHDH in December 2006,
the arrangement had continued.
NESN+ was shown on Cox Sports when the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
and
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
were playing simultaneously.
On May 2, 2012, Cox and WJAR launched ''
Ocean State Networks'' (OSN). As a result, Cox Sports was taken off the air and all of its programming was moved to the new network (excluding ESPNEWS and WLVI's 10 p.m. newscast). OSN also airs WJAR newscasts throughout the day and night. The network replaces ''
NewsChannel 5'' (formerly the ''Rhode Island News Channel''), operated by Cox and
WLNE November 30, 1998 until February 1, 2012. Today, Cox Sports continues to operate as a production arm of OSN and produces live sports broadcasts and original programming for the channel.
Personalities
*
Dan Hoard - Pawtucket Red Sox play by play
*
Bob Montgomery - Pawtucket Red Sox color commentator
*
Brad Feldman - New England Revolution play by play
*
Greg Lalas - New England Revolution color commentator
*
Jason Chandler - Boston Cannons play-by-play
[bostoncannons.com: Game Notes]
/ref>
* Jack Piatelli - Boston Cannons color commentator [www.UConnHuskies.com Mens Football]
* Mark Didio - UCONN football color commentator
*
Shawna Hassett - "Inside Friartown" host
*
Don Coyne- URI Rams play by play
*Abu Bakr- URI Rams color analyst
*
Frank Carpano- Varsity Life host
References
External links
Official SiteCST New Orleans
{{COX
Sports television networks in the United States
Defunct local cable stations in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 2004
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2012
Cox Communications