YurView Arizona (formerly known as Cox 7) is an American
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 ...
television channel serving
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, United States. The station is owned by
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...
. The station's studio facilities are located on the northwest end of Phoenix. The transmission signal is available to Cox cable television subscribers in central and southern
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, which includes the Phoenix and
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
metro areas. It is on channel 4 on Cox's Phoenix-market systems and channel 7 on Cox's systems in southern Arizona.
History
Arizona Sports Programming Network
What is today YurView Arizona was established on October 1, 1981 as the Arizona Sports Programming Network (ASPN) by American Cable (a division of the
Times Mirror Company
The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000.
History
It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...
), one of Cox's predecessors in Phoenix, after it signed a 13-year rights agreement with the
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...
. The channel also aired
Phoenix Inferno soccer and
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...
athletic events. The next year, it added a slate of high school football games on tape delay; in 1983, it then aired the first live high school football telecast in Arizona since 1964.
ASPN converted from a premium service to basic cable in 1986. The network also added baseball games from the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
and
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. By 1993, however, it was not available on all Valley cable systems, prompting smaller providers with 33,000 subscribers to sue Dimension Cable—American's successor—to seek access to its 34 Suns games. In 1994, Cox acquired Times Mirror's cable operation, including Dimension Cable and ASPN.
Shift in focus
In 1996,
Liberty Media
Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in the Formula One Group, S ...
acquired the rights to the relocating
Phoenix Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...
NHL team and the 1998 expansion
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...
baseball franchise for $90 million, launching
Fox Sports Arizona with the rights. However, Fox Sports and Cox—which had bought Dimension—were at loggerheads in a carriage dispute that threatened to leave cable viewers on the largest system in town unable to see the Coyotes. Fox Sports Arizona and ASPN, which was renamed Cox Sports at the same time the new regional sports network launched, shared a channel; this meant that satellite viewers who only received Fox Sports Arizona programming did not get Suns games even though they were on one channel on cable.
Cox Sports rebranded as "Cox 9" on November 1, 1998, becoming a full-time channel on channel 9. Retaining the Suns and high school football, Cox 9 became a general-interest channel airing previews of channels only available on Cox's digital service and community programming. The Suns moved to Fox Sports in 2003. A further lineup shuffle in 2004 moved Cox 9 to channel 7 as "Cox 7".
Rebranding as YurView
In March 2017, Cox Communications rebranded its local origination channels under the
YurView
YurView is a group of cable television networks featuring both national and local lifestyle and sports programming. The group of networks are owned by Cox Communications and are available exclusively to Cox subscribers.
History
Beginning in Febr ...
banner, as part of a nationwide effort by Cox to bring all of their community access channels under a unified brand. In Phoenix, YurView moved to channel 4, allowing
KAZT (channel 7 in Prescott) to use cable channel 7 for the first time.
Production and post-production of most of YurView's original programming is produced at Cox Creative Studios.
Sports programming
Arizona Rattlers
In 2012, YurView became the official broadcast partner of the
Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...
. In 2013 the partnership was renewed through the 2015
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
season.
Rattlers games can be seen by Cox cable television subscribers in Central and Southern Arizona. Games are also available online on Cox7.com. The broadcast team includes
Dale Hellestrae, Kevin Ray, Chris Harris and Lindsey Smith.
Grand Canyon Antelopes
In October 2013,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...
and
Grand Canyon University
Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...
(GCU) reached an agreement to form a comprehensive partnership that made Cox7 the exclusive carrier of GCU's inaugural Division I men's basketball season. The broadcast team for the men's basketball games included Barry Buete,
Rex Chapman
Rex Everett Chapman (born October 5, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player and social media influencer, mostly known for his time with the Charlotte Hornets from 1988 to 1992 and for his time with the Phoenix Suns from 1996 ...
and Matt Rosen.
In addition to men's basketball, YurView coverage of
GCU sports showcased many of the other
Lopes programs. Additional coverage began with a women's volleyball match against Idaho on Nov. 21, women's basketball vs. Chicago State on Jan. 30, and the baseball home opener against Hofstra on Feb. 21.
Prior to the
2014-15 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball season, an extension of the contract was reached. YurView's coverage of GCU games now extended through the end of the 2015–2016 season, the Lopes' third in Division I.
GCU games moved to
KUTP
KUTP (channel 45), branded Fox 10 Xtra, is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox out ...
"Fox 10 Xtra" for the 2019–20 season, expanding their distribution beyond cable viewers.
Arizona Diamondbacks
After
Diamond Sports Group
Main Street Sports Group LLC (formerly known as Diamond Sports Group LLC) is an American media and entertainment company. The company operates FanDuel Sports Network, a group of regional sports channels that was formerly known as Fox Sports Netw ...
, as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, terminated its contract to show Arizona Diamondbacks games on Bally Sports Arizona (the former Fox Sports Arizona),
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
took control of the team's telecasts and reached its own deals with cable and satellite providers. On Cox's systems in Phoenix and Tucson, Diamondbacks games are carried on YurView.
Original series
''STEM Journals''
An Arizona-produced program hosted by
Geoff Notkin, who was previously a co-host of
Science Channel's ''
Meteorite Men
''Meteorite Men'' is a documentary film, documentary reality television, reality television series featuring meteorite hunters Geoffrey Notkin, Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold. The pilot episode premiered on May 10, 2009. The full first season began ...
'', and focuses on
STEM
Stem or STEM most commonly refers to:
* Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant
* Stem group
* Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Stem or STEM can also refer to:
Language and writing
* Word stem, part of a word respon ...
-related material targeted towards middle and high school students. ''STEM Journals'' highlights recent developments in science, technology, engineering, and math and exploring STEM-related careers. Episodes showcase professionals in STEM fields and how their professions improve our communities.
Step Outside
The longest running program currently on YurView, Step Outside is hosted by
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
landscape architect Pete Curé. The show provides viewers with gardening inspiration through tours of beautiful yards, gardens and landscape projects. Pete Curé also shares his wealth of botanical knowledge in providing tips for plant care and maintenance.
Su Vida
Su Vida hosted by Vanessa Ramirez and JR Cardenas,
celebrates Southwest Hispanic culture, lifestyle, family and food. Su Vida focuses on the Hispanic community of
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
with culturally impactful stories and information.
References
External links
YurView Arizona official websiteCox Creative Studios
{{COX
Cable television in the United States
Cox Communications
Television stations in Phoenix, Arizona
Television stations in Tucson, Arizona
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Television stations in Arizona
Television channels and stations established in 1981