Official: Dodgers to Launch RSN With TWC Serving as Exclusive Affiliate Agent

MSO will also handle advertising sales, provide tech support to SportsNet LA

By Mike Reynolds, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/28/2013 10:06:59 AM

As expected, the Los Angeles Dodgers will form their own regional sports network, with an affiliate and advertising helping hand from Time Warner Cable.

Guggenheim Partners, the group that purchased the Dodgers last year for a record $2.15 billion, in December formed American Media Productions, LLC, which Monday is announcing SportsNet LA, the new RSN home for the club, beginning with the 2014 Major League Baseball season.

For its part, Time Warner Cable has reached a long-term deal to become SportsNet LA's charter distributor, carrying the service throughout Southern California and Hawaii. Moreover, in return for agreeing to make payments over the life of the deal, the nation's No. 2 cable operator will serve as the exclusive advertising and affiliate sales agent for the RSN and will have certain branding and programming rights. TWC will also provide certain non-game production and technical services to AMP.

The agreement with TWC is subject to certain closing conditions. Additional terms were not disclosed, but published reports place the value of the deal, spanning some 20 to 25 years, at between $7 billion to $8 billion. That would make it the most lucrative local TV deal in history. TWC, which has some 2 million homes in Dodgers territory, will reportedly pick up the network's monthly subscriber fee if other distributors don't carry the service, which could carry a license north of $4 per month.

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