185 Athletics & Giants Games Highlight FSN Bay Area's Schedule, Including 111 Games in HDTV and 40 Pregame Shows
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – FSN Bay Area today announced its Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants schedule for the 2005 season. FSN Bay Area will offer viewers a comprehensive schedule of 75 A's games (40 home, 35 away) and 110 Giants contests (61 home, 49 away). FSN Bay Area will feature an unprecedented 111 games in HDTV. The announcement was made by Jeff Krolik, Senior Vice President and General Manager for FSN Bay Area.
FSN Bay Area begins its coverage with the first of 75 Oakland Athletics games on April 4 at 12:00 PM, as the Athletics play the Baltimore Orioles on the road in their season opener. FSN Bay Area will also carry Oakland's home opener on April 11, as the Athletics take on the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:00 PM. Highlighting FSN Bay Area's Athletics telecast schedule are nine match-ups against the 2004 A.L. West Champion, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (April 15, 16, 23; July 20; August 9, 10, 31; September 1, 28), seven with the Texas Rangers (July 14, 17, 21, 24; September 9, 10, 24), five contests with the New York Yankees (May 7, 8, 15; September 2, 3) and four games against the World Champion Boston Red Sox (May 10, 16; September 16, 17).
FSN Bay Area will present 110 Giants games, two preseason games along with 108 regular season games. The first Giants preseason telecast will air on Saturday, March 19 at 12:00 PM as the Giants play host to the San Diego Padres in Cactus League action. The Giants' first regular season telecast on FSN Bay Area is on April 5 at 1:00 PM, as the Giants play their home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Other schedule highlights include 10 games against the division rival L.A. Dodgers (April 5, 6, 12,13; May 24, 25; July 15; September 7, 15,18), six contests against the Chicago Cubs (July 25, 26, 27; September 8, 10, 11), five games against 13-time N.L. East Champion Atlanta Braves (July 18, 19, 20; August 9, 10) and two contests against the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals (July 8; August 19).
FSN Bay Area will broadcast 111 games in HDTV (38 Athletics, 73 Giants). FSN Bay Area will telecast its first baseball HD telecast of the season on Thursday, March 31 as the Giants host the Athletics in preseason action. The Giants season opener on April 5 against the Dodgers will be presented in HD. The Athletics first regular season HD telecast is on April 11, as they host the Blue Jays. FSN Bay Area's HDTV broadcasts are offered on Comcast channel 720 (Bay Area) and 920 (Central California). Viewers are encouraged to call Comcast Cable customer service at 1-800-COMCAST for more information on availability.
Back this season are 40 pregame shows (15 Athletics, 25 Giants) on FSN Bay Area. Hosted by Glen Kuiper and Ron Darling for the Athletics and Renel Brooks-Moon and Bip Roberts for the Giants, the half-hour shows provide interviews, features, and in-depth coverage of the day's game. The first Athletics pregame show is on April 4 at 11:30 AM (Athletics @ Baltimore Orioles) and the Giants pregame show begins March 31 at 6:30 PM (Giants @ Oakland Athletics).
"We're pleased to offer baseball fans the opportunity to catch 185 Athletics and Giants games on FSN Bay Area," said Krolik. "Our 2005 baseball telecast schedule, along with HDTV programming and pregame shows, is the strongest schedule we've ever presented. A's and Giants fans can look forward to exciting baseball on FSN Bay Area all season long."
FSN Bay Area reaches more than 3.6 million households in Northern California and Northern Nevada. FSN Bay Area's programming includes Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants baseball, Golden State Warriors basketball, San Jose Sharks hockey, San Jose Earthquakes soccer, San Jose Stealth lacrosse, San Jose Saber Cats football, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, The Sports List, FSN Across America, and Beyond the Glory. FSN Bay Area is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
Rainbow Sports Networks is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). FSN reaches more than 81 million households nationwide and is a service of National Sports Partners, equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group. Rainbow Sports Networks incorporates Rainbow's 50% ownership of FSN and Fox Sports National Advertising and the ownership and management of FSN regional networks in five of the nation's largest markets: Chicago, Florida, New England, Ohio and San Francisco.
Please, click here to see the Athletics and Giants schedule in excel format.