(CHICAGO) – Fox Sports Net Chicago has announced that its "16th Annual Fox Sports Net Sports Awards" benefiting the March of Dimes is a winner in the 2004 Beacon Awards competition. Sponsored by the Cable Television Public Affairs Association (CTPAA), the national Beacon Awards competition recognizes excellence in public affairs throughout the cable industry.
Fox Sports Net Chicago and the March of Dimes have partnered for the annual sports awards dinner since 1987. The Beacon Award was for the February 2003 dinner, which raised a then record of over $400,000. To date, the annual "Fox Sports Net Sports Awards" has raised in excess of $3.5 million.
From the hundreds of entries received in this year's Beacon Award competition, 79 winners were chosen by cable public affairs professionals in an extensive two-phase judging process. The overwhelming number of entries represents company initiatives implemented over the past year, in the areas of community, customer, media and employee relations, as well as education and government affairs. The winners were announced at a gala awards ceremony on March 23, during CTPAA's annual three-day conference, FORUM 2004: Communicating Cable's Value at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.
"Winning the national Beacon Award is truly an outstanding achievement for our network and Rainbow Sports Networks," said Jeff Nuich, Communications Manager for Fox Sports Net Chicago. "The requirements to become a winner are more demanding than ever before. This is a great honor for our network that highlights our on-going civic dedication to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation."
Fox Sports Net Chicago reaches more than 3.8 million households in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Fox Sports Net Chicago's programming includes Chicago Bulls basketball, Chicago Blackhawks hockey, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs baseball, Chicago Fire soccer, "The Best Damn Sports Show Period," NASCAR and "Beyond the Glory." Fox Sports Net Chicago is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks. Rainbow Sports Networks incorporates Rainbow's 50% ownership in Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports National Advertising and the ownership and management of Fox Sports Net regional networks in five of the nation's largest markets: Chicago, San Francisco, New England, Ohio and Florida.
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment, as well as Mag Rack, a collection of on-demand video magazines. Rainbow Media's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications.