Space City Home Network

As of 2024, the Space City Home Network is available on cable providers throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, parts of Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico, and nationwide on satellite via DirecTV.This led to a protracted court battle between Fox and the two teams that was settled after 20 months, leading to a new broadcast deal with the network valued at $600 million over 10 to 15 years.The continuation of the Astros and Rockets broadcasts on Fox Sports Houston was on the table as the network offered $1.2 billion over 10 years.In particular, DirecTV CEO Michael White criticized CSN Houston, along with other recently established regional sports networks, for having increasingly high carriage fees that must be passed on to consumers.[7] On April 5, 2013, Houston Mayor Annise Parker invited officials from AT&T, Comcast, DirecTV and Suddenlink to a summit on expanding carriage of the network.[9][10] In the midst of its eventual bankruptcy, En-Touch, a small provider serving suburbs and outlying cities in the area (such as Cypress, Katy, Missouri City, and Sugar Land), threatened to drop CSN Houston due to its high carriage rates not being justified for the amount of programming being offered, and its overall ratings among the provider's customers.[5] On September 27, 2013, NBCUniversal announced that affiliates of it and parent company Comcast had filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the network to "resolve structural issues affecting CSN Houston's partnership."The move did not sit well with the Astros, which stated that the filing was made "improperly" to prevent the team from ending its agreement with the network.[13][14] The reorganization offer was approved by the court on October 30, 2014, although Comcast appealed the decision in order to address a $100 million loan that had been given to the network.The network officially rebranded as Root Sports Southwest at 6:00 a.m. that day, and began to be carried on AT&T U-verse and DirecTV, as promised in the final reorganization plan.[24][25] Originally scheduled for a winddown by March 31, WBD and Major League Baseball would later agree to sustain RSN operations through the end of the MLB season.[28] The Astros and Rockets confirmed the acquisition of AT&T SportsNet Southwest on September 29, effective the following day, with the rebranding to take place on October 3.