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As dark clouds surrounded the New York area Monday, postponing the New York Yankees Opening Day game with the Houston Astros until Tuesday (April 5), hopes were even dimmer that the extra day could help unlock the impasse in negotiations between Comcast and the regional sports network that carries the games – the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.

Cold, rainy weather  threatened the New York area on Monday, forcing Yankee Stadium to roll out the tarp and hope for better conditions Tuesday. On the YES Network website, the regional sports network said the game would be rescheduled  to April 5 at 1:05 p.m., and would be broadcast on the channel, “except in areas serviced by Comcast.”

Representatives from both Comcast and YES Network said there are no current carriage talks between the two. Comcast has about 900,000 subscribers in parts of New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Tuesday’s contest is expected to be a rematch of the 2015 American League Wild Card game, pitting Yankees fire-balling right-hander Masahiro Tanaka against Astros 2015 Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel.  The Astros won the AL Wild Card last year, only to be defeated in the Divisional matchup by eventual World Series winner the Kansas City Royals.

YES and Comcast have been embroiled in a carriage dispute since November. The YES/Comcast imbroglio is mirrored on the West Coast as operators other than Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks (all expected to merge shortly) have passed at carrying the regional sports channel – SportsNetLA – that airs the Los Angeles Dodgers. In both disputes, the high price of the networks is considered the main sticking point in negotiations.    

As Root Sports Southwest progressed through its debut day ahead of its initial airing of Houston Rockets' NBA coverage, Patrick Crumb was already looking ahead.

The president of DirecTV Sports Networks, which is operating the service, is eyeing more distribution growth, looking to add key personnel, including the general manager position, and wants to bolster the regional sports network’s programming roster.

Borne from DirecTV and AT&T U-verse’s purchase of CSN Houston from chapter 11 bankruptcy, Root Sports Southwest, which will also be the local home to MLB’s Houston Astros, signed on at 6 a.m. (CT) with a poker show and was scheduled to air sports talk  programming and pregame fare previewing its Rockets-Memphis Grizzlies presentation at 7 p.m.

DirecTV Sports Network is introducing the service with a multimedia ad campaign, featuring outdoor billboards, print, radio and online ads, as well as positions on social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. There is also in-arena messaging at the Toyota Center, the Rockets' home court, as well as ads in media guides and programs.  DirecTV and AT&T are also employing various marketing tactics to their subscribers.

At launch, the network, the fourth to operate under the Root Sports banner, counts some 4 million subs through carriage on its owners, as well as Comcast, whose NBC Sports unit formerly operated CSN Houston. That’s four times more than CSN Houston held via Comcast and a handful of smaller providers.  Crumb said the network has 80% coverage in Houston coming out of the gate. AT&T U-verse has a presence in Dallas and other parts of the state, while DirecTV is available throughout the TV territory.

Crumb said the goal for the network is to achieve 100% carriage – up to a potential 9 million households -- in Texas and the rest of its TV territory that encompasses Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the eastern part of New Mexico, factoring in restrictions for other NBA teams in those areas.

Noting DirecTV Sports has extant relationships with distributors from Root Sports Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain and Northwest, Crumb said the affiliate team has had preliminary discussions about Root Sports Southwest. “We’re looking to further engage with the distributors pretty much immediately,” he said.

He declined to discuss the network’s rate card, or characterize it relative to its predecessor’s reported $4 monthly subscriber ask within its core market and 70 cents elsewhere.

A spokesman for Suddenlink, which was one of the major holdouts for CSN Houston, said “we have been contacted by the new owners of the network and are scheduling time to talk further with them.”

Calling it the first “hot swap in RSN history,” Crumb said DirecTV Sports had to change out Comcast systems, software and servers. DirecTV Sports’ technical crew has been on the ground in Houston since last week and the company had been working on the on-air graphics package since summer.  Root Sports Southwest is utilizing the studio that was part of Comcast’s facility in downtown Houston.

Relative to personnel, the bankruptcy reorganization resulted in between 70 and 75 people losing their jobs, while 45, notably on-air talent for the Rockets and Astros, were retained.  There are currently job postings for general manager, national sales and account executives.

Crumb said he interviewed multiple candidates for the GM post, while he and DirecTV Sports executive team were in Houston last week.  “We hope to ID someone quickly and have them in the seat soon,” he said.

On the affiliate side, DirecTV Sports’ centralized team works from headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., with a point person on the ground in the RSN’s home markets.

In addition to Rockets and Astros telecasts, which will be supplemented by pre- and post-game and other related programming, Root Sports Southwest will show Big Sky and Southern Conference football, plus Mountain West and Conference USA pigskin and hoops action. Rice basketball is in the mix, flanked by a coaching show, as well as a University of Houston coach’s basketball program.

Simulcasts of The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show, both staples of DirecTV’s Audience Network and other outlets, are on the RSN's weekday schedule.

Crumb said he has had conversations with the Houston Dynamo, which also was part of the CSN Houston lineup and hopes to have a deal in place when the MLS club kicks off its 2015 season. He said high schools sports could also join the Root Sports Southwest roster. “Football is very important in Texas,” he understated.

Ratings will begin in a few days, and Crumb was encouraged by how the Rockets – currently residing atop the NBA’s Southwest Division – have performed in the Houston DMA during early-season national telecasts.

Crumb recognizes that much work lies ahead for the network to establish itself with a largely disaffected sports community.

“Most of them have gone without games for about two years, and had no way to switch providers that carried [CSN Houston]. Obviously, that’s less than the ideal way to launch,” he said.

Still, he’s sanguine about the prospects: “Root Sports Southwest represents an opportunity to work with distributors and fans and build this network. The opportunity is great. It’s a large territory, but three big providers are in place. There is a very talented staff. We’re very excited to launch Root Sports Southwest.”

Following 14 months of chapter 11 wrangling, CSN Houston is set to fade to black on Sunday, Nov. 16 after coverage of the NBA game between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City.

In its place is a new regional sports network owned by AT&T and DirecTV, which will operate the service under its Root Sports banner. Expected to bear the sub moniker of Houston, the service evidently will sport the Southwest name, according to a website,http://rssouthwest.itmwpb.com/, first pointed out by the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron on his twitter feed.

DirecTV, citing legal constraints, has declined to comment about programming and further distribution plans for the service throughout the bankruptcy court proceedings.

The RSN, which will also televise Houston Astros MLB contests, has carriage with the telco and DBS providers, which are awaiting federal approval on their merger, and Comcast, a combo that will give it 80% coverage in the Houston DMA. That’s far greater penetration than CSN Houston, which only managed to gain carriage deals with Comcast and a handful of small providers in the Houston DMA, ever managed. That wasn’t nearly enough to sustain the service, which tipped in October 2012 and whose territory extends in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of New Mexico. With a reported $4 per month per subscriber ask within its central area, and 70 cents elsewhere, CSN never collected enough affiliate revenue to pay the clubs their rights fees and meet its other obligations.

A look at Root Sports Southwest’s programming grid on the website shows a couple of early-morning entries --  Planet X Square and My Life John Lucas – on Sunday, Nov. 16.

Its first full day apparently comes Monday, Nov. 17 at 6 a.m. (CT), beginning with Heartland Poker Tour: Season 10, followed by four hours of paid programming.  The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show, both staples of DirecTV’s Audience Network and other outlets, will run for three hours apiece, before more poker fare bridges the gap until the Rockets pregame show at 6:30 p.m., the team’s contest against the Memphis Grizzlies at 7 p.m. and the post-game show at 9:30 p.m. 

Given NBA TV territorial restrictions, the RSN evidently will present an alternate feed of encore of the college football game between Texas Southern and Jackson State from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with Poker Night in America subbing for the post-game show in restricted areas.

According to the website’s listing of teams, Root Sports Southwest will be home to “at least 67 Rockets games, excluding the 2014-15 season,” plus the pre- and post-game shows, and auxiliary fare.  At least 135 Astros games and related programming also are on tap.

From the college ranks, the listing outlines Big Sky and Southern Conference football, plus Mountain West and Conference USA pigskin and hoops action. Rice basketball appears to be in the mix, flanked by a coaching show, as well as a University of Houston coach’s basketball program.

Eisen and Patrick’s programs are also included on the lineup.

Although 96 of the 141 CSN Houston employees will lose their gigs in the change, the talent subheading under the "about us" tab on the site indicates that Bill Worrell, Matt Bullard and Clyde Drexler will still call Rockets games, with Calvin Murphy remaining a part of the club’s studio shows. Bill Brown, Alan Ashby, Geoff Blum and Art Howe (studio) evidently will call the 2015 Astros season.

Under the reorganization plan, the Astros (46%), Rockets (31%) and Comcast (23%) have lost their network equity positons, and the teams agreed to forego immediate payment of more than $100 million in unpaid rights fees. DirecTV and AT&T are picking up the RSN for $5,000.

For its part, Comcast, through a financial appeal, is still trying to recoup more of the $100 million secured loan that was earmarked for CSN Houston's start-up costs, including a studio build-out and the teams' rights fees. The bankruptcy court ruled it could only receive $26 million of that total. 

Other legal action continues as the Astros have filed suit against former team owner Drayton McLane and Comcast and the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets may also sue Comcast.

Will CSN Houston’s Friday night coverage of the Houston Rockets-Dallas Mavericks NBA preseason game be the embattled regional sports network’s last live telecast?

Perhaps.

Closing arguments for the RSN’s year-long Chapter 11 bankruptcy case is set for Tuesday, Oct. 28, at which point Judge Marvin Isgur will be asked to approve a reorganization plan that sells CSN, which is owned by the Rockets, MLB’s Houston Astros and Comcast’s NBC Sports Group to DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. In turn, the DBS provider and the telco, which are awaiting federal approval of their proposed merger, would relaunch the service under the Roots Sports Houston banner with carriage from the owners and Comcast in the Houston DMA and beyond.

After hearing testimony from the parties on Wednesday Oct. 22 – the same day that CSN Houston personnel delivered their final live studio and news shows, as 96 of the service’s 141 employees will lose their jobs under the plan -- Isgur set next Tuesday for closing arguments.

The teams and DirecTV/AT&T hope the plan will be approved that day. That means the Rockets ‘ game against Utah on Oct. 29 would air on the new channel. (The team starts its season on Oct. 28 in Los Angeles against the Lakers with the contest airing nationally on TNT.)

However, Comcast opposes the plan for a number of reasons, and is still looking to reclaim some compensation for the $100 million loan it provided to the RSN for start-up costs, the studio build-out and early rights fee allotments; fair value for NBC Sports' 22% stake in the network that was valued at $700 million in 2010 and would be sold for just $5,000 to DirecTV/AT&T; and exculpation from creditors upon the transfer of the network.

Comcast/NBC Sports could also file an appeal that would further delay matters. If that were the case, it’s unclear whether other Rockets regional contests – their home opener versus the Boston Celtics is scheduled for Nov. 1 – would continue to air on CSN Houston. Bankruptcy protocol usually mandates that business/operations continue until case resolution. In the interim, CSN Houston is currently airing a mix of infomercials and other filler fare.

Under Isgur’s plan, the teams would not only lose their equity in the succeeding service, but abandon their claims to some $100 million in rights fees owed by CSN Houston.

Comcast/NBC Sports declined to comment.  DirecTV and AT&T declined to comment.

Launched in October 2012 and seeking a monthly subscriber fee in the $3.40 neighborhood, CSN Houston failed to gain distribution traction beyond Comcast and a few smaller providers in the Houston DMA, much less with DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Time Warner Cable, Suddenlink, Charter and Verizon, among others, in its five-state TV territory that also stretches to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

As such, the RSN never generated nearly enough affiliate revenues to pay the teams their rights fees and meet its bills.