Regional sports networks continue to lose distribution footing in the eroding pay TV ecosystem.

SportsNet Pittsburgh, which was recently cast off by AT&T and put under the control of its two main pro-team tenants, Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates and the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, with day-to-day management handled by co-owner New England Sports Network, just took a significant tier bump with its Comcast renewal, the the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

SportsNet Pittsburgh will no longer be available on the No. 1 U.S. pay TV operator's $70-a-month "Popular TV" tier in the local Pittsburgh region. Local Comcast subscribers who want the channel will now instead have to pay an additional $20 a month for the more sports-loaded "Ultimate TV" package.

Also read: Better Late Than Never: Charter to Drive Down the Cost of Pay TV With Groundbreaking New Distribution Strategy for Regional Sports Networks

“Most of our customers who receive the network today already have Ultimate TV, and our viewership information shows that they are the ones primarily watching it, so that’s why we’re making this change,” Comcast said in a statement. “We appreciate SportsNet Pittsburgh working with us to find a solution that balances cost and consumer choice to watch local sports in this changing video marketplace.”

RSN providers have long exerted pressure to make pay TV operators carry their channels in base tiers. With those economics making non-sports fans flee in droves to cheaper direct-to-consumer streaming options, RSNs have lost leverage and are now beginning to move to more premium programming tiers. 

One more portion of the roiled regional sports networks ecosystem has been resettled. 

Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday announced that they will become joint owners, along with the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, of RSN SportsNet Pittsburgh, starting Jan. 1. 

New England Sports Network (NESN), which like the Penguins is owned by Fenway Sports Group, will oversee day-to-day management of the channel

The agreement comes after media giant Warner Bros. Discovery abandoned several local sports cable channels, branded as "AT&T SportsNet," that it reluctantly inherited amid the $43 million spinoff and merger that created the conglomerate two years ago. 

The Penguins already agreed to purchase the channel late last summer. The Pirates had been working with MLB to explore alternative broadcast options, with the league already dealing with a number of RSN refugee teams cast out amid the bankruptcy of Bally Sports channels operator Diamond Sports Group. 

Also read: Warner Sets RSN Exit Plan, Will Sell AT&T SportsNet Channels in Pittsburgh and Houston to Local Pro Teams, Shutter Rocky Mountain

“Above all else, this was the right thing to do for our fans,” Pirates president Travis Williams said in a statement. “From the outset of this process, the most important thing to us was to ensure that our fans have the same level of access to Pirates game telecasts and the same high-quality production that they enjoy today. This agreement accomplishes that and more as we enable Pittsburgh sports fans to continue to enjoy a two-team, 24/7 sports channel.”

Added Sean McGrail, president and CEO of NESN: "We are thrilled that the Pirates are joining the SportsNet Pittsburgh partnership. Over 150 Pirates games in addition to the Penguins telecasts makes SportsNet Pittsburgh a must-have destination for Pirates fans."

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the channel's on-air, live-game crew will remain the same, with play-by-play announcers Greg Brown and Joe Block, as well as the rotating cast of color commentators including Bob Walk, John Wehner, Neil Walker, Matt Capps and Kevin Young.

The channel will continue to operate out of the same North Shore studios that were used for AT&T SportsNet, as well as previous iterations of the channel that include "Root Sports" and FSN Pittsburgh.

The Pirates are still figuring out how to program all the pregame and postgame time slots, as well as the abyss that is the rest of the day.

The Pirates generated a reported $50 million - $60 million from their legacy relationship with AT&T SportsNet -- a local TV rights revenue figure that was considered high, given the team's market profile. 

It's considered unlikely they'll match that with the new configuration. 

Sports oriented streaming service fuboTV has reached an agreement to carry AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh Region, the TV home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The regional sports network will be available ahead of the start of the 2020/21 NHL season.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“As a sports-first live TV streaming platform, our goal is to offer consumers regional sports networks with leading local market position and full team coverage, at pricing customers can afford,” said Ben Grad, head of content strategy and acquisition for fuboTV. “Therefore, we are excited to bring full home coverage of Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins to their fans with our new agreement with AT&T Sports Networks. fuboTV is now a great choice for sports fans in Pittsburgh and, with our leading live sports, news and entertainment content portfolio, there is something for everyone at home to watch and enjoy.”

AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh's coverage includes over 225 live regular season games of both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as other ancillary programming and behind the scenes content. The RSN is available throughout the states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia and in portions of New York, Ohio and Maryland.

The agreement increases fuboTV’s local coverage in Pittsburgh, where it already carries CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates alongside national sports networks including ESPN, FS1, CBS Sports Network and the ACC Network.

“We are thrilled to announce this deal with fuboTV and give fans even more options to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins in their home market,” said Nina Kinch, VP of affiliate relations for AT&T Sports Networks. “Both teams have enormous fan bases and we have had a lot of demand to bring these teams to OTT providers. We are very excited that customers will now have that option with fuboTV.”

FuboTV will carry AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh as part of its base fubo subscription package, fubo Standard.

Last night’s Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates Wild Card telecast drew a record 8.3 million viewers, breaking the viewership mark set 24 hours earlier.  

TBS’ National League Wild Card telecast upended the 7.3 million viewers ESPN generated for its Tuesday night New York Yankees-Houston Astros American League Wild Card telecast, according to Nielsen.

The game, which the Cubs won 4-0 over the Pirates, is also the most watched baseball game on cable since the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals-Philadelphia Phillies NL Division series game drew 8.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Wednesday’s NL Wild Card Game also delivered double-digit increases across Turner’s TV Everywhere platforms with live streaming coverage up 58% among unique visits, 23% in total minutes consumed and 15% in live video starts.