Dodgers fans on former Cox Communications service areas have a new way to keep up with the club on SportsNet LA.
Following the closing of a reported $34.5-billion transaction between Charter Communications and Cox Communications on Thursday morning, customers in former Cox markets can now access the Dodgers’ exclusive network through Spectrum SportsNet LA. California regulators approved Charter’s purchase of Cox on Aug. 13.
The change expands Charter’s reach into Bakersfield, Irvine, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Diego. It also gives the Dodgers’ network another boost this season after SportsNet LA was added for FUBO live TV subscribers in time for Opening Day.
For subscribers in the newly affected Cox areas, access starts right away. Those with Contour TV Preferred or Contour TV Ultimate packages in Las Vegas, Orange County, Palos Verdes and Santa Barbara can watch SportsNet LA as part of their current service.
Channel locations vary by market: 50 in Las Vegas, 63 in Orange County, 54 in Palos Verdes and 36 in Santa Barbara.
The last time Cox customers could watch the Dodgers outside of a national broadcast was Sept. 29, 2013, when Los Angeles lost to the Colorado Rockies.
SportsNet LA is now in its 13th season as the Dodgers’ exclusive home. When the network launched in 2014, its broadcast team included Vin Scully, Charley Steiner, John Hartung, Alanna Rizzo, Orel Hershiser, Nomar Garciaparra and Jerry Hairston Jr.
Jorge Jarrín and Manny Mota worked the original Spanish-language telecasts, and that setup shifted in 2015 to primarily Pepe Yñiguez and Fernando Valenzuela. Today, José Mota and Luis Cruz handle those broadcasts.
The original crew stayed together until Scully retired after the 2016 season. Rizzo later left the network order in January 2021 to move to the East Coast for family reasons.
Hartung, Hershiser, Garciaparra and Hairston are still part of the SportsNet LA broadcast group. They are joined by Joe Davis, Kirsten Watson, Stephen Nelson, Eric Karros, Adrián González, James Loney, Jessica Mendoza and Dontrelle Willis.
SportsNet LA has also collected multiple Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards for its Dodgers coverage.
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