Cox Communications subscribers across Southern California can finally tune into Dodgers games on SportsNet LA, ending a 13-year blackout that frustrated local fans. The return of the team’s dedicated channel means viewers in Orange County, Palos Verdes, and Santa Barbara now have access, with SportsNet LA appearing on Channel 63, Channel 54, and Channel 36 respectively. Even Las Vegas customers can find it on Channel 50. This long-awaited change took effect on Friday, following Charter Communications' significant acquisition.
The strange and protracted blackout began 13 years ago, on the final Sunday in September, after Skip Schumaker struck out in the last game of the regular season. While the Dodgers were headed to the playoffs, securing the National League West title, Cox subscribers were left without access. Over more than a decade, this meant missing "the final years of Vin Scully and the golden years of three World Series championships" for a significant portion of the fanbase.
The resolution arrived because Charter Communications, which operates under the Spectrum brand, completed its $34.5-billion purchase of Cox on Thursday. This acquisition means that the channels previously controlled by Cox now fall under Charter's purview, effectively nullifying Cox’s previous resistance to paying Charter for the rights to air SportsNet LA. Charter has long been committed to broad distribution of the channel since acquiring Time Warner Cable in 2016.
SportsNet LA itself launched in 2014, a year after the Dodgers’ local television agreement with Fox Sports concluded. The team-owned channel was part of what was described as "the last great regional sports network deal," with Time Warner Cable agreeing to pay the Dodgers $8.35 billion over 25 years for marketing and distribution rights. This guaranteed revenue stream significantly boosted the team's finances, even as traditional broadcast audiences began to fragment due to the rise of streaming and cord-cutting.
However, these large regional sports network deals often relied on cable and satellite subscribers paying for entire channel bundles, regardless of what they actually watched. Providers like DirecTV initially balked at the cost of SportsNet LA, which demanded around $5 per month per subscriber — a notable increase compared to the few dimes typically charged for news or entertainment channels. Consequently, until Charter bought Time Warner Cable in 2016, no major Los Angeles outlet besides Time Warner Cable carried SportsNet LA, leaving less than half of LA market households with access.
Further strides were made in 2020 when DirecTV and AT&T struck a deal with Charter, driven by a need to maintain their shrinking subscriber base amidst growing video options. As Dodgers star Justin Turner noted at the time, this kind of access was "maybe, long overdue." For many Southern California residents who are longtime subscribers, the end of this 13-year blackout certainly feels like a moment "definitely long overdue."
