Network history
The network launched in November 1989 as Prime Sports Network Utah;[6][7] owned by TCI's Liberty Media, it served as an owned-and-operated outlet of the Prime Network group of regional sports networks. In its first year, the network carried 25 Utah Jazz games.[6] At some point, the network was rebranded as Prime Sports Intermountain West. In 1995, Prime Sports began to carry Utah Grizzlies (IHL) games when the team relocated to the state.[8]
In 1996, News Corporation, which formed a sports division for the Fox network two years earlier after it obtained the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference, acquired a 50% interest in the Prime Network from Liberty Media.[9] On November 1, 1996, News Corporation and Liberty Media relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the new Fox Sports Net group, with the Salt Lake City-based network officially rebranding as Fox Sports Utah.[10] The channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Net Utah in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner; subsequently in 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Utah, through the networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand.
On December 22, 2006, News Corporation sold its interest in FSN Utah and sister networks FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain to Liberty Media, in an asset trade in which News Corporation also traded its 38.5% ownership stake in satellite provider DirecTV for $550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for Liberty Media's 16.3% stake in the company.[11]
On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off into the separate company under the DirecTV name, in a deal in which Liberty would increase its share in DirecTV from 48% to 54%, with Liberty owner John Malone and his family owning a 24% interest. DirecTV would operate its newly acquired FSN-affiliated networks through DirecTV Sports Networks,[12] a new division formed when the split off from Liberty Media was completed on November 19, 2009.[13]
On December 17, 2010, DirecTV Sports Networks announced that its four Fox Sports Networks-affiliated regional outlets – FSN Utah, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain – would be relaunched under the "Root Sports" brand.[14] The network officially rebranded as Root Sports Utah on April 1, 2011. On April 8, 2016, DirecTV Sports Networks rebranded under the AT&T name as AT&T Sports Networks.[15]
On June 12, 2017, AT&T Sports Networks announced its networks would rebrand under the name AT&T SportsNet Utah, with all network programming and on-air talent remaining intact.[16][17] On July 14, 2017, Root Sports Utah was merged into AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, while a separate subfeed is still maintained, Utah is no longer part of the branding.
