CARSON, Calif. (Wednesday, February 27, 2013) – The LA Galaxy and Time Warner Cable Sports announced today that the Galaxy’s 2013 MLS regular season opener will now be shown live in English on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Sunday’s game, which kicks off at 2 p.m. and is presented by Herbalife, will be the first of 21 games broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsNet throughout the 2013 season.
In addition to showing Sunday’s game, which will be available nationally in Spanish on UniMás, Time Warner Cable SportsNet will also air the club’s MLS Cup ring presentation and championship banner unveiling prior to kickoff in a special pregame “Access SportsNet: Galaxy” starting at 1:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, Time Warner Cable SportsNet unveiled their broadcast teams for the Galaxy throughout the 2013 season. John Shrader joins Time Warner Cable SportsNet and will handle play-by-play duties for all Galaxy games on the network. A veteran broadcaster who spent 12 seasons calling games for the San Jose Earthquakes as well as 15 years with KNBR Radio in San Francisco, covering the 49ers and the Giants, Shrader is also a professor of journalism and media at Cal State Long Beach. While in Northern California, he also called play-by-play for Oakland Athletics telecasts and San Jose State University football radio broadcasts. In addition to his work at Time Warner Cable SportsNet calling high school and college football games, as well as the Galaxy, Shrader is also a professor of Journalism and Media at Cal State Long Beach.
He will be joined in the booth by Galaxy legend Cobi Jones, who returns as the network’s lead analyst for a second straight season. The all-time leader in games played for both the Galaxy and the U.S. National Team, Jones spent 12 seasons playing for the Galaxy before joining the club’s coaching staff following the 2007 campaign. The two-time MLS Cup winner left the club following the 2010 season and joined Time Warner Cable SportsNet in 2012
Rounding out the broadcast team for Galaxy games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet is Kelli Tennant, who will serve as the network’s sideline reporter. A former college volleyball player at USC, Tennant transitioned to an on-camera role working as a reporter for TrojanTV All-Access and providing color analysis for USC men’s volleyball match webcasts. Tennant has also worked on high school football telecasts for Time Warner Cable SportsNet and SoCal 101 and previously worked for Fox Sports, ESPN, the Pac-12 Network, Longhorn Network, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) and E! News.
For Time Warner Cable Deportes, Samuel Jacobo will handle the play-by-play duties alongside lead analyst Martin Zuniga and sideline reporter Elmur Souza, who will travel with the club throughout the season, including for games that are not being telecast on Time Warner Cable Deportes. Time Warner Cable Deportes will telecast its first game of the 2013 season on Saturday, March 23 against the Colorado Rapids.
In addition to their crews that will be calling the action on-site all season long, Time Warner Cable SportsNet will also host pre and postgame shows entitled “Access SportsNet: Galaxy” before and after all Galaxy games airing on the network, as well as at halftime. The shows will feature hosts Chris McGee and Andy Adler along with former Galaxy and U.S. National Team legend Clint Mathis, who will serve as a studio analyst for the network.
Time Warner Cable SportsNet will also air highlight the two-time defending MLS Cup champions with a comprehensive programming schedule, led by “Backstage: Galaxy”, which will continue in 2013, giving fans behind-the-scenes access as cameras go inside the locker room and on the road with the team all season long. Time Warner Cable SportsNet cameras will follow Galaxy players on and off the field and new episodes will air every two weeks during the season. The series first premiered on Time Warner Cable SportsNet in 2012 as it followed the club in their run to the 2012 MLS Cup and the new season of “Backstage: Galaxy” will debut on Saturday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Other Galaxy programming on Time Warner Cable SportsNet will include classic Galaxy games on “Timeless Galaxy,” re-telecasts of Galaxy games enhanced with social media interaction and bonus commentary on “Encore+” and games condensed into a fast-paced, one-hour format on “Galaxy Compacto.” Additionally, “Access SportsNet” will provide regular coverage of the team on non-game nights throughout the season and Galaxy players and personalities will be featured on the interview show “Connected With…”
