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{{Short description|American cable television network}}
{{redirect-distinguish|CN8|Cranial nerve 8}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = The Comcast Network
| logo = The Comcast Network 2015 logo.jpg
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1996|12|1}}
| closed_date = {{end date and age|2017|10|2}}
| country = United States
| area = [[Connecticut]]<br>[[Delaware]]<br>[[Maine]]<br>[[Maryland]]<br>[[Massachusetts]]<br>[[New Hampshire]]<br>[[New Jersey]]<br>[[Pennsylvania]]<br>[[Rhode Island]]<br>[[Vermont]]<br>[[Virginia]]<br>[[Washington, D.C.]]
| former_names = CN8, The Comcast Network (1996–2009)<br/>Comcast Network (2009–2017)
| replaced_by = [[NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus]]<br/>[[NBC Sports Washington Plus]]
}}
'''The Comcast Network''' ('''TCN''') was an American [[cable television|cable]] [[television network]] which was carried mostly on Comcast and [[Xfinity]] cable systems in four states and 20 television markets in the [[Eastern United States|Eastern U.S.]] from [[New Jersey]] to [[Virginia]]. The main focus of the network was on the [[Philadelphia]] area, although the channel attempted to structure its programs as national shows. Key markets included [[New Jersey]], the [[Pennsylvania]] cities of Philadelphia, [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] and [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], [[Baltimore, Maryland]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[Richmond, Virginia]].

== History ==
The Comcast Network was first launched to around 400,000 homes on December 1, 1996, as '''CN8, The Comcast Network''' (though it was often abbreviated to simply "CN8.") This largely constituted Comcast's Philadelphia-area cable systems. CN8 carried a mix of public affairs and call-in shows upon launch, including a television simulcast of radio station [[WKXW|NJ 101.5]]'s morning show, as well as local sports. The channel was added to Comcast's Baltimore-area systems in early 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|title=CN8, The Comcast Network Debuts In Baltimore|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1998/01/12/daily5.html|access-date=2020-11-23|website=www.bizjournals.com}}</ref>

In November 1999, Comcast purchased rival Lenfest Communications, which operated in the area under the [[Suburban Cable]] and [[Garden State Cable]] names. They had launched their own regional cable channel, ''TSM News'' (TSM standing for "Tri-State Media"), that April, with live newscasts airing from 9 am to 8 pm every day; Janet Zappala, formerly of [[WCAU|WCAU-TV]] (which would become a sister station to CN8 in 2011 when Comcast [[Acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast|acquired NBCUniversal]]), served as one of TSM's lead anchors. This resulted in TSM's shutdown, and many of its staffers were re-hired by Comcast to create CN8's news department, which launched in April 2000 from TSM's former studio facility in [[New Castle, Delaware|New Castle, DE]]. CN8 News originally had two hour-long nightly newscasts, at 7PM and 11PM, co-anchored by another ex-WCAU personality, Arthur Fennell; eventually, the 11PM edition moved to 10PM. In addition to this facility, CN8 operated studios in Philadelphia's [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]] neighborhood, and news bureaus/studios in [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]], [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] and [[Union Township, Union County, New Jersey|Union, New Jersey]]. CN8 was now distributed across Comcast's systems from Maryland to northern New Jersey, providing regionalized coverage and shows for these areas.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moss|first=Linda|date=21 February 2000|title=Comcast's CN8 Absorbs TSM|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/comcasts-cn8-absorbs-tsm-151599|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Multichannel News}}</ref>

In 2002, CN8 launched in [[Pittsburgh]] when Comcast acquired [[AT&T Broadband]], which would be further expanded when Comcast acquired assets from [[Adelphia Communications]] following their liquidation. (The two deals left the satellite TV companies and [[Armstrong Group of Companies|Armstrong Cable]] as the only other pay-TV options in [[Western Pennsylvania]] until the launch of [[Verizon Fios]].) However, CN8 never launched a standalone Pittsburgh feed; Comcast acquired a stake in [[Pittsburgh Cable News Channel|PCNC]] from the AT&T Broadband deal (a remnant of their predecessor [[Tele-Communications Inc.|TCI]] prior to [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]] acquiring TCI) and to this day continues to serve as a [[Partnership#Silent partners|silent partner]] to that channel's other owner, local [[NBC]] affiliate [[WPXI]].

In May 2003, CN8 further expanded into New England. Replacing ''AT&T 3'', operated by Comcast's regional predecessor [[AT&T Broadband]], this version of CN8 largely carried the same programming as the Philadelphia-area feed, only with their newscasts replaced by new regional shows; the 7PM news was replaced by ''NiteBeat'', covering politics and analysis of regional news, hosted by [[Barry Nolan]] (formerly of [[WBZ-TV]]'s ''[[Evening Magazine (Group W)|Evening Magazine]]''), while the 10pm news was replaced in New England with ''Sports Pulse'', a one-hour nightly program of regional sports talk, highlights, and analysis. This was done to avoid redundancy with [[New England Cable News]], already partly-owned by Comcast at the time. CN8 also produced a wide range of live sports in New England, including Division I college football, hockey and basketball, minor-league baseball, professional boxing, figure skating, high school sports, World Team Tennis, and a popular weekly candlepin bowling series. The New England feed was available to 2.2 million viewers across the region.<ref>{{Cite web|last=March 2003|first=Simon Applebaum 31|title=CN8 Expands North Into New England|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/cn8-expands-north-new-england-157630|access-date=2020-11-13|website=Multichannel News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Channel CN8 spreading to New England|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2003/03/24/daily7.html|access-date=2020-11-13|website=www.bizjournals.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Living / Arts / Channel has its own program for success|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/10/23/channel_has_its_own_program_for_success/|access-date=2020-11-13|website=archive.boston.com|language=en}}</ref>

That same year, Philadelphia news veteran [[Larry Kane]] joined CN8 as a consultant, and had his own show, ''Larry Kane: Voice of Reason''. However, due to low viewership, CN8 ended their newscasts in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Fernandez |first1=Bob |last2=Klein |first2=Michael |title=Comcast to ax CN8 name, restructure cable channel|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/business/homepage/20081105_Comcast_to_ax_CN8_name__restructure_cable_channel.html|access-date=2020-11-23|website=inquirer.com|language=en-US}}</ref> By 2008, CN8 was staffed by approximately 450 employees and was reaching more than 9 million viewers in 12 states and 20 television markets along the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cn8.tv/channel/article.asp?lChannelID=603&lArticleID=4306&subhead=netwrk|title=Network Overview|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912193317/http://www.cn8.tv/channel/article.asp?lChannelID=603&lArticleID=4306&subhead=netwrk|archive-date=12 September 2008|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref> The CN8 brand was discontinued on January 6, 2009, as part of a larger restructuring of the network in order to respond to low [[Nielsen ratings|ratings]] as well as closing down in the [[New England]] market, where its primary markets were [[Boston]] and Hartford/New Haven. Some CN8 New England programming migrated to [[New England Cable News]], with some sports properties picked up by [[Comcast SportsNet New England]].

On August 23, 2017, [[NBC Sports Regional Networks]] announced that the TCN branding would be dropped on October 2, 2017; TCN Philadelphia was rebranded as NBC Sports Philadelphia +, and TCN Mid-Atlantic was to be rebranded as NBC Sports Washington +. The rebranding was concurrent with the renaming of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand.<ref name="nbcs-tcnrebrand">{{cite press release|date=August 23, 2017|title=NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS TO ALIGN CSN & TCN PROPERTIES UNDER 'NBC SPORTS' BRAND|url=http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2017/08/23/nbc-sports-regional-networks-to-align-csn-tcn-properties-under-nbc-sports-brand/|type=Press release|location=Stamford, Conn.|publisher=[[NBC Sports Group]]|access-date=August 24, 2017}}</ref> It is not clear what network, if any, replaced the channel in the Pittsburgh market.

== Programs ==

=== As CN8 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Show title
|-
|American Builder<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cn8.tv/|title=What's On CN8|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050930223804/http://www.cn8.tv/|archive-date=30 September 2005|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref>
|-
|Backstage with Barry Nolan<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Christina Cooks!<ref name=":0" />
|-
|CN8 Candlepin Challenge<ref name=":0" />
|-
|CN8 News<ref name=":0" />
|-
|CN8 Presents: Comcast in Concert<ref name=":0" />
|-
|CN8 Sports<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Gymnastics 360 with [[Shannon Miller]]<ref name=":0" />
|-
|It's Your Call with Lynn Doyle<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Larry Kane: Voice of Reason<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Let's Cook with Paul Dillon<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Lou Tilley's Sports Connection<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Money Matters Today<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[Nancy Kerrigan]]'s World of Skating<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Nitebeat<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[One on One with Steve Adubato]]<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Out of Bounds<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Real Life with Mary Amoroso<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Seeking Solutions with Suzanne<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Sports Pulse<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Your Morning<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Art Fennell Reports<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cn8.tv/channel/channelhome.asp?lChannelID=606|title=What's On CN8|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203022925/http://www.cn8.tv/channel/channelhome.asp?lChannelID=606|archive-date=3 February 2007|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref>
|-
|Roll Call<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cn8.tv/channel/channelhome.asp?lChannelID=1012|title=CN8 Shows|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512024032/http://www.cn8.tv/channel/channelhome.asp?lChannelID=1012|archive-date=12 May 2008|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
*[[Broadcasting of sports events]]
*[[NBC Sports]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|The Comcast Network}}

{{NBCUniversal}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Comcast Network}}
[[Category:NBCUniversal networks]]
[[Category:NBC Sports Regional Networks]]
[[Category:Television stations in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1996]]
[[Category:1996 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017]]
[[Category:2017 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct local cable stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Delaware]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Maryland]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Virginia]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Defunct mass media in Rhode Island]]