EXCLUSIVE: One-on-one with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith on move to KJZZ 14...The Smith Entertainment Group also announced plans to launch a new Utah Jazz subscription-based streaming service in October.

 

Utah Jazz announce partnership with KJZZ-TV, new streaming platform

---

by Jared Turner, KUTV

Tue, June 20th 2023, 9:15 AM PDT

0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 90%

 

3

VIEW ALL PHOTOS

Owners of the Utah Jazz announced a new partnership that will make all non-nationally televised games available for free in the Beehive State using a basic television antenna. (Image: KUTV)

0

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Owners of the Utah Jazz announced a new partnership that will make all non-nationally televised games available for free in the Beehive State using a basic television antenna.

The agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group – owners of KUTV 2News – will return game broadcasts to the station that aired them for 16 years, making KJZZ Channel 14 once again, “The Home of the Utah Jazz.”

The move means all Jazz games not broadcast on a national network will be available free to fans within the team’s local broadcast market.

Games will also be broadcast through any satellite or cable provide that carries KJZZ.

Broadcasts will continue to be called by Craig Bolerjack, former Jazzman Thurl “Big T” Bailey and Holly Rowe. Pre-game and post-game shows will also air on KJZZ, hosted by Michael Smith and Alema Harrington.

Jazz games were first broadcast on KJZZ during the 1993-1994 season.

In 2009, the franchise announced a long-term deal with FSN to broadcast games, ending fan access to free, over-the-air broadcasts.

The Smith Entertainment Group also announced plans to launch a new Utah Jazz subscription-based streaming service in October.

The service will be run by a new division of the company, SEG Media, and will produce unique content, in addition to Jazz games.

Additional details about the streaming service, including cost, were expected to be released at a later date.

Tuesday’s announcement fulfilled a promise owner Ryan Smith made to fans months ago that they would have increased access to games.

“When we first took over stewardship of the team, 39% of Utah households had the ability to watch Jazz games, so as soon as the window opened last fall for us to rethink our approach to broadcasting, we began exploring all options to provide fans the most reliable access to Jazz games,” he said. “This new approach is one of the most important investments we have made since purchasing the team because it allows us to deliver Utah Jazz games to 3.3 million plus Utahns.”