Draft:YES Network

Background
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is a regional sports network in the New York area, located in Stamford, Connecticut. It launched on March 19, 2002, and was created by YankeeNets (then the parent company of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association; the Nets now play in Brooklyn). Prior to the YES Network's formation, the Yankees broadcast their games on the MSG Network, while the Nets broadcast their games on Fox Sports Net New York (now MSG+), which is a RSN owned and operated by Cablevision.

The YES Network was created as a result of YankeesNets' deal with Cablevision, and their previous deal with the MSG Network expired after the 2001 MLB season; likewise, the Nets' deal with Fox Sports Net NY ended after the 2001-02 NBA season. Despite the Nets being part of the creation, their games weren't shown on YES until the start of the 2002-03 NBA season. YankeeNets (now Yankee Global Enterprises) sold 49% of the network to Fox, who would eventually get 80% control. The network is now owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Entertainment Studios (now Allen Media Group), Amazon, and The Blackstone Group, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company, all of which own 13%.

To this day, the YES Network broadcasts coverage of games for both the Yankees and Nets (with the channel adding coverage of games for the New York City Football Club of Major League Soccer, a team they partly own with United Arab Emirates-owned soccer team Manchester City Football Club, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA), as well as original programming including Yankees Classics and Yankeeography.

1st Logo (March 19, 2002-2005)


Logo: We see several stadium lights on a black background. As the camera pans around the lights, a outline of the then-current YES Network logo, a  rectangle with a frieze not unlike the one from Yankee Stadium and the bold  stacked words "YES NETWORK" below the frieze, is formed by the lights. The outline eventually flashes and becomes the logo as the camera zooms in at an angle. The lights surround the fully-formed logo, which shines.

Variants:
 * On the network's launch video, a short version of the logo, starting when the outline is being formed, fades in from the closing shot of the video.
 * A cheaper variant exists. Here, before the outline can flash, we fade to a different background with a rotating circle of stadium lights. The YES Network logo, shown here as a white rectangle with  pinstripes not unlike those found on Yankees uniforms, without the frieze and with the text in, flips in and sways back and forth. The lights shine brightly.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The YES Network theme, which is a loud, dramatic 19 (?)-note fanfare. The fanfare begins with 2 notes (the second one is held-out), followed by 4 more notes. 10 (?) more notes are played quickly (the last note is held-out). Finally, 3 more notes are played; the last note echoes as the logo fades to black. We also hear some whooshing sounds and the voice of Bob Sheppard, long time PA announcer of the New York Yankees, saying one of the following phrases:
 * March 19, 2002-2004(?): "Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. You're watching the YES Network, the home of champions."
 * 2003(?)-2005: "Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. You're watching YES: The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network."

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the launch video variant, we hear the music from the video, along with whooshing sounds. The video's male announcer is also heard saying "Welcome to the YES Network."
 * At the end of original programming of the time (i.e. Yankees Classics and Yankeeography), an different male announcer says "The preceding has been an exclusive presentation of the YES Network." This is on the one instance of the cheap variant that we know of.

Availability: Very common in its time, and remains fairly common today if we know where to look.
 * During its original use, it served various capabilities, including appearing before coverage of Yankees and Nets games (including pregame coverage) and appearing at the beginning and/or end of episodes of their original programming of the time.
 * It is left intact on YES Network reruns of Yankees Classics and Yankeeography episodes of the time. The "preceding has been an exclusive presentation" variant also strangely appears at the end of an 2008 Yankeeography episode about the 1998 Yankees.
 * The launch video variant is extinct.
 * The cheap variant was stopped at the end of the Yankeeography episode "Mickey Mantle".
 * As with most other station IDs, check those old tapes/DVR recordings.

2nd Logo (2005-201?)
Logo: On a starburst background that spins throughout, the camera pans through a  outlined  rectangle. The word "YES", also in, can be seen during this. We then see the rectangle (with "YES") sliding past the camera before it zooms out, revealing itself to be the current YES Network logo (a rectangle with a  outline and "YES" on it). The logo shines.

Variant: A variant aired before and after Nets-related programs (and presumably coverage for Nets games as well) shows everything in. When the Nets moved to Brooklyn, New York, everything turned to black to match the Nets' color scheme.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A slightly quieter, echo-less version of the YES Network theme with different whooshing sounds. The announcement used is the second Bob Sheppard announcement from the previous logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * At the end of original programming, the same "preceding has been an exclusive presentation" announcement from the previous logo is used.
 * Sometimes, at the beginning of such programs, an different male announcer (presumably John Sterling) says "The following is an exclusive presentation of the YES Network."

Availability: Again, this logo was very common in its time, and remains fairly common today if we know where to look.
 * As with the previous logo, during its original use, this logo served various capabilities, including the same ones listed above (excluding coverage of Yankees games).
 * It is left intact on YES Network reruns of Yankees Classics and Yankeeography episodes of the time. It also showed up on at least one episode of Yankeeography: Moments of Glory.
 * Both of the Nets variants are extinct.
 * Again, check those old tapes/DVR recordings.

3rd Logo (2005-201?)
Logo: We see the same YES Network logo from the previous logo hiding behind a blue version of the Yankee Stadium frieze. Then the YES Network logo zooms in along with the frieze.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The same version of the YES Network theme as the previous logo. The announcement used is the second Bob Sheppard announcement from the last two logos.

Availability: Extinct. This was used before coverage of New York Yankees games of the era. Check those old tapes/DVR recordings.

4th Logo (201?-)
Logo: Several and  bars flip in over a black background. The bars cover the screen, and we see the YES Network logo reflected on them and sliding toward the camera. Then, the bars flip out, and the camera pans toward more bars which also have the YES Network logo reflected on them while sliding again. We then cut to the YES Network logo moving onto the screen on what appears to be an glass rectangle, with the camera moving and stopping at an angle. An blue light shines on the logo as more bars slide around the background.

Variants:
 * A short version, which starts when the logo moves onto the screen, exists.
 * An extended version of the previous variant is used whenever the network joins a program already in progress.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The version of the YES Network theme from the last two logos, with several whooshing sounds throughout. On Yankees-related programs (including coverage of Yankees games), we also hear the second Bob Sheppard announcement from the previous logos. On non-Yankees related programs and non-Yankees sports telecasts, we hear an different announcer say "You're watching YES: The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network."

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On the short version, the fanfare is shortened to cut out the first 6 or 7 notes. The announcement used is the same one used for non-Yankees related programming.
 * On the "program-in-progress" variant, the second announcer says over the full fanfare, "You're watching YES: The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network. We now join our programming already in progress."
 * At the end of original programming, the same "preceding has been an exclusive presentation" announcement from the first two logos is used.

Availability: Current and common. Seen before most programs on YES, including sports coverage.