The Houston Rockets and the Houston Astros need a new owner for the struggling television channel that broadcasts their games, and they want to keep the names of potential purchasers a secret for now, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In a request filed in bankruptcy court, officials teams asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to withhold the identity of potential buyers for Comcast SportsNet Houston from several members of the channel's board of directors. Comcast SportsNet Houston broadcasts games for two Houston professional sports teams — Major League Baseball's Astros and the National Basketball Association's Rockets — to only about 40 percent of Houston households. The network is available to Comcast Corp. subscribers but has had trouble persuading competitors such as DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. to carry the network in exchange for subscriber fees, which some have said are too high. Before the network's bankruptcy in September, Astros owner Jim Crane blamed Comcast, which manages the network, for failing to bring new deals to the table. But when Judge Marvin Isgur gave Crane and Rockets officials several months to ink new deals themselves, they weren't able to sign any major partners.
