MSG Metro Channels was a series of local-minded New York City cable networks which launched on August 5, 1998 and folded in late 2005. Owned by Rainbow Media, the Metro networks were founded as a spinoff of the MSG sports network. The network was originally split into three separate channels, MSG MetroGuide, MSG MetroTraffic & Weather, and MSG MetroLearning Center. The tri-channel network was termed as "What to do, what to know, and how to get there" among similar billings.
MSG MetroGuide was a 24-hour entertainment and local venue guide to the Tri-State area, offering local information on places to vacation, eat at, visit, and be a resource to local viewers on their hometown. Some billed it as a Zagat on TV. Ed Koch contributed some movie reviews as part of the programming.
MSG MetroTraffic & Weather was the first sole traffic and weather channel in the tri-state area, and while local news networks and The Weather Channel offered weather news, the traffic component was the network's main feature.
MSG Metro Traffic & Weather originally began as News 12 Weather. In the early 1990s it would air in the mornings on most Cablevision systems in place of Bravo and E! when they shared a channel on Cablevision in the Long Island area. When Optimum TV launched in 1996, it got a full-time location in those areas. When the MSG MetroChannels launched in 1998, a traffic element was added to the channel and it became MSG MetroTraffic & Weather.
Currently, MSG MetroTraffic & Weather is the only MSG Metro channel still on the air. It now goes by the name News 12 Traffic & Weather and is seen on Cablevision systems on Channel 61.
MSG MetroLearning Center actually began in the late 70s as a public service by Cablevision. Throughout the 80s and into the 90s, it aired as Extra Help on Long Island's TeLICare channel before finding its home on Long Island One in the early 90s. Long Island One featured mostly Public-access television cable TV shows, as well as a photo bulletin board detailing events on Long Island and was available on channel 1 on most Cablevision systems.