The Baseball Network

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The Baseball Network
Type Joint venture involving the American Broadcasting Company, the National Broadcasting Company, and Major League Baseball.
Branding Baseball Night in America
Country Flag of the United States United States
Availability Defunct
Founded May 1993
Slogan "Welcome to the show!"
Broadcast area See coverage section
Owner Major League Baseball
American Broadcasting Company
National Broadcasting Company
Key people David Alworth
Rick Clifford
Dick Ebersol
Eddie Einhorn
John Filippelli
Ross Levinsohn
Jon Litner
Jed Petrick
Ken Schanzer
Scott Schreer
Bud Selig
Dennis Swanson
See list of announcers section
Launch date July 12, 1994
Dissolved October 28, 1995
Callsigns TBN
Affiliation ABC Sports
NBC Sports
Affiliates List of ABC television affiliates (by U.S. state)
List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state)
Website
MLB.com
ABC Sports - MLB
NBC Sports - MLB

The Baseball Network was a short-lived television joint venture involving the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and Major League Baseball. The Baseball Network only ran during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Games were produced by Major League Baseball's in-house facilities while ABC and NBC for the most part, distributed the telecasts rather than producing them outright.

Contents

[edit] Background

After the fall-out from CBS' financial problems from their exclusive, four year long television contract with Major League Baseball (a contract that cost the network $500 million), Major League Baseball decided to go into the business of producing the telecasts themselves[1]. In reaction to the failed trial with CBS, Major League Baseball was desperately grasping for every available dollar.

After a four year hiatus, ABC and NBC (who last aired Thursday Night Baseball games and the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week respectively) returned to Major League Baseball under the umbrella of a revenue sharing venture called The Baseball Network. The slogan for The Baseball Network was "Welcome to the Show." Meanwhile, the fast-paced, bombastic, fanfare sounding theme music was composed by Scott Schreer from the New York recording studio company called NJJ Music (Not Just Jingles). The primary colors for the graphics department on Baseball Network telecasts were #1 blue, #2 white, and #3 red. ABC and NBC shared the same on-air graphics and even the microphone "flags" had the Baseball Network logo on it with the respective network logo. The official Baseball Network logo was a black television set slightly titled upwards to the right. In the blue screen of the television set contained in bold white, the letters The Baseball Network.

[edit] Business plan

Under a six year plan, Major League Baseball was intended to receive 85% of the first $140 million in advertising revenue (or 87.5% of advertising revenues and corporate sponsorship from the games until sales top a specified level), 50% of the next $30 million, and 80% of any additional money. Prior to this, Major League Baseball was projected to take a projected 55% cut in rights fees and receive a typical rights fee from the networks. When compared to the previous TV deal with CBS, The Baseball Network was supposed to bring in 50% less of the broadcasting revenue. The advertisers were reportedly excited about the arrangement with The Baseball Network because the new package included several changes intended to boost ratings, especially among younger viewers.

Arranging broadcasts through The Baseball Network seemed, on the surface, to benefit NBC and ABC since it gave them a monopoly on broadcasting Major League Baseball games. The deal was similar to a time-buy[2], instead of a traditional rights fee situation. It also stood to benefit the networks because they reduced the risk associated with purchasing the broadcast rights outright (in stark contrast to CBS' disastrous contract with Major League Baseball from the 1990-1993 seasons). NBC and ABC were to create a loss-free environment for the each other and keep an emerging FOX, who had recently made an aggressive and ultimately successful $1.58 billion bid for the television rights for National Football Conference games (thus, becoming a large player in the sports broadcasting game in the process), at bay. In return of FOX's NFL gain, CBS was weakened further by affiliate changes, as a number of stations jumped to FOX from CBS. For example, in Detroit, WWJ-TV replaced WJBK.

For more details on this topic, see Fox affiliate switches of 1994.

[edit] Coverage

The Baseball Network kicked off its coverage on July 12, 1994 with the All-Star Game out of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. The game was televised on NBC with Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker calling the action and Greg Gumbel hosting the pre-game show. Helping with interviews were Hannah Storm and Johnny Bench. The 1994 All-Star Game reportedly sold out all its advertising slots. This was considered an impressive financial accomplishment, given that one thirty-second spot cost $300,000.

After the All-Star Game was complete, ABC (with a reunited Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, and Jim Palmer as the primary broadcasting crew) was scheduled to televise six regular season games on Saturdays or Mondays in prime time. The networks had exclusive rights for the twelve regular season dates, in that no regional or national cable service or over-the-air broadcaster may telecast a Major League Baseball game on those dates. Baseball Night in America usually aired up to fourteen games based on the viewers' region (affiliates chose games of local interest to carry) as opposed to a traditional coast-to-coast format. Normally, announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were paired with each other.

NBC would then pick up where ABC left off by televising six more regular season Friday night games. The regular season games fell under the Baseball Night in America umbrella, which premiered on July 16, 1994. On the subject of play-by-play man Al Michaels returning to baseball for the first time since the infamous 1989 World Series, Jim Palmer said, "Here Al is, having done five games since 1989, and steps right in. It's hard to comprehend how one guy could so amaze."

Every Baseball Night in America game was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (or 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time if the game occurred on the West Coast). A single starting time gave the networks the opportunity to broadcast one game and then, simultaneously, cut to another game where there was a break in action.

In even numbered years, NBC would have the rights to the All-Star Game and both League Championship Series while ABC would have the World Series and newly created Division Series. In odd numbered years the postseason and All-Star Game television rights were supposed to alternate. The networks also promised not to begin any World Series weekend broadcasts after 7:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. When CBS held the television rights, postseason games routinely aired on the East Coast at 8:30 p.m. at the earliest. This meant that Joe Carter's dramatic World Series clinching home run in 1993 occurred after midnight on the East. As CBS' baseball coverage progressed, they dropped the 8:00 p.m. pregame coverage (in favor of sitcoms such as Evening Shade), before finally starting their coverage at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The first pitch would generally arrive at approximately 8:45 p.m.

[edit] Postseason coverage

ABC won the rights to the first dibs at the World Series in August 1993 after ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson won a coin toss by calling "heads." Ken Schanzer, who was the CEO of The Baseball Network, handled the coin toss. Schanzer agreed to the coin toss by ABC and NBC at the outset as the means of determining the order in which they'd divvy up the playoffs.

What separated The Baseball Network from previous television deals with Major League Baseball was the fact that none of the postseason games outside of the World Series were guaranteed to be aired nationally. (Some playoff games in 1995 were due to either series already being concluded.) Because of this, games would often be played simultaneously. It also meant that fans everywhere could only see one game per night. This was done mainly in hopes of avoiding the possibilities of playoff games airing in the middle of the day (when most viewers would either be at work or at school). To put it in another way, the main reason why The Baseball Network did this was to maximize the total audience for each telecast by creating "destination viewing."

Major League Baseball was the only professional sport that played postseason games during weekday afternoons. The result was that ratings for daytime LCS games declined 37% between 1985 and 1993. With The Baseball Network, hopes were high that game fans were most interested in would be available at a time most likely to be viewed.

The Baseball Network in essence set out to create areas of "natural" interest. They scheduled all four first-round playoff games and both LCS for the same time slot, thereby preventing fans from seeing more than one game per night. But because so-called neutral markets summarily fell to one or the other league, whatever you saw depended almost entirely on where you lived. In cases where two teams from the same city made the playoffs, the networks agreed to show both games in their entirety on their owned-and-operated stations. Despite the frustration of not being able to see both League Championship Series on a national level, the 1995 LCS averaged a 13.1 rating.

Besides the 1994 All-Star Game and Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, arguably, most famous Baseball Network broadcast was Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners, broadcast on ABC. It ended with the Mariners winning in 12 innings, to clinch their first ever trip to the American League Championship Series.

See also: 1995 American League Championship Series and 1995 National League Championship Series

[edit] Criticisms

A major problem with Baseball Night in America was the idea that viewers couldn't watch "important" games. Marty Noble put it in perspective by saying "With the Network determining when games will begin and which games are made available to which TV markets, Major League Baseball can conduct parts of its pennant races in relative secrecy."

What added to the troubles of The Baseball Network was the fact that Baseball Night in America held exclusivity over every market. This most severely impacted markets with two teams, specifically New York (Mets and Yankees), Los Angeles/Anaheim, Chicago (Cubs and White Sox) and San Francisco/Oakland. For example, if Baseball Night in America showed a Chicago Cubs game, this meant that nobody in Chicago could see that night's White Sox game and vice versa.

See also: List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state) and List of ABC television affiliates (by U.S. state)

Things got so bad for The Baseball Network that even local broadcasters objected to its operations. KSMO-TV, an affiliate in Kansas City, went as far as to sue the Royals for breach of contract resulting from their broadcasts being "overexposed" and violating its territorial exclusivity. Worse yet, even if a market had only one team, the ABC or NBC affiliate could still not broadcast that team's game if the start time was not appropriate for the time zone. For example, if the Detroit Tigers (the only team in their market) played a road game in Seattle beginning at 8:00 p.m. PT (a late game), Detroit's Baseball Network affiliate couldn't air the game because the start time was too late for the Detroit area (11:00 p.m. ET). Detroit viewers only had the option of viewing the early game of the night.

Sports Illustrated, for one, was very harsh on The Baseball Network, for whom SI dubbed "America's regional pastime" and an "abomination." ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson, in announcing the dissolution of The Baseball Network "The fact of the matter is, Major League Baseball seems incapable at this point in time, of living with any longterm relationships, whether its with fans, with players, with the political community in Washington, with the advertising community here in Manhattan, or with its TV partners."

Five years after The Baseball Network dissolved, NBC Sports play-by-play man Bob Costas wrote in his book Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball that The Baseball Network was "stupid and an abomination." Costas wrote that the agreement involving the World Series being the only instance of The Baseball Network broadcasting a national telecast was an unprecedented surrender of prestige, as well as a slap to all serious fans. Unlike the NHL and the NBA, the so-called Big Two of North American professional sports leagues: the NFL and Major League Baseball nationally televised all playoff games for decades. While he believed that The Baseball Network fundamentally corrupted the game, Costas himself acknowledged that the most impassioned fans in baseball were now prevented from watching many of the playoff games that they wanted to see. Costas added that both the divisional series and the League Championship Series now merited scarcely higher priority than regional coverage provided for a Big Ten football game between Wisconsin and Michigan.

According to Curt Smith's book, The Voice - Mel Allen's Untold Story, the longtime New York Yankees broadcaster and This Week in Baseball host was quoted in saying "You wonder how anything would be worse [than CBS]. What kind of show (in response to TBN's tagline "Catch the show!") cancels a twenty-six-week-season's first fourteen weeks?"

During the 1995 Division Series the fan frustration with The Baseball Network was so bad that the mere mention of it during the Mariners-Yankees ALDS from the public address announcer at Seattle's Kingdome (Tom Hutlyer) brought boos from most of the crowd.

[edit] Downfall

The long term plans for The Baseball Network crumbled when the players went on strike on August 12, 1994 (thus forcing the cancellation of the World Series). As a result of the ABC and NBC decision to dissolve the partnership of The Baseball Network on June 22, 1995, the two networks decided to share the duties of televising the 1995 World Series as a way to recoup (with ABC broadcasting Games 1, 4, and 5, and if it had been needed, Game 7, as they had won the 1994 coin toss, and NBC broadcasting Games 2, 3, and 6), announced that they were opting out of their agreement with Major League Baseball. Both networks figured that as the delayed 1995 baseball season opened without a labor agreement, there was no guarantee against another strike.

Others would argue that a primary reason for its failure was its abandoning of localized markets in favor of more lucrative and stable advertising contracts afforded by turning to a national model of broadcasting, similar to the National Football League's television package, which focuses on localized games, with one or two "national" games.

[edit] Aftermath

See also: Major League Baseball on FOX

Both networks (but not corporations) soon publicly vowed to cut all ties with Major League Baseball for the remainder of the 20th century, and FOX[3] signed on to be the exclusive network carrier of Major League Baseball regular season games in 1996. However, NBC kept a postseason-only (with the exception of even numbered years when NBC had the rights to the All-Star Game) deal in the end, signing a deal to carry three Division Series games, one half of the League Championship Series (the ALCS in even numbered years and the NLCS in odd numbered years; FOX would televise the other LCS in said years), and the 1997 and 1999 World Series respectively (FOX had exclusive rights to the 1996, 1998 and 2000 World Series).

With ABC being sold to the Walt Disney Company in 1996, ESPN would pick up Division Series day and late-night games with provision similar to ESPN's National Football League games, where the games would air on network affiliates in the local markets of the two teams only. ESPN's Major League Baseball contract was not affected then but would take a hit in 1998 with the new National Football League contract.

In the end, the venture would lose $95 million in advertising and nearly $500 million in national and local spending.

[edit] The Baseball Network announcers

As previously mentioned, announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were typically paired with each other on regular season Baseball Night in America telecasts. Also as previously mentioned, ABC used Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, and Tim McCarver as the lead broadcasting team. Meanwhile, NBC used Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker as their lead broadcasting team.

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  • Steve Zabriskie

[edit] See also

[edit] 1995 American League Division Series broadcasters

Series Network Play-by-play Color Commentator(s)
Seattle Mariners/New York Yankees NBC (Games 1, 2)
ABC (Games 3, 4, 5)
Gary Thorne (Games 1, 2)
Brent Musburger (Games 3, 4, 5)
Tommy Hutton (Games 1, 2)
Jim Kaat (Games 3, 4, 5)
Cleveland Indians/Boston Red Sox NBC (Games 1, 2)
ABC (Game 3)
Bob Costas (Games 1, 2)
Steve Zabriskie (Game 3)
Bob Uecker (Games 1, 2)
Tommy Hutton (Game 3)

[edit] 1995 National League Division Series broadcasters

Series Network Play-by-play Color Commentator(s)
Atlanta Braves/Colorado Rockies NBC (Games 1, 2)
ABC (Games 3, 4)
Greg Gumbel (Games 1, 2)
Pete Van Wieren (Games 3, 4)
Joe Morgan (Games 1, 2)
Larry Dierker (Games 3, 4)
Cincinnati Reds/Los Angeles Dodgers NBC (Games 1, 2)
ABC (Game 3)
Pete Van Wieren (Games 1, 2)
Al Michaels (Game 3)
Larry Dierker (Games 1, 2)
Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver (Game 3)

[edit] 1995 League Championship Series broadcasters

[edit] ALCS

Year Network Play-by-play Color Commentator(s)
1995 ABC (Games 1, 2, 7)
NBC (Games 3, 4, 5, 6)
Brent Musburger (Games 1, 2) and Al Michaels (Game 7)
Bob Costas (Games 3, 4, 5, 6)
Jim Kaat (Games 1, 2, 7) and Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver (Game 7)
Bob Uecker (Games 3, 4, 5, 6)

[edit] NLCS

Year Network Play-by-play Color Commentator(s)
1995 ABC (Games 1, 2)
NBC (Games 3, 4)
Al Michaels (Games 1, 2)
Greg Gumbel (Games 3, 4)
Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver (Games 1, 2)
Joe Morgan (Games 3, 4)

[edit] 1995 World Series broadcasters

Year Network Play-by-play Color commentator(s)
1995 ABC (Games 1, 4, 5)
NBC (Games 2, 3, 6)
Al Michaels
Bob Costas
Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver
Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker

[edit] Ratings[12]

[edit] All-Star Game

Year Rating Share Households
1994 15.7 28 14,790,000
1995 13.9 25 13,260,000

[edit] 1995 World Series

Rating Share
19.5 33
For more details on this topic, see World Series television ratings.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ However, the ratings decline caused a major shake-up in the way baseball will be televised from now on. In May of 1993 the owners signed a dramatically different TV deal. Instead of having the networks pay Organized Baseball for the rights to telecast games, the sport and the networks ABC and NBC became partners, forming The Baseball Network (TBN), sharing equally the TV revenues or losses. The new deal offered the fewest free TV games ever; TBN didn't begin its broadcasts until after the All-Star Game and offered only a dozen prime-time, regular-season games thereafter. (In 1994 that number was further reduced by the strike.)
  2. ^ In 1993, Major League Baseball cut a deal with NBC and ABC. The league got no rights fees. Instead it was given all the ad time to sell and only gave the networks a percentage of those sales.
  3. ^ BASEBALL; ABC Issues Warning to Turner and Fox
  4. ^ TOM CHEEK: 32 years (Expos, 1974-76; Blue Jays, 1977-2004) and retired…Spent the final 28 years of his career with the Blue Jays as radio play-by-play man...When forced to retire during the 2004 season because of a brain tumor, was the only person to had worked every Blue Jays game...Broadcast for the Baseball Network, 1994-95…Called many post season games on Canada radio for Telemedia…Play-by-play experience includes baseball, basketball, football and hockey for the University of Vermont...From 1974 to 1976 was the swing man on Montreal Expos radio broadcasts on television nights...Member of the broadcast team for ABC Sports at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid and 1984 Olympics at Sarajevo...Has broadcast college basketball for Mutual Radio Network.
  5. ^ KEN HARRELSON: 29 years overall (Red Sox, 1975-81; White Sox, 1982-85, 90 - ; Yankees, 1987-88), the last 16 with the White Sox…The 2000 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year…Finished fourth campaign with color man Darrin Jackson after teaming with Tom Paciorek for 10 seasons from 1990-99…The Hawk's exuberant "YES" call and colorful nicknames have become familiar to Sox fans…Worked in the broadcast booth for the Sox from 1982-85, leaving to become executive vice president for baseball operations…After serving as the club's general manager for one season, he resigned to resume his broadcasting career…In NY, teamed with Spencer Ross in 1987 and Bobby Murcer in 1988…Also served as a broadcaster on The Baseball Network in 1994-95…Played major league baseball for nine seasons, helping lead the Red Sox to the American League pennant in 1967…Appeared in 900 major-league games, batting .239 with 131 home runs and 421 RBI…Credited with bringing the batting glove to baseball, he played golf professionally for a time before entering broadcasting.
  6. ^ JIM KAAT: 19 years (Yankees, 1986, 1995 - ; Braves, 1987; Twins, 1988-93), 11 with the Yankees, including the last 11 as a television analyst for the YES Network and WCBS-TV…In 1995 was nominated for the New York Emmy award in the "On Camera Achievement" category…In 1996, and 1998 respectively, was on the team that won New York Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Live Sports Coverage-Single Program" for coverage of Dwight Gooden's no hitter and David Wells' perfect game…In 1998, MSG's Yankee telecasts also won the New York Emmy for "Outstanding Live Sports Coverage Series-Professional"…Also provided pre-game insights on telecasts…In 1995 also called ALDS for the Baseball Network and ABC Sports…Previously spent one year as the chief analyst on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight"…Served as the primary analyst for CBS Sports from 1989-93….Began baseball broadcasting career as an analyst working for the Home Team Sports Network, covering minor league games before resuming his playing career for two more seasons…In 1984-85 was the chief correspondent for ABC's "Good Morning America," and covered the World Series...In 1988 covered Olympic baseball on NBC and handled spring training feature sports, the college World Series and the Major League Playoffs and World Series for ESPN…Reached the big leagues in 1959 with the Senators and went on the play for the Twins, White Sox, Phillies, Yankees and the Cardinals….A member of six divisional champions, two pennant winners and the 1982 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
  7. ^ TIM MCCARVER: 23 years, the last 10 (1996 - ) with FOX…Club experience with the Mets (1983-98), Yankees (1999-2001) and the Giants (2002), and, network experience with ABC (1984-89, '94), CBS (1990-93) and the Baseball Network (1994-95)…FOX's lead analyst, teaming with Joe Buck…Won three straight Emmys (2000-02) and has received 12 nominations as a network analyst…the only network baseball analyst to broadcast the last 14 regular and postseasons…Covered the '86 and '88 All-Star Games…Broke in as a broadcaster with the Phillies (1980-82), sharing booth space with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn…Teamed with Jack Buck (1990-91) and the Sean McDonough (1992-93) for CBS…Played in 21 major league seasons (1959-80) and is one of seven modern-day players to play in four decades…Played in two All-Star games and won two World Series with the Cardinals.
  8. ^ AL MICHAELS: 25 years (1971-1995) and retired, with the Reds (1971-73), Giants (1974-76), NBC (1972), ABC (1976-89), and the Baseball Network (1994-95), …One of ABC mainstays on Baseball broadcasts...Resume includes calling seven World Series, six All-Star Games and eight LCS…Also covered the 1995 Divisional Playoffs.
  9. ^ JOE MORGAN: 20 years, mostly as a network analyst…Analyst for ESPN's weekly Sunday Night Baseball telecasts…Also works select Wednesday and holiday games for the network, as well as the Home Run Derby…Since 1998, he has provided analysis for ESPN Radio during its World Series broadcasts…Worked Division Series games for ESPN from 1996-2000…In 2002 provided analysis on ESPN-produced Division Series telecasts on ABC Family…Won a Sports Emmy for his work in 1997…Provided analysis for NBC from 1994 to 2000, including The Baseball Network…Previously worked Oakland Athletics' home games on Sports Channel (1995) and San Francisco Giants' games (1986-94)…From 1985-88, he worked as a college baseball analyst for ESPN…Began broadcasting career in 1985 covering Cincinnati Reds games for WLWT-TV, the local NBC affiliate. He also worked as a baseball analyst on NBC's national telecasts. Morgan served as an analyst on select ABC Monday Night Baseball telecasts and as an analyst for the 1988 League Championship Series on ABC…Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1990.
  10. ^ DEWAYNE STAATS: 29 years (Astros, 1977-84; Cubs, 1985-89; Yankees, 1990-94; ESPN, 1995-97; Devil Rays, 1998 - ), the last eight in Tampa Bay…Anchors the Emmy-Award winning telecast for the Devil Rays…Before joining the Rays spent three years calling play-by-play for ESPN in a variety of sports, including Major League Baseball and NCAA baseball, basketball and football…Began his major league play-by-play career as the radio and TV voice of the Astros from 1977-84, then called radio and TV action for the Cubs from 1985-89…Was the lead play-by-play announcer for the Yankees and also spent the 1994-95 seasons calling action for The Baseball Network (ABC/NBC)…Began his career as a sports reporter for WSIE Radio while a student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and began his baseball career as the radio voice of the Oklahoma City 89ers (1973-74).
  11. ^ DAVE VAN HORNE: 37 years (Expos, 1968-2000; Marlins, 2001 - ), the last five as the lead play-by-play radio announcer in Florida…The English radio and television voice of the Montreal Expos for 33 seasons…His broadcasting tenure with the Expos was the sixth longest in the NL, behind Vin Scully (Dodgers), Bob Murphy (Mets), Ralph Kiner (Mets), Jack Buck (Cardinals) and Joe Nuxhall (Reds)…Has broadcast eight no-hitters, including two perfect games….Called Expos games on Canadian radio and television as well as The Baseball Network on NBC and ABC. He partnered in the booth with the likes of Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Ken Singleton, Buck Martinez and Tommy Hutton, among others…Has broadcast three World Series and National League Championship Series for a Canadian network…Began his career in Virginia while a college student and spent 10 years there broadcasting football, basketball and baseball (the IL's Richmond Braves) before joining the Expos in their inaugural season in 1969….Was twice selected the Virginia Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association…The recipient of the 1996 Jack Graney Award, given by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, for contributions to the game through broadcasting…Big broadcasting moments: the Expos inaugural game (4/8/69), Willie Mays' 3,000th hit, Nolan Ryan passing Walter Johnson in strikeouts, Steve Carlton striking out his 4,000th batter, and Pete Rose's 3,000th and 4,000th hits.
  12. ^ postseason Division Series was to have been regionalized, so that no fan would have been able to see all of the games live. As a rookie, TBN showed some promise. The 15.7 rating for the All-Star Game was the highest in recent years, and, reportedly, ad sales for the later games exceeded expectations. But in terms of spreading the baseball gospel through TV, some contended that, with TBN, the sport had taken a giant step backwards.

[edit] References 2

  1. President of TV network named - Former NHL and ABC-TV exec Litner to head operations
  2. BASEBALL NETWORK JUST ISN'T WHAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE
  3. TV SPORTS; Demise of a Network Opens Baseball Format
  4. YES Promotes John Filippelli TO PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTION AND PROGRAMMING
  5. Chicago, Boston boost playoff TV ratings
  6. April 1996 - Boston Baseball: New Season, New Networks
  7. College Sports Television - Chris Bevilacqua
  8. Petrick Found a Network To Suit His Style
  9. Chicago White Sox Executives - Eddie Einhorn
  10. Announcer Comments - White Sox Interactive Forums
  11. Reviving Baseball - The Baseball Archive
  12. Frequently Asked Questions About the 1994 Strike - B2. Are other sports also exempt?
  13. Baseball Prospectus Q&A: Mark Wolfson
  14. Trojan fans shut out because of Fox's politics
  15. Teams Sweat to Get Fans Out to the Ballgame
  16. schwarz.html - 1.2 The Players
  17. Sportspages.com - 03.13.03
  18. Fuzzy reception for network - The Baseball Network
  19. NHL TV Deal Settled
  20. Baseball playoffs begin; schedules go batty
  21. TRIO VIDEO BUYS 20 SONY CHIP CAMERAS - 12/28/95
  22. Flashback Friday: 1995 (Part I)
  23. A ride into the unknown - the Baseball Network - Interview
  24. ACTV -- 12/15/98: Management - David Alworth
  25. The Emperor Has No Clothes, part 4
  26. Baseball fans to be locked out in LCS
  27. Ebersol enthused over baseball deal
  28. Economic Values of Professional Sport Franchises in the United States
  29. John Feinstein Talks About Baseball-Network Contracts
  30. Saturday Night Baseball on ABC
  31. MLB has entered into a joint venture with ABC and NBC called "The Baseball Network" ("TBN")
  32. New TV Contract - Details
  33. OPEN STANCE July 1994
  34. The Baseball Network: R.I.P. (And Don't Come Back!)
  35. Two Ways To Go On Baseball - CBS Vs. ABC-NBC.
  36. THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING AT COORS FIELD
  37. Final Paper: Regional Pastime
  38. RICK CLIFFORD - Associate Producer
  39. Issue 43 -- Television Sportscasters (Female) - Hannah Storm
  40. EBERSOL, DICK
  41. 1995 Regular Season Baseball Feeds
  42. Variety.com - Primetime baseball hits NBC, ABC weak nights
  43. Not Ready for Prime Time: The Baseball Network
  44. Results 1 - 100 of 1,480 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for ABC Baseball (0.82 seconds)
  45. Results 1 - 100 of 1,110 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for NBC Baseball (0.66 seconds)
  46. Results 1 - 100 of 5,290 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for THE BASEBALL NETWORK (0.27 seconds)
  47. Results 1 - 61 of 61 from Jul 1, 1995 to Oct 31, 1995 for TBN Baseball (0.22 seconds)
  48. Results 1 - 90 of 90 from Jul 1, 1994 to Aug 31, 1994 for BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (0.80 seconds)
  49. Results 1 - 100 of 153 from Jul 1, 1995 to Oct 1, 1995 for BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (0.40 seconds)
  50. October 19, 1994 - Baseball Is Over.
  51. ABC flips over winning Series
  52. DBSForums Discussion Forums - The Baseball Network
  53. SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL; Baseball Network's Last Day?
  54. BASEBALL;ABC Auditing Baseball Venture
  55. TIME Domestic August 22, 1994 Volume 144, No.
  56. Strikethree.com Baseball News, Analysis, and Commentary
  57. Jed Petrick Named As The First-Ever President & Chief Operating Officer For The WB Network
  58. ROSS LEVINSOHN
  59. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #48
  60. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #49
  61. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #50
  62. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #56
  63. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #57
  64. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #58
  65. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #59
  66. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #60
  67. Major League Baseball Message Board - RATINGS WOES
  68. MLB Ratings Woes (#106) - DBSForums Discussion Forums > Programming/Content > Sports

[edit] External links

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