MLB Network explained

MLB Network
Picture Format:720p (HDTV)
(downgraded to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Owner:Major League Baseball (67%)
TNT Sports (16.67%)
Each of 5.44% owned by:
Charter Communications
Cox Communications
NBC Sports Group
Country:United States
Language:English and Spanish
Area:United States
Puerto Rico
Canada
Latin America
Caribbean
Europe
Philippines
Headquarters:One MLB Network Plaza,
Secaucus, New Jersey, U.S.
Sister Channels:MLB Network Radio
NHL Network
NBA TV
Motor Trend
Website:MLBNetwork.com
Online Chan 1:YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, DAZN (Canada)

The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball,[1] with TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications having minority ownership.[2]

The channel's headquarters and studios are located at their leased facilities in Secaucus, New Jersey,[3] a building owned by Hartz Mountain Industries[4] which formerly housed MSNBC's studios. MLB Network's studios also house NHL Network, which came under the management of MLB Advanced Media in mid-2015 and transferred most operations from the network's former Toronto home base.

Tony Petitti, former executive producer of CBS Sports, was named the network's first president. Petitti served as MLB Network's president until December 2014, when he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball. Rob McGlarry, who worked as Senior and later Executive Vice-president of Business Affairs at MLB Network since 2009, was named the network's second president.[5]

, MLB Network is available to approximately 31,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2013 peak of 71,000,000 households.[6]

History

Major League Baseball became the fourth major North American professional sports league to launch its own 24-hour cable network. NBA TV dates back to 1999, the NHL Network to 2001 (though not in the United States until 2007), and the NFL Network to 2003. However, MLB Network is carried in the most households of these four networks, as it is available on all of the top-ten video operators in the United States.

MLB Network soft-launched on December 16, 2008, with a rolling automated loop of archival programming and promotions for the network for cable systems that carried the network's transmissions leading up to the January 1, 2009 launch. The channel fully launched at 6:00 p.m. EST with the premiere of Hot Stove.

In April 2012, MLB Network's standard definition feed shifted to a 16:9 letterbox format. Both of the network's SD and HD feeds now show the same format.

On April 4, 2016, MLB Network debuted a new on-air graphics package optimized for the 16:9 format, replacing the previous on-air look used since the network's New Year's Day 2009 launch.

On January 31, 2023, MLB Network was removed from YouTube TV's channel lineup after they failed to reach a contract renewal agreement.[7]

Carriage

The network has signed contracts with numerous cable and satellite carriers, including DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon Fios, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, and U-verse TV. In a deal that was pioneered by other sports league owned channels, MLB tied carriage of MLB Network to the ability to carry the popular out of market MLB Extra Innings package. In return, cable and satellite providers were offered a minority share of the new network.

Satellite radio

On March 26, 2010, it was announced that satellite radio station MLB Home Plate will be rebranded to MLB Network Radio which will simulcast some MLB Network programs such as MLB Tonight and Hot Stove. The switchover began on April 4, the first day of the 2010 MLB season.[8]

Canadian carriage

At launch, no announcement was made about MLB Network availability in Canada, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Network officials had been in contact with Blue Jays owner Rogers Communications (owner of Rogers Cable, the largest cable provider in Canada) about making MLB Network available in Canada, but emphasized prior to the channel's launch that a deal was not imminent.[9]

In August 2008, Rogers secured Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval for a Canadian digital channel tentatively called "Baseball TV".[10] This license could have been used to launch a localized version of MLB Network with domestic advertising and additional Canadian content, along the lines of NBA TV Canada, which is owned by the parent company of the Toronto Raptors but uses much of the content of the league's U.S. channel NBA TV. It was reported initially that Rogers intended to pursue this approach to bring MLB Network to Canada.[11] However, the licence was issued on the condition the channel launch by August 2011, which did not occur.

Rogers ultimately agreed to sponsor MLB Network's request to be added to the CRTC's list of approved foreign television services, which would permit Canadian cable and satellite providers to import the American feed, as has occurred previously with similar niche-sports services such as Big Ten Network, NFL Network, and Golf Channel.[12] The application was published for public comment on June 13, 2012[13] and was approved on November 21, 2012.[14] In the interim, the Rogers-owned Sportsnet One aired selected programs from MLB Network, including Quick Pitch and Intentional Talk.

MLB Network was added to Rogers Cable systems in Ontario on January 8, 2014, in both standard and high definition.[15] [16] [17] On June 3, 2015, SaskTel announced that it would begin carrying MLB Network.[18] As of 2017, it is also available on MTS and Vidéotron.

On March 23, 2017, MLB Network launched on Bell Fibe TV and Bell Satellite TV.

Shaw Cable, the dominant carrier in Western Canada, does not offer MLB Network.

As of 2018, MLB Network is carried nationwide in Canada on the DAZN streaming service.

High definition and 4K

The 720p high-definition simulcast of MLB Network launched simultaneously to the regular channel. After much discussion, MLB Network decided to use the 720p format instead of 1080-line-interlace because it believes 720p shows the motion of baseball more accurately and will degrade less when recompressed by cable operators to save bandwidth (most of the regional Fox Sports Networks use the same format). As Mark Haden (VP of engineering and IT of MLB Network) says: "That's our best shot of maintaining quality to viewers."[19] All studio programs and original shows are shot in HD, as well as all self-produced games such as those of the 2009 World Baseball Classic and Thursday Night Baseball, as well as simulcasted locally produced games and contracted game packages it handles such as YouTube and Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball. The network also remastered 30 World Series films in high definition.[20]

On April 14, 2016, it was announced that 25 MLB Network Showcase games would be broadcast in 4K ultra-high definition exclusively on DirecTV in the 2016 season, beginning April 15.[21]

On-air staff

See main article: List of MLB Network personalities.

Programming

Live game coverage

Regular season

MLB Network airs several live games a week. These games are blacked out in the participating markets of the two teams (unless listed otherwise). Blacked-out markets receive an alternate game or pre-taped programming.

Postseason

When MLB expanded the playoffs in 2012 and created the wild-card round, TBS won the broadcast rights for both games, and in exchange, two Division Series games shifted to MLB Network, the first postseason games in their history.[24] The first telecast took place on October 7 and featured the Detroit Tigers hosting the Oakland Athletics at Comerica Park in Detroit for game two of the 2012 ALDS. Matt Vasgersian called the game alongside analyst Jim Kaat. The second telecast took place on October 10 and featured the Washington Nationals hosting the St. Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., for game three of the 2012 NLDS; this was the Nationals' first home postseason game since moving to Washington at the start of the 2005 season. Bob Costas provided the play-by-play commentary alongside analyst Jim Kaat.[25]

Starting in 2014, as part of FOX's new eight year rights agreement, MLB Network would air two Division Series games from the league assigned to FOX for each postseason.[26]

This arrangement was originally announced as continuing with a new rights deal in 2022.[27] However, starting with the 2022 playoffs, MLB Network would instead carry Spanish-language broadcasts of the Division Series and League Championship Series assigned to TBS and the Fox Broadcast network picking up rights formerly assigned to MLB Network .[28] [29]

International

International live-game coverage self-produced by MLB Network includes the World Baseball Classic and the Caribbean Series.[1] The 2014 Sydney Cricket Ground opening series from Sydney between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks was a co-production between MLB Network and ESPN Australia, along with the Nine Network/GEM, which held the home rights for the broadcasts. Beginning with the 2015 season, MLB Network produces MLB International coverage of the MLB All-Star Game and the World Series, and provides the broadcasting panel for such in conjunction with other broadcasters.

Spring training

The channel also airs live and tape delayed spring training games, simulcasted from one of the team's local TV rightsholder's feed, or if not available, the spring training complex's internal scoreboard video feed with the team's radio network audio. These games are also subject to local blackouts.

Other games

The channel also carries live development league games and occasionally broadcasts live college games, especially the season opening series in Arizona. In August 2009, they aired youth baseball championships, including the RBI World Series and the Cal Ripken World Series. It also airs some games of the Arizona Fall League including the All-Star game and the championship. In 2024 it expanded its offerings to add coverage from the collegiate summer leagues: it would be the year the West Coast League's All Star Game would be aired on MLBN for the first time.

Fox Saturday Baseball pre-game show

In 2012, MLB Network took over the pre-game production responsibilities for the MLB on Fox package, producing Baseball Night in America and postseason pre-game shows from Secaucus and on-location. The show featured Matt Vasgersian or Greg Amsinger and two analysts from a rotating roster of MLB Network's personalities (Eric Byrnes, Kevin Millar, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Bill Ripken, or Mitch Williams).[30] The show used Fox's graphics and theme songs.Fox took back control of the pregame show in 2014 when the "Game of the Week" package was eliminated.

Daily shows

MLB Network produces promos for its current MLB Network original series which air on regular basis as well as for films that MLB Network broadcast. MLB Network also airs promos for special events that it airs and different games that it broadcast live.

Other

Documentaries

Repeats

MLB Strike Zone

MLB Strike Zone is a channel launched on April 10, 2012, which allows viewers to see every game across MLB with up-to-the-minute highlights, live look-ins and updates, without commercials. The channel's format to similar to NFL RedZone and currently airs on Wednesday and Friday nights during the regular season. Though coverage often ends before most West Coast games start, those games are usually covered carousel-style on MLB Tonight on the main channel most evenings. Gregg Caserta is the current host of the show, which usually lasts about three hours.[39]

International broadcast

Strike Zone airs live in Canada on TSN, Australia on ESPN Australia, Latin America on Fox Sports, along with other countries.

Studios

The Secaucus-based studios have four main sets, three of which are named after hall of famers. "Studio 3", named in honor of Babe Ruth, serves as the home for the majority of the studio programs, while "Studio 42", honoring Jackie Robinson, is a half-scale baseball field where demonstrations by the network's analysts take place, along with interview programs where an audience is needed for atmosphere. Studio 42 is also the home of the early rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft. The studio includes seating for over 125 people, along with elements such as a functioning manual scoreboard and a standings wall for each league and division.

With the launch of Intentional Talk in 2011, it was one of the first regular programs on television to use a remote production home studio setup on a regular basis, well before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic necessitated it across the industry. If either host could not record in Secaucus, former host Chris Rose would record from a home studio in Los Angeles (the same with current co-host Stephen Nelson), while Kevin Millar records from his home studio in Austin, Texas, jocularly known as "Studio 1-5" for his uniform number.

On November 12, 2012, MLB Network introduced a third set, "Studio K", for the new daily morning offseason show Hot Stove and guests analysts/insiders on High Heat. During the premiere episode, hosts Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds said that the studio was constructed from the building's mailroom, explaining its small size.[40] After Rose left the network in 2020 and Stephen Nelson was named the new co-host of Intentional Talk in 2021, Nelson co-hosts the show from Studio K. In 2020 and again in 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MLB Network Showcase games were called remotely from Studio K.

In 2015, the network introduced a fourth set, "Studio 21", named in honor of Roberto Clemente.[41] [42] The studio hosts the shows MLB Central, MLB Now, and Quick Pitch along with the presentation of the BBWAA Awards.

The network had planned to launch permanent studios from a new tower in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood by 2011.[43] However, because of the 2008 financial crisis, the building project was scaled back and later canceled in late November 2008, with MLB deciding on a permanent setup in Secaucus instead.

With the August 2015 announcement that MLB Advanced Media would take over the digital properties of the National Hockey League, it was announced that NHL Network would relocate its studios and operations to the facilities of MLB Network.[44] [45] The channel temporarily originated its studio programming from Studio K and Studio 21, until the completion of a dedicated studio in April 2016.[46] In honor of the NHL Stadium Series playing at the Colorado Rockies' Coors Field, a scale hockey rink was built on Studio 42 in February 2016 for cross-promotional appearances on NHL Network and MLB Network.[47]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fitting the pieces of the MLB Network. http://web.archive.org/web/20100511091946/https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/58507. dead. 2010-05-11. Eric. Fisher. John. Ourand. March 31, 2008. Sports Business Journal. April 15, 2008.
  2. Web site: In stare-down with Big Cable over Pats-Giants, the NFL blinked. John Helyar. December 27, 2007. ESPN.com. December 27, 2007.
  3. http://photos.nj.com/jersey-journal/2008/12/mlb_network_headquarters.html MLB Network Headquarters
  4. News: MLB NETWORK STUDIOS OPENS. February 10, 2009. Real Estate Business. France Publications. August 22, 2019.
  5. Web site: Rob McGlarry named president of MLB Network. Major League Baseball.
  6. Web site: U.S. cable network households (universe), 1990 – 2023. wrestlenomics.com. May 14, 2024. July 28, 2019.
  7. Web site: Chan . J. Clara . MLB Network Exits YouTube TV Ahead of Spring Training After Contract Dispute . The Hollywood Reporter. January 31, 2023.
  8. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/450769-MLB_Rebrands_XM_Radio_Channel_to_MLB_Network_Radio.php MLB Rebrands XM Radio Channel to MLB Network Radio - Extending television brand, programs to satellite radio service
  9. Marcus DiNitto, MLB Network: What you will see on Jan. 1, Sporting News, November 22, 2008
  10. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2008/db2008-171.htm Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-171
  11. William Houston, "Baseball TV may launch this year", The Globe and Mail, January 7, 2009
  12. Web site: CRTC Application 2012-0699-6: Addition to the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution – MLB Network (ZIP / PDF). Rogers Communications Partnership / The MLB Network International LLC. 2012-06-01. 2012-06-13.
  13. Web site: Broadcasting Part 1 Applications Open for Comment. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2012-06-13. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. (Posted deadline for public comment: Friday, July 13, 2012)
  14. Web site: Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-637. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2012-11-21. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2012-11-21.
  15. Web site: Rogers Renews Partnership with Major League Baseball. 2014-01-08. 2014-01-11. Sportsnet.
  16. Web site: Free preview. 2014-01-11. Rogers Communications.
  17. Web site: HELLO KEVIN MILLAR!: The MLB Network Arrives In Canada, Apparently. 2014-01-08. 2014-01-08. theScore Inc.. Stoeten. Andrew. dead. https://archive.today/20140108183725/http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/2014/01/08/the-mlb-network-arrives-in-canada-apparently/. 2014-01-08.
  18. SaskTel . 606196202938335232 . June 3, 2015 . New channel alert! MLB Network is coming soon to maxTV! http://sktl.ca/fmT .
  19. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6622203.html?desc=topstory MLB Steps Up to the Plate
  20. http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6625045.html Multichannel News 12/27/08 MLB Network Transferring 30 World Series Films to HD Format
  21. Web site: DirecTV to Carry MLB Network Games in 4K Ultra HD. Variety. 14 April 2016. 2016-04-12.
  22. http://www.multichannel.com/article/465832-MLB_Network_Ready_For_Opening_Day_With_New_Games_Packages_More_Subs_Advertisers.php MLB Network: Ready For Opening Day With New Games Packages, More Subs, Advertisers
  23. Web site: MLB Network announces first live game schedule for 2010 MLB Regular Season. Major League Baseball. 6 October 2014.
  24. Web site: Ketchum . Karen Hogan . 2012-05-17 . TBS Grabs MLB Wild-Card Rights; MLB Network Joins Playoff Picture . 2022-11-19 . Sports Video Group . en.
  25. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121002&content_id=39360776&vkey=pr_mlb&c_id=mlb MLB Network To Televise Postseason And Regular Season Game Programming Through 2021
  26. Web site: MLB, Fox And Turner Reach New Eight-Year Television Agreements . 2022-10-16 . MLB.com . en.
  27. Web site: MLB, FOX complete multiyear agreement . 2022-10-16 . MLB.com . en.
  28. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-network-broadcasting-2022-alds-alcs-in-spanish MLB Network to air ALDS, ALCS Spanish-language broadcasts
  29. Web site: MLB announces plans to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month . 2023-10-05 . MLB.com . en.
  30. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/FOX-Sports-MLB-Network-team-on-expanded-pregame-show-prior-to-FOX-Saturday-Baseball-032112 FOX, MLB Network team on pregame show
  31. Web site: MLB Network signs Vasgersian. MLB.com. 2008-11-05. 2008-11-08.
  32. Web site: MLB Network schedule April 13, 2009. Major League Baseball. 6 October 2014.
  33. Web site: MLB Network 1/1/09 Schedule. Major League Baseball. 6 October 2014.
  34. Web site: MLBNetwork schedule April 6, 2009. Major League Baseball. 6 October 2014.
  35. http://www.multichannel.com/article/173557-Costas_Joins_MLB_Network_s_Team.php?rssid=20059 Costas Joins MLB Network's Team
  36. http://www.mcall.com/sports/all-spo-torre-book-0203,0,6712234.story?track=rss Mcall.com Joe Torre defends book at first signing session in New York
  37. Web site: Baseball IQ. mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. 24 January 2012.
  38. Web site: MLB Network to televise 2009 World Baseball Classic. Major League Baseball. 6 October 2014.
  39. Web site: MLB Network Strike Zone. mlb.com.
  40. "Hot Stove". MLB Network. Seacacus, New Jersey. 2012-11-12. 1. 1.
  41. Web site: MLB Network to debut new studio and morning show for opening day. For The Win. 2015-04-03.
  42. Web site: TVTechnology: Inside MLB's Studio 21. tvtechnology.com. 2015-05-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20150528180030/http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/inside-mlbs-studio--/275825. 2015-05-28. dead.
  43. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/59727 MLB Network's Harlem plans an unnecessary distraction
  44. Web site: Pro Baseball's Streaming Video Unit Gets Ready for a $3 Billion Spinoff by Adding Pro Hockey. Re/code. Vox Media. 4 August 2015. 2015-08-04.
  45. News: MLB's Tech Unit Wins NHL Streaming Business. 4 August 2015. The Wall Street Journal.
  46. Web site: What we know about the NHL on TV, radio and streaming media in 2015-16. Awful Announcing. October 7, 2015 . 8 October 2015.
  47. Web site: MLB and NHL Networks to cross-promote this weekend's NHL Stadium Series game in Denver. Awful Announcing. 25 February 2016. 2016-02-23.