MLB on TBS

MLB on TBS
File:Tbsbaseball.jpg
Starring	Chip Caray Tony Gwynn Craig Sager Ernie Johnson Jr. Cal Ripken Jr. (for more, see below)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	3 hours
Original release
Network	TBS (2007-)
Release	July 1, 2007 – Present

Major League Baseball on TBS is a broadcasting agreement between Major League Baseball and Turner Sports to broadcast baseball via cable television nationwide, beginning in 2007.

The agreement

TBS expands their role as a national broadcast partner of Major League Baseball.

Coverage

Under an agreement signed on July 11, 2006, TBS earned exclusive rights to all Division Series playoff games, as well as rights to the All-Star Selection Show held in late June or early July, beginning in 2007. A national Sunday afternoon baseball package is also part of the deal, starting in 2008. Additional games are planned for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. These games will not be exclusive to TBS and will be blacked out in local markets (an alternate game is currently scheduled to be offered).

TBS will also air any tie-breaker games for divisional or wild card championships. Should multiple tie-breaking games be played, or if multiple Division Series game are scheduled at the same time, those additional games would air on TBS’ sister station, TNT. This will immediately be taken advantage of, as a wild card tiebreaker between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies from Denver's Coors Field will take place on October 1 at 6:35pm EDT.

The first telecast from TBS' new baseball package was the 2007 All-Star Selection Show, which was delayed from a scheduled start time of 4 p.m. Eastern time to nearly 6 p.m. due to the previous program (Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins) lasting 10 innings after a 90-minute rain delay.

TBS has announced the launch of a high-definition feed, as of September 1, 2007. A regional feed for the Southeast is also possible in the future, as WTBS (renamed WPCH) will continue to broadcast 45 Braves games per season in Atlanta. Turner Sports has not yet announced how they will make those games available outside Atlanta. Turner also expects to offer TBS' national feed in Atlanta as TBS and WPCH will have some differences in programming beyond baseball.

Availability

Playoff games on TBS will not be made available to local over-the-air broadcasters in the participating team's markets. Under the previous contract, ESPN was required to make those games available on the air in local markets.

League Championship Series

On October 17, 2006, TBS agreed to a seven year agreement with Major League Baseball to broadcast the National League Championship Series and American League Championship Series in alternating years from 2007 to 2013. TBS will have the NLCS in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 and the ALCS in 2008, 2010 and 2012. As part of another deal reached earlier this summer, FOX will continue to broadcast the ALCS, in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013, and the NLCS, in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Announcers

On January 28, 2007, TBS' executive producer Jeff Behnke said that Chip Caray "is definitely going to be TBS' lead play-by-play announcer for division series and LCS games." On April 5, 2007, TBS announced that joining Caray in the lead booth will be Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who has experience in broadcasting with ESPN and the San Diego Padres.

It was also confirmed that Joe Simpson and other members of the Braves broadcast team will be a part of postseason coverage, but their roles were not immediately announced. It has also been reported that the network was in talks with former Braves announcer Don Sutton if he agrees to a playoff only contract. Simpson has since been paired with Don Orsillo (see below). Neither Sutton nor Skip Caray, Chip's father, will be part of coverage; Caray was vocal about being snubbed in comments he made to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Also on April 5, 2007, TBS announced that the studio team for its baseball coverage (beginning with the All-Star Game Selection Show on July 1 will be Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson Jr. along with the other member of the 2007 Baseball Hall of Fame class, Cal Ripken Jr. On September 24, it was announced that the studio show will also include Frank Thomas, who currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Personalities

Play-by-play

• Chip Caray: #1 Play-by-play
• Don Orsillo
• Ted Robinson
• Dick Stockton

Color commentators

• Bob Brenly
• Tony Gwynn: #1 Game analyst
• Joe Simpson
• Steve Stone

Field reporters

• David Aldridge
• Marc Fein
• Jose Mota
• Craig Sager: #1 Field reporter

Studio anchors

• Ernie Johnson Jr.

Studio analysts

• Cal Ripken Jr.
• Frank Thomas

Announcing teams

Major League Baseball on TBS announcing teams

Season	Event	Play-by-play	Color commentators	Field Reporter(s)
2007	2007 MLB Playoffs	Chip Caray	Tony Gwynn	Craig Sager
		Dick Stockton	Bob Brenly (will join Caray/Gwynn in the booth for the NLCS)	Marc Fein
		Ted Robinson	Steve Stone	David Aldridge
		Don Orsillo	Joe Simpson	José Mota

Coverage plans

The MLB Division Series are scheduled to begin on October 3, 2007. TBS will begin coverage with the pregame show MLB on Deck, followed by the first pitch of the first game about 38 minutes later. Each day's coverage will end with Inside MLB, its version of Inside the NBA.

All games in the Division Series round will be presented back-to-back, with each game scheduled for a 3½-hour window. If a game exceeds this window, the first pitch of the next game will either be switched to TNT or be delayed. If a game ends within 3½ hours, the studio team will return for interstitial programming.

Its coverage of the NLCS will begin on October 11.

See also

• Braves TBS Baseball
• Major League Baseball on FOX
• ESPN Major League Baseball
• List of American League Championship Series broadcasters
• List of National League Championship Series broadcasters

External links

• Press Release: MLB, FOX, and Turner reach new television agreements
• Press Release: TBS signs on to air LCS games