Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:33, 21 March 2007

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.

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. 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 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.

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. The deal was similar to a time-buy, 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 was 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.

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.

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 post-season 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.

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.

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.

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.

Aftermath

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 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.

The Baseball Network announcers

A

• Joe Angel
• Jack Arute (field reporter for ABC)
• Richie Ashburn

B

• Johnny Bench (field reporter for NBC, 1994)
• Marty Brennaman
• Joe Buck

C

• Dave Campbell
• Harry Caray
• Skip Caray
• Herb Carneal
• Tom Cheek
• Gary Cohen
• Jerry Coleman
• Bob Costas

D

• Larry Dierker

E

• Dick Enberg

F

• Lanny Frattare
• George Frazier

G

• Joe Garagiola
• Jim Gray (field reporter for NBC)
• Hank Greenwald
• Greg Gumbel (NBC's Baseball Night in America host, 1994)

H

• Milo Hamilton
• Ken Harrelson
• Ernie Harwell
• Keith Hernandez
• Jim Hunter
• Tommy Hutton

K

• Jim Kaat
• Bill King
• Harry Kalas
• Duane Kuiper

M

• Denny Matthews
• Tim McCarver
• Sean McDonough
• Al Michaels
• Jon Miller
• Bob Montgomery
• Joe Morgan
• Bob Murphy
• Brent Musburger

N

• Dave Niehaus

P

• Jim Palmer
• Steve Physioc

R

• Ted Robinson
• John Rooney

S

• John Saunders (ABC's Baseball Night in America host)
• Paul Splittorff
• Dewayne Staats
• Dick Stockton
• Hannah Storm (field reporter for NBC, 1994; NBC's Baseball Night in America host; 1995)

T

• Gary Thorne

U

• Bob Uecker

V

• Dave Van Horne
• Pete Van Wieren
• Lesley Visser (field reporter for ABC)

W

• Suzyn Waldman
• John Wathan

Z

• Steve Zabriskie

See also

• List of Atlanta Braves broadcasters
• List of Baltimore Orioles broadcasters
• List of Boston Red Sox broadcasters
• List of California Angels broadcasters
• List of Chicago Cubs broadcasters
• List of Chicago White Sox broadcasters
• List of Cincinnati Reds broadcasters
• List of Cleveland Indians broadcasters
• List of Colorado Rockies broadcasters
• List of Detroit Tigers broadcasters
• List of Florida Marlins broadcasters
• List of Los Angeles Dodgers broadcasters
• List of Milwaukee Brewers broadcasters
• List of Minnesota Twins broadcasters
• List of Montreal Expos broadcasters
• List of New York Mets broadcasters
• List of New York Yankees broadcasters
• List of Oakland Athletics broadcasters
• List of Pittsburgh Pirates broadcasters
• List of San Francisco Giants broadcasters
• List of Seattle Mariners broadcasters
• List of St. Louis Cardinals broadcasters
• List of Texas Rangers broadcasters
• List of Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters

1995 American League Division Series broadcasters

1995 National League Division Series broadcasters

1995 League Championship Series broadcasters

ALCS

NLCS

1995 World Series broadcasters

Ratings

All-Star Game

1995 World Series

See also

• 1994 Major League Baseball strike

External links

• Baseball's Best - 1990s
  • 1995 World Series |Game 6
  • 1995 ALDS |Game 5
  • 1995 ALDS |Game 2
  • 1995 NLDS |Game 1
• Major League Baseball : History : All-Star Game Recaps - 1994: He's Gwynn Home!
• Major League Baseball : History : All-Star Game Recaps - 1995: All-World Star
• BaseballLibrary.com
  • 1994
    • July
    • August
  • 1995
    • July
    • August
    • September
    • October

References

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")
    1. OPEN STANCE July 1994
32. The Baseball Network: R.I.P. (And Don't Come Back!)
33. Two Ways To Go On Baseball - CBS Vs. ABC-NBC.
34. THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING AT COORS FIELD
35. Final Paper: Regional Pastime
36. RICK CLIFFORD - Associate Producer
37. Issue 43 -- Television Sportscasters (Female) - Hannah Storm
38. EBERSOL, DICK
39. 1995 Regular Season Baseball Feeds
40. Variety.com - Primetime baseball hits NBC, ABC weak nights
41. Not Ready for Prime Time: The Baseball Network
42. Results 1 - 100 of 1,480 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for ABC Baseball (0.82 seconds)
43. Results 1 - 100 of 1,110 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for NBC Baseball (0.66 seconds)
44. Results 1 - 100 of 5,290 from Jan 1, 1994 to Dec 31, 1995 for THE BASEBALL NETWORK (0.27 seconds)
45. Results 1 - 61 of 61 from Jul 1, 1995 to Oct 31, 1995 for TBN Baseball (0.22 seconds)
46. Results 1 - 90 of 90 from Jul 1, 1994 to Aug 31, 1994 for BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (0.80 seconds)
47. Results 1 - 100 of 153 from Jul 1, 1995 to Oct 1, 1995 for BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (0.40 seconds)
48. October 19, 1994 - Baseball Is Over.
49. ABC flips over winning Series
50. DBSForums Discussion Forums - The Baseball Network
51. SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL; Baseball Network's Last Day?
52. BASEBALL;ABC Auditing Baseball Venture
53. TIME Domestic August 22, 1994 Volume 144, No.
54. Strikethree.com Baseball News, Analysis, and Commentary
55. Jed Petrick Named As The First-Ever President & Chief Operating Officer For The WB Network
56. ROSS LEVINSOHN
57. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #48
58. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #49
59. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #50
60. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #56
61. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #57
62. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #58
63. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #59
64. last piece of MLB's TV puzzle - #60
65. Major League Baseball Message Board - RATINGS WOES
66. MLB Ratings Woes (#106) - DBSForums Discussion Forums > Programming/Content > Sports

• 1994 television program debuts
• 1995 television program cancellations
• Television channels and stations established in 1994
• 1994 in baseball
• 1995 disestablishments
• 1995 in baseball
• Franchised formats
• Major League Baseball announcers
• Major League Baseball on television
• Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States
• American television networks
• Joint ventures
• Entertainment flops