The Baseball Network

For the cable and satellite channel that launched in 2009, see MLB Network.

The Baseball Network
The Baseball Network title card
Also known asBaseball Night in America
GenreBaseball telecasts
Presented byVarious
Theme music composerScott Schreer[1][2]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
Production
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time210 minutes or until end of game
Production companiesMajor League Baseball
ABC Sports
NBC Sports
Original release
NetworkABC
NBC
ReleaseJuly 12, 1994 (1994-07-12) –
October 28, 1995 (1995-10-28)
Related
Major League Baseball on ABC
Major League Baseball on NBC
MLB Network Showcase
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Baseball Network was an American television broadcasting joint venture between ABC, NBC and Major League Baseball (MLB).[3][4][5] Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 season, the league produced its own broadcasts in-house which were then brokered to air on ABC and NBC.[6][7] The Baseball Network was the first television network in the United States to be owned by a professional sports league.[8][9]

The package included coverage of games in prime time on selected nights throughout the regular season (under the branding Baseball Night in America),[10][11][12][13] along with coverage of the postseason and the World Series.[14] Unlike previous broadcasting arrangements with the league, there was no national "game of the week" during the regular season;[15][16] these would be replaced by multiple weekly regional telecasts on certain nights of the week.[17] Additionally, The Baseball Network had exclusive coverage windows; no other broadcaster could televise MLB games during the same night that The Baseball Network was televising games.

The arrangement did not last long; due to the effects of a players' strike on the remainder of the 1994 season,[18] and poor reception from fans and critics over how the coverage was implemented,[19][20][21] The Baseball Network was disbanded after the 1995 season.[22] While NBC would maintain rights to certain games, the growing Fox network (having established its own sports division two years earlier in 1994) became the league's new national broadcast partner beginning in 1996.[23]

  1. ^ Baseball Network Theme 1994 1995 (Various Cuts) on YouTube
  2. ^ 1994 MLB All Star Game Three Rivers, PA on YouTube
  3. ^ Sandomir, Richard (April 12, 1994). "APR '2 - Federal Communications Commission" (PDF). ecfsapi.fcc.gov.
  4. ^ "The Media Business; Network Venture Poses Risks for Baseball". The New York Times. May 20, 1993.
  5. ^ John Nelson (May 9, 1993). "Major League Baseball Strikes Unique Deal with NBC, ABC". Deseret News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  6. ^ Shea, Stuart (May 7, 2015). Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present. SABR, Inc. p. 360. ISBN 9781933599410.
  7. ^ "Sports Graphics Packages, Historically: MLB on ABC, 1994-1995". SportsLogos.net. November 10, 2013.
  8. ^ Marc Zumoff; Max Negin (June 20, 2014). Total Sportscasting: Performance, Production, and Career Development. ISBN 9781317906766.
  9. ^ Elliott, Peter (September 24, 2017). "The Baseball Network (1994-1995) — A Foot In The Box". A Foot In The Box.
  10. ^ James Robert Walker; Robert Bellamy, Jr. (June 2008). Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television. p. 155. ISBN 978-0803248250.
  11. ^ Martzke, Rudy (July 17, 1995). "THE GOOD AND BAD OF BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA". Sports Business Daily.
  12. ^ Silverman, Robert (February 15, 1994). "Primetime baseball hits NBC, ABC weak nights". Variety.
  13. ^ "Braves-Padres game to highlight TBN's 'Baseball Night in America' tonight". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. July 15, 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  14. ^ Robert Silverman (February 15, 1994). "Primetime baseball hits NBC, ABC weak nights". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  15. ^ Kent, Milton (July 17, 1995). "Void grows on Saturday afternoon". The Baltimore Sun.
  16. ^ Michael Martinez (April 3, 1994). "No More Baseball on Afternoon TV -- 'Baseball Night' Will Start in July". The Seattle Times.
  17. ^ John Nelson (July 17, 1994). "'Baseball Night in America' will focus on regionalized fan appeal". The Telegraph.
  18. ^ Richard Sandomir (September 2, 1994). "TV SPORTS; Account Running Dry For Baseball Network". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Jerry Trecker (October 26, 1995). "The Baseball Network Adds Up To Bad Reception". Hartford Courant. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  20. ^ Doug Pappas. "The Baseball Network: R.I.P. (And Don't Come Back!)". roadsidephotos.sabr.org.
  21. ^ Nelson, John (October 10, 1995). "Baseball, networks should be ashamed". The Journal Times.
  22. ^ "1995 Thanks to Cal, Hideo—& Sonia, Too". This Great Game.
  23. ^ Bob Sherwin (March 27, 1996). "Baseball on TV -- FOX Bid Helps Put Baseball Back on Track". The Seattle Times.