Major League Baseball (MLB) has been broadcast on television since the 1950s, with initial broadcasts on the experimental station W2XBS, the predecessor of the modern WNBC in New York. The World Series was televised on a networked basis since 1947, with regular season games broadcast nationally since 1953. Over the forthcoming years, MLB games became major attractions for American television networks, and each of the Big Three networks would air packages of baseball games until the year 2000; Fox would rise to major network status, partially on its acquisition of MLB rights. MLB broadcasts would later shape the emerging medium of cable television, in particular, out of market baseball would attract customers to superstations such as WGN and WTBS and play a big role in the growth of ESPN. Currently, rights to nationally televised MLB games are held by several groups, namely Apple Inc., ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Turner Sports, and YouTube. Each team also has its own regional broadcasters that air games not picked up by one of the national outlets.
Matt Vasgersian is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network. In the past, he has served as an announcer for Fox Sports' National Football League and Major League Baseball coverage, ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball, NBC Sports' coverage of the Olympic Games, and NBC Sports' coverage of the original XFL. He formerly called play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres.
Baseball Tonight is an American television program that airs on ESPN. The show, which covers the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since 1990. Its namesake program also airs on ESPN Radio at various times of the day during the baseball season, with Marc Kestecher as host.
Wednesday Night Baseball is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball.
Brian Kenny is a studio host for MLB Network and a boxing play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports and DAZN. The television face of Sabermetrics and baseball analytics, he is the host of the weekday program MLB Now, known as “the show for the thinking fan". He previously worked for ESPN, where he won three Emmys, and had his own show on ESPN Radio named The Brian Kenny Show. One of the most respected baseball historians and broadcasters in the country, he is also the host of the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York.
The Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show was first awarded in 1988. One sports studio show, whether a pregame or a nightly news show, was honored each year. In 2001, the category was split into two subcategories — Outstanding Studio Show, Daily and Outstanding Studio Show, Weekly, thus awarding two shows annually.
MLB Network Radio is an American sports talk radio station on Sirius XM Radio that features Major League Baseball related talk shows, as well as archives and live reports about MLB and such.
Baseball Night in America is an American television presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports for the Fox network.
Monday Night Baseball was a live game telecast of Major League Baseball that aired on Monday nights during the regular season.
ESPN Major League Baseball is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+. ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three Opening Day telecasts. ESPN Major League Baseball is guaranteed to remain on air until 2028. In 2014, ESPN returned to broadcasting the Major League Baseball postseason. ESPN has exclusive rights to the wild card round starting in 2022.
Major League Baseball on TBS is an American presentation of regular season and postseason Major League Baseball game telecasts that air on the American pay television network TBS. The games are produced by Turner Sports.
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications having minority ownership.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
MLB Tonight is the signature program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers complete coverage of all Major League Baseball games from 6 pm ET – 1 am ET during the regular season, and gives news from all 30 MLB teams during the offseason. It is taped live in Studio 3 of the MLB Network facility in Secaucus, New Jersey, but also features segments taped in Studio 42. The program aired from the beginning of Spring Training to the end of the World Series and was replaced in the offseason by Hot Stove, until it started to air in the offseason, and Hot Stove became MLB Network's weekday morning show. The show won the Sports Emmy Award for best Daily Outstanding Studio Show for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Quick Pitch is an American television show centered on showing highlights of baseball games from the previous night. Quick Pitch airs on MLB Network during the MLB regular season at 1 A.M. ET every weeknight, 8 P.M. ET every Sunday, and after Saturday Night Baseball or MLB Tonight every Saturday. Reruns of Quick Pitch are shown overnights and mornings during the regular season.
On August 28, 2012, it was announced that ESPN and Major League Baseball had agreed on a new eight-year deal that increased ESPN's average yearly payment from about $360 million to approximately $700 million.
Tuesday Night Baseball is the de facto branding used for nationally televised live game telecasts of Major League Baseball games on Tuesday evenings during the regular season. Up until the 2021 season, Tuesday night games aired on FS1, ESPN and MLB Network. Beginning with the 2022 season, games will air on TBS, branded as MLB on TBS Tuesday Night.
Major League Baseball on FS1 is the de facto name for the presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports for Fox Sports 1 (FS1). FS1 airs 40 regular season MLB games, along with up to 15 post-season games.
When the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, all major professional and collegiate organizations responded by suspending operations indefinitely. This effect was passed down to the world of sports broadcasting, which includes live coverage of thousands of events on an annual basis through stations and network available over the air, through cable, satellite, and IPTV companies, and via streaming and over-the-top services.
