As one of the most successful clubs in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees are also one of its oldest teams. Part of that success derives to its radio and television broadcasts that have been running beginning in 1939 when the first radio transmissions were broadcast from the old stadium, and from 1947 when television broadcasts began. They have been one of the pioneer superstation broadcasts when WPIX became a national superstation in 1978 and were the first American League team to broadcast their games on cable, both first in 1978 and later on in 1979, when Sportschannel NY (now MSG Plus) began broadcasting Yankees games to cable subscribers. Today, the team can be heard and/or seen in its gameday broadcasts during the baseball season on:
Longest serving Yankee broadcasters (all-time with 10+ years)
Phil Rizzuto (40 yrs), John Sterling (36 yrs), Michael Kay (33 yrs), Mel Allen (30 yrs), Ken Singleton (25 yrs), Bobby Murcer (22 yrs), Paul O'Neill (23 yrs), Suzyn Waldman (19 yrs), Frank Messer (18 yrs), Bill White (18 yrs), John Flaherty (19 yrs), David Cone (17 yrs), Red Barber (13 yrs), Jim Kaat (13 yrs), Al Trautwig (12 yrs)
Broadcasters assigned from the Yankees to cover World Series appearances nationally (1947–1978)
Year | TV | Play-by-play | Commentators | Cable | Play-by-play | Commentators |
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1947 | WABD | |||||
1948 | WABD |
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1949 | WABD |
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1950 | WABD |
| Dizzy Dean | |||
1951 |
| Dizzy Dean | ||||
1952 | WPIX |
| Joe DiMaggio | |||
1953 | WPIX |
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1954 | WPIX |
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1955 | WPIX |
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1956 | WPIX |
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1957 | WPIX |
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1958 | WPIX |
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1959 | WPIX |
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1960 | WPIX |
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1961 | WPIX |
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1962 | WPIX |
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1963 | WPIX |
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1964 | WPIX |
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1965 | WPIX |
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1966 | WPIX |
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1967 | WPIX |
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1968 | WPIX |
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1969 | WPIX |
| Whitey Ford | |||
1970 | WPIX |
| Whitey Ford | |||
1971 | WPIX |
| Whitey Ford | |||
1972 | WPIX |
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1973 | WPIX |
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1974 | WPIX |
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1975 | WPIX |
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1976 | WPIX |
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1977 | WPIX |
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1978 | WPIX |
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1979 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
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1980 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
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1981 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
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1982 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
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1983 | WPIX |
| Bobby Murcer | SportsChannel NY |
| Bobby Murcer |
1984 | WPIX |
| Bobby Murcer | SportsChannel NY |
| Bobby Murcer |
1985 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
| Mickey Mantle | |
1986 | WPIX |
| Billy Martin | SportsChannel NY |
| Mickey Mantle |
1987 | WPIX |
| Billy Martin | SportsChannel NY |
| Mickey Mantle |
1988 | WPIX |
| SportsChannel NY |
| Mickey Mantle | |
1989 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
| Lou Piniella | |
1990 | WPIX |
| MSG Network | |||
1991 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1992 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1993 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1994 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1995 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1996 | WPIX |
| MSG Network |
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1997 | WPIX |
| Rick Cerone | MSG Network |
| Suzyn Waldman |
1998 | WPIX |
| Tommy John | MSG Network |
| Suzyn Waldman |
1999 | WNYW | Bobby Murcer | Tim McCarver | MSG Network |
| Suzyn Waldman |
2000 | WNYW | Bobby Murcer | Tim McCarver | MSG Network |
| Suzyn Waldman |
2001 | WNYW | Bobby Murcer | Tim McCarver | MSG Network |
| Suzyn Waldman |
2002 | WCBS-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2003 | WCBS-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2004 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2005 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2006 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2007 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2008 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2009 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2010 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2011 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2012 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2013 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2014 | WWOR-TV |
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| YES Network |
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2015 | WPIX |
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| YES Network |
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2016 | WPIX |
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| YES Network |
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2017 | WPIX |
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| YES Network |
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2018 | WPIX |
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| YES Network |
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2019 | WPIX |
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| YES Network |
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2020 | YES Network |
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2021 |
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| YES Network |
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2022 | Amazon Prime |
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| YES Network |
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2023 | Amazon Prime |
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| YES Network |
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2024 | Amazon Prime |
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| YES Network |
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β - indicates Ford C. Frick Award winner
Longest serving Yankee radio broadcasters (all-time with 10+ years)
John Sterling (36 yrs), Phil Rizzuto (30 yrs), Mel Allen (22 yrs), Suzyn Waldman (20 yrs), Frank Messer (18 yrs), Beto Villa (16 yrs), Bill White (16 yrs), Red Barber (13 yrs), Michael Kay (10 yrs)
Year | Radio | Commentators |
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1939 | WABC [lower-alpha 1] |
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1940 | WABC |
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1942 | WOR |
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1944 | WINS | |
1945 | WINS |
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1946 | WINS |
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1947 | WINS |
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1948 | WINS |
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1949 | WINS |
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1950 | WINS |
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1951 | WINS |
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1952 | WINS |
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1953 | WINS |
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1954 | WINS |
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1955 | WINS |
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1956 | WINS |
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1957 | WINS |
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1958 | WMGM |
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1959 | WMGM |
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1960 | WMGM |
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1961 | WCBS |
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1962 | WCBS |
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1963 | WCBS |
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1964 | WCBS |
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1965 | WCBS |
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1966 | WCBS |
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1967 | WHN |
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1968 | WHN |
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1969 | WHN |
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1970 | WHN |
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1971 | WMCA |
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1972 | WMCA |
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1973 | WMCA |
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1974 | WMCA |
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1975 | WMCA |
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1976 | WMCA |
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1977 | WMCA |
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1978 | WINS |
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1979 | WINS |
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1980 | WINS |
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1981 | WABC |
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1982 | WABC |
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1983 | WABC |
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1984 | WABC |
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1985 | WABC |
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1986 | WABC |
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1987 | WABC | |
1988 | WABC |
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1989 | WABC | |
1990 | WABC |
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1991 | WABC |
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1992 | WABC |
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1993 | WABC |
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1994 | WABC |
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1995 | WABC |
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1996 | WABC |
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1997 | WABC |
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1998 | WABC |
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1999 | WABC |
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2000 | WABC |
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2001 | WABC |
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2002 | WCBS |
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2003 | WCBS |
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2004 | WCBS |
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2005 | WCBS |
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2006 | WCBS |
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2007 | WCBS |
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2008 | WCBS |
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2009 | WCBS |
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2010 | WCBS |
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2011 | WCBS |
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2012 | WCBS |
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2013 | WCBS |
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2014 |
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2015 |
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2016 |
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2017 |
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2018 |
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2019 |
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2020 |
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2021 |
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2022 |
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2023 |
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2024 |
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β - indicates Ford C. Frick Award winner
The Yankees' New York City flagship station has been:
Outside of New York City, over-the-air television broadcasts can often be seen on:
WFAN and WFAN-FM are flagships for a 52 station radio network spanning 14 states.
Philip Francis Rizzuto, nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
William DeKova White is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York / San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. He was an eight-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove winner who earned a championship as a top contributor in the 1964 World Series.
Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions. Years after his death, he is still promoted as having been "The Voice of the Yankees."
John Sterling is an American retired sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1989 to 2024. Sterling called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games from 1989 to 2019. He retired from broadcasting on April 15, 2024.
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Greg Gumbel is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports. The older brother of news and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, he became the first African-American announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States when he announced Super Bowl XXXV for the CBS network in 2001. Gumbel is currently the studio host for CBS' men's college basketball coverage and was a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFL on CBS until 2023.
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The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, Amazon, and The Blackstone Group, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company, which each own 13%. Primarily serving New York City, New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, it broadcasts a variety of sports events, as well as magazine, documentary and discussion programs; however, its main emphasis is focused on games and team-related programs involving the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA's New York Liberty and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Yankeeography is a biography-style television program that chronicles the lives and careers of the players, coaches, and other notable personnel associated with the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. The series is aired on the YES Network and is produced by MLB Productions. The series is hosted by Yankees radio personality John Sterling. The series has earned five New York Sports Emmy Awards since its inception. In addition to airing on YES, MLB Productions has packaged many of the shows into DVD boxed sets.
Wallace Frank Messer was an American sportscaster that was best known for his 18 seasons announcing New York Yankees baseball games, and as the recognizable emcee voice of various Yankee Stadium festivities during a three decade span.
Yankees Classics is a program on the YES Network which features classic New York Yankees games.
The New York Yankees Radio Network is an Audacy-owned radio network that broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games to 52 stations across 8 states. The network's flagship station is WFAN, which succeeded sister station WCBS as the flagship in 2014; WCBS had aired Yankees broadcasts since the network was founded in 2002 while WFAN had been the flagship station for the Yankees' crosstown rivals, the New York Mets, since the station's founding. The full on-air name of the broadcasts is the WFAN Yankees Radio Network Driven by Jeep, with the Chrysler LLC subsidiary continuing its sponsorship of the network while games are broadcast from the "Duck Duck Go broadcast booth."
Major League Baseball games not broadcast exclusively by its media partners are televised by regional sports networks, which present sports programming of interest to their respective region. Most MLB broadcasters are members of chains such as NBC Sports Regional Networks and Bally Sports, although several teams are broadcast by regional networks that are independent of these chains. Some teams own partial or majority stakes in their regional broadcaster.
The following is a list of announcers who called Major League Baseball telecasts for the joint venture between Major League Baseball, ABC and NBC called The Baseball Network. Announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were typically paired with each other on regular season Baseball Night in America telecasts. ABC used Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver and Lesley Visser as the lead broadcasting team. Meanwhile, NBC used Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, Bob Uecker and Jim Gray as their lead broadcasting team.
The New York Sports radio WFAN, first broadcast on July 1, 1987 at 1050AM replacing WHN. WFAN was the first all sports station in the United States. The station's current frequency, 660AM. was formerly known as WNBC and first transmitted on March 2, 1922. WFAN moved to 660AM at 5:30PM Eastern Time on October 7, 1988 when WNBC signed off for the last time.
By 1969, Major League Baseball had grown to 24 teams and the net local TV revenues had leaped to $20.7 million. This is in sharp contrast to 1950 when local television brought the then 16 Major League clubs a total net income of $2.3 million. Changes baseball underwent during this time, such as expansion franchises and increasing the schedule from 154 games to 162, led to a wider audience for network and local television.
Halberstam, David "Sports on NY Radio", 1999. ISBN 1-57028-197-1