I was interviewed about Labor Day traffic, even though my lovely wife did the driving.
TV Appearance
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Category Archives: Broadcasts
Talking to Lindor
ESPN miked Francisco Lindor while he was playing shortstop today, and he had no problem taking a question while he fielded a ball. Lindor is probably my favorite player to listen to while he is playing. He seamlessly stays in the game while talking, giving instructions to his teammate and cheering them on. I also learn something about the game whenever I hear him. Asked about the positioning rules, he said the toughest thing for him was constantly checking to keep his feet on the dirt. He noted that being back on the outfield grass not only increased his range, but gave him the ability to have more momentum on the throw.
In general, I’m not a fan of a lot of the side shows that go on in broadcasts in the current era, but listening to a player thinking while he’s in the game works well. The Phillies lead the Mets 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Roku Sundays
MLB and Roku reached an agreement to stream games on Sundays:
Roku’s package, branded as “Sunday Leadoff,” consists of 18 games starting with this coming Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. ET contest between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox and lasting through Sept. 15. With the exception of two West Coast start times, Roku games will be the first ones taking place in varying exclusive windows. Twenty-four teams are part of the package, including the New York Yankees (July 14 against the Baltimore Orioles) and Los Angeles Dodgers (Sept. 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks).
Games on Roku can be watched free through the app, on Roku devices or via Amazon Fire, Samsung and Google TVs, among other outlets. Those with MLB.tv subscriptions can watch the games blackout-free.
MLB will produce the broadcasts and said in its news release that it plans to use “market-focused” broadcasters for the games. The goal, a source with knowledge of the deal said, is to use either local broadcast crews or MLB Network talent with ties to the region.
Roku has launched an MLB Zone channel that will act as a “one-stop destination for fans to browse, discover and stream everything MLB,” according to MLB’s release. It said the Roku Channel reached an estimated 120 million people in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2023.
ESPN.com
I have had a Roku streaming box for a very long time and always liked the service. We’ll see how this goes.
Voice Retires
John Sterling, radio voice of the Yankees since 1989, retired today due to health reasons. I’m sorry his health is not good.
I first heard Sterling when I was an Islanders fan in the 1970s. When the Islanders scored a goal, he would yell, “ISLANDERS GOAL! ISLANDERS GOAL! ISLANDERS GOAL!” When the opposition scored, his call was, “goal.”
Most times when I’m listening to Yankees games in the car, he doesn’t bother me much. Sometimes, I have to turn to the opponents broadcast. I particularly don’t like the way he ignored Suzyn Waldman. Waldman would make a point, and seldom did Sterling take the point any further. It was usually on to the next pitch with the point forgotten.
I will admit I do like the nicknames for home runs by particular hitters.
Update: Michael Kay, during the Yankees broadcast, said that Sterling told him it’s not a health issue. He just doesn’t like getting to and from the park anymore. From Kay’s description, it sounds like he’s tired, not sick.
Broadcast Certainty
Three teams reached cable TV agreements with Diamond Sports:
Diamond Sports Group, the regional sports operator hoping to emerge from bankruptcy, reached agreements with the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins on linear-cable contracts for the 2024 season, providing temporary cost certainty for three Major League Baseball teams previously in limbo.
The deals are still pending the approval of a bankruptcy judge who is expected to rule Feb. 9. Assuming the agreements are finalized, Diamond has vowed to broadcast games for the 12 MLB teams that would remain within its portfolio for entire 2024 season.
ESPN.com
We’ll see what comes after that.
More on Amazon
ESPN provides a detailed FAQ post on the Diamond-Amazon deal.
In the short term, though, MLB had been working for months on gaining clarity with Diamond on the 2024 season. Many owners have pointed to that uncertainty — and the uncertainty that hangs over the entire regional sports network business, from which teams draw a significant amount of local revenue — as a reason for reduced spending this offseason. The Amazon deal going through would seemingly provide teams that remain under Diamond with the cost certainty they have coveted — but it would seemingly interrupt MLB’s long-term plan of fitting all of its rights under a national umbrella.
ESPN.com
I would like to see the umbrella plan sooner than later.
Amazon to the Rescue
Amazon is working on a deal to partner with Diamond Sports to help them out of bankruptcy. This may lead to more paid broadcasts on Prime. MLB seems less than impressed:
The NBA and NHL both said they have received the documents and were reviewing them before discussing next steps with Diamond. Major League Baseball was more pointed in its evaluation.
“There is a lot to digest. It is unable to be digested because it hasn’t been purchased, cooked or served. When we get to that point, we will look at it and figure out whether it is able to be digested,” MLB lawyer James Bromley said during the hearing. “We will refrain from adding congratulations until such time that something is actually delivered.”
One guess is that MLB might prefer Diamond Sports goes out of business so they can consolidate streaming under their own umbrella and destroy local blackouts.
The Broadcast Landscape
MLB and Bally Sports are close to a deal that will keep those regional sports networks (RSN) in place through the end of the 2024 season as Bally goes through bankruptcy. I am hoping that this gives MLB time to work on a transition to taking over broadcast rights for these teams, which would lead to the lifting of blackout restrictions that we saw with the Padres and Diamondbacks.
At some point, I would hope the MLB becomes the broadcaster for all teams. One of the complaints made about the financial structure of the game right now is that while national broadcast money is distributed evenly, local broadcast money is not. Competitive balance taxes and other forms of revenue sharing try to alleviate this problem but a better way would be to split broadcast revenue the way teams split ticket revenue. It could be something like a 60% home 40% away split based on ratings.
MLB could do this now, but it would be a lot easier if MLB controlled he flow of money in the first place. As we have seen numerous times, teams will game rules, dodge taxes, hide international signings to gain an advantage. With the payouts coming from MLB based on ratings, it’s tougher to do.
By basing the amount of money received from the 40% based on rating, it encourages teams to be good enough for the home town team fans to want to watch that game, an anti-tanking strategy. The game may also be able to get rid of the more complicated tax structure and revenue sharing which invites abuse.
The next few years should be quite interesting in this regard. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs through 2026, and 2027 would be a perfect time to put this idea of local broadcast revenue sharing into place. The next CBA fight may be more between the owners over this issue than between the union and the league.
Low Ratings
The 2023 World Series turned out to be the least watched in TV history. The article does make two points that put a shine on things. First:
However, the Rangers being the ninth champion since 2013 and 14 teams qualifying for the Fall Classic in the same span does have some appeal for Fox executives.
“I think it’s a good thing for the health of baseball to have new pennant winners and new champions, new teams playing in the World Series. You don’t want it to be the same market and the same brands every year,” Fox EVP, Head of Strategy and Analytics Mike Mulvihill said. “But I admit it is difficult for ratings in the short term when you’ve got some brands paired up that don’t really have traditional national boards.”
ESPN.com
Teams tend to get attendance boosts after post-season wins. Baseball does not want a repeat of the 1950s.
The second point isn’t about eyeballs, it’s about winning:
The World Series also continues to outperform every entertainment program. This was the eighth straight year that has happened.
It was the most-watched event four of the five nights. The only thing to beat it was “Monday Night Football,” when the Detroit Lions beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Our two hopes and expectations are to beat everything in entertainment, and to have a long series. We didn’t really get a long series, but we did still beat everything in entertainment,” Mulvihill said. “As long as the series continues to do that, it’ll always be powerful in prime time.”
ESPN.com
The article also mentions the Friday start for the series. It seems to me MLB used that to avoid conflicts with Sunday NFL games. It looks like mixed results on that front.
I would like to see the schedule compressed a bit. The easiest way to do that would be to eliminate the second travel day. On top of that, maybe change the format of the division series. Originally, it was 2-3, with the lower seed opening at home. Maybe go to 3-2, with the higher seed getting the first three games at home. Yes, it means lower seeds might not get a home game, but this would also be an easy way to give the higher seeds another advantage in the playoffs.
Low Ratings
All of the first three games of the World Series get the title of least watched in the history of tracking viewers:
Games 2 and 3 are the least-watched on record according to Nielsen. Monday’s 3-1 victory by the Rangers averaged 8.13 million on Fox, according to fast national figures. Saturday’s 9-1 Diamondbacks’ win averaged 8.15 million.
Before this year, the least-watched World Series game was Game 3 in 2020 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, which averaged 8.34 million.
Game 1 was also the least-watched World Series opener recorded. The three-game average of 8.48 million is on pace to become the least-viewed Series ever, fewer than the 9.79 million in 2020 that watched the Dodgers beat the Rays in six games.
ESPN.com
A Diamondbacks comeback to force a game seven would help. People also might tune in tonight to see a potential first-time championship for the Rangers.
I don’t know the answer here. Part of the problem could be cable cutting. I have an antenna, so I get Fox over the air. If you don’t have a cable provider or the stream equivalent, however, it’s difficult to stream the series
Part of it, of course, is that baseball is not quite as popular as it once was.
Part of it is fans are fans of a particular team, not of the game in general. When a five seed is playing a six seed, there may be less reason to tune in. There is something to be said for having the best teams in the World Series.
There is also a lack of local sports reporting. Through most of my life, local news shows had a dedicated sports reporter with a dedicated segment. While most of the reporting covered local teams, they certainly would devote time to promoting championships like the World Series.
MLB needs to figure out a way to turn the World Series into an event. It’s much tougher to do with seven games than one.
Missing the Game
The Phillies broadcast interviewed Jenny Finch in the top of the third inning, while the Giants bat. LaMonte Wade homered, then Joc Pederson got thrown out at second on what should have been a double. There was no interruption of the interview to recognize the rather exciting plays, and even coming out the interview, the the main broadcasters spent another 30 seconds talking about Finch before they acknowledged what was going on in the game.
I really dislike in-game interviews. The purpose of the broadcast is to show the game. Talking to a personality during the game takes away from that coverage, and I wish these segments would go away.
Unforced Error
The Orioles appear to have suspended announcer Kevin Brown (no, not the pitcher) for talking about the previous years of poor play by the team in Tampa Bay:
The Orioles are finally back on top, and now everyone is going to be talking about the mistreatment of an announcer. What a huge mistake by whoever brought this about.
Bally Bails on DBacks
MLB took over the Diamondbacks broadcasts as Bally Sports parent Diamond Sports Group missed a payment to Arizona:
Fans in the Diamondbacks’ home television territory — who were previously blacked out from watching games on MLB.TV — will now be able to subscribe to that service for $19.99 per month or $54.99 for the remainder of the season. That territory includes all of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, as well as parts of southern Nevada.
AZCentral.com
And another blackout disappears. I hope Diamond keeps defaulting, and no blackouts becomes the default.
More Money to Washington
The Orioles, Nationals, and MASN settled their rights dispute, the Nationals getting an extra $100 million dollars. Note that the Orioles also get $100 million from the RSN, but since they controlled most of MASN anyway, the money was there anyway, and they benefitted from the Nationals getting less money than they deserved.
Honoring Broadcast Contracts
A judge (not Aaron) ruled that Diamond Sports Group must honor their contracts to teams:
After two long days of hearings, more than nine hours on Wednesday then a session Thursday that lasted until shortly after 6:30 p.m., federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez ruled that Diamond Sports Group must pay Major League Baseball teams the full value of their contracts to televise individual teams.
Diamond, parent company of 19 regional sports networks including Cardinals and Blues telecaster Bally Sports Midwest, had filed for bankruptcy. The case heard in Houston by Lopez involved four teams — the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins. Payments have been late, and not in full, to those clubs. (The Cardinals have been paid on time and are not part of this case).
StLToday.com
I will admit I’m not sure of everything going on here. According to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, the RSN threatened to not pay the teams if the RSN did not get streaming rights. I believe MLB has the upper hand here, as over 20 years of streaming puts them in a good position to cash in if the RSN withdraw.
Stay tuned. The judge did encourage the two sides to work out their differences.
Streaming Killed the RSN Star
ESPN puts together a comprehensive look at the future of sports broadcasting as we await a decision on Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. As usual, there will be a battle between the big market clubs and everyone else.
Padres Unpaid
I just turned on the Padres at the Marlins, and it turns out it will be the last broadcast by Diamond Sports Group:
Diamond Sports Group won’t be making its scheduled rights fee payment to the San Diego Padres by the end of its grace period on Tuesday, according to a statement from DSG, making the team’s game against the Miami Marlins that afternoon the final one under Bally Sports.
Moving forward, through the end of the regular season and perhaps in perpetuity, Major League Baseball is expected to assume control of the team’s broadcasts.
…
As part of a statement, a spokesperson for Diamond Sports Group wrote: “While DSG has significant liquidity and has been making rights payments to teams, the economics of the Padres’ contract were not aligned with market realities. MLB has forced our hand by its continued refusal to negotiate direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming rights for all teams in our portfolio despite our proposal to pay every team in full in exchange for those rights. We are continuing to broadcast games for teams under our contracts.”
ESPN.com
MLB taking over means no blackouts! What’s not clear is how much this will impact the Padres ability to pay their expensive roster.
Paying the Padres
Bally Sports missed their rights payment to the Padres.
Bally Sports San Diego’s parent company missed another rights fee payment last week, according to Sports Business Journal report, and the next grace period expires May 30.
The Sports Business Journal is reporting that “there’s a good chance” that Diamond Sports Group will also miss that payment, due on the eve of the day a judge is expected to determine how much the embattled company will have to pay clubs while in bankruptcy.
Missing the next rights payment would trigger proceedings that would send rights back to clubs, a development would seem to put Bally Sports San Diego in the same predicament it was on the eve of opening day, when Diamond made an 11th-hour payment toward its 20-year, $1.2 billion deal with the Padres.
MSN.com
It’s been a bad season for the Padres, as they struggle to play to their talent level and struggle to get paid for their broadcasts. My own feeling is that broadcast through MLB will be a long term benefit for the clubs, but the Padres sunk a lot of money into this team with the belief that the big TV would pay a good chunk of that.
Fees Agreed
The Nationals won their dispute with the Orioles over MASN rights fees:
The Orioles control the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, a two-team regional sports network. Last decade, an arbitration committee of baseball executives appointed by the Major League Baseball commissioner said the value for the Nationals should be set at $297 million for 2012 through 2016.
Baltimore argued the process was tainted and should be decided by a different forum, but the New York Court of Appeals affirmed lower state court rulings in Tuesday’s 6-0 decision.
“The parties agreed to an industry insider-controlled process with a full understanding of the commissioner’s involvement,” according to the decision, which was written by Judge Madeline Singas. “MASN and the Orioles cannot now complain that they received something different than what they bargained for through the insider process they selected.”
ESPN.com
The Nationals owners would like to sell, but the uncertainty involving rights fees is making that difficult.
Less Time to Talk
I just watched the bottom of the second inning of the Sunday night game between Philadelphia and Texas. Trea Turner, playing shortstop for the Phillies, was miked and being interviewed by the crew. It was clearly tougher to conduct the conversation with the pitch clock. Turner, to his credit, was able to concentrate on playing and just stop talking when the ball when the batter started to swing.
With the slower game last year, we actually learned a lot from the players. I suspect talking to the fielders may be just too tough, and we may see more talking to batters in the dugout.
Yes to YES
The YES network announced a direct subscription plan. For $240 a year you can stream the network live:
The product is for customers in YES’ regional territory, so it is not a solution for out-of-market Yankees fans, who remain able to watch the team through MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings.
NYPost.com
This is excellent, and I hope we see more of this.
Pithier Broadcasts
Joe Reedy talks to broadcasters about how the pitch clock effects the broadcast of a game:
Sometimes though, not talking is not a bad thing. ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst Eduardo Perez acknowledged that there’s a running joke in which the best innings are ones when the analysts never talk — and said there might be some truth to it.
StLToday.com
I hope that sideline reporters get less time, and the annoying in booth interviews disappear as well. If the game in moving so fast that the broadcasters can’t tell stories, then it’s moving too fast to hear to hear from someone with a cause unrelated to the game.
Foxes in the Henhouse?
MLB hired three executives as they prepare to take over local broadcasts from two regional sports network conglomerates. Buried at the end of the story are the jobs two of those executives held before:
Johnson, a 27-time Emmy Award winner, has been with AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and will be responsible for MLB’s locally produced games. Pennell oversaw Bally Sports Regional Networks’ day-to-day financial operations. Burgess was vice president of technical operations for Bally Sports.
ESPN.com
Do you really want someone who oversaw financial operations for a bankrupt company moving into your business?
Removing Friction
A few years ago sports were seen as the programming keeping cable TV alive. Fans wanted to watch sports live, not stream it at any time like a TV series or move. The Diamond Sports group failed to take advantage of this, as part of the reason for their approaching bankruptcy is a lack of carriers.
Although the Sinclair-Diamond regionals recently were added by FuboTV, the networks have not been able to reach carriage agreements with some other major programming providers — including Dish Network, Hulu Live, Sling TV and YouTube TV. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has touched on the subject several times in recent months.
“I think the key for us is the development of direct-to-consumer products to increase our reach,” he has said. “The biggest problem for us on the (regional networks) side is that, even within the cable bundle — particularly with the Diamond subsidiary — is that their reach, within the bundle, is not what it used to be. It’s important for us to develop digital products that allow us to get to our fans in a frictionless way. That’s really your future.”
StLToday.com
MLB feared the new technologies of radio and television. Rather than using those technologies to create more fans, teams feared their gate receipts would disappear. Bud Selig and the owners in the 1990s did not make that mistake, and streaming on the internet turned out to be a financial boon. The two models of broadcast delivery and streaming did bring about local blackouts, which hurt the game. I suspect that in a few years there will be no regional sports networks, and various packages that allow fans to buy the right to watch particular games, teams, divisions, leagues, or the whole kit and caboodle. I suspect MLB will do very well with this.
It may also have the consequence of improving the game. When an RSN rating go down, they can’t do much to change the product on the field. They add gimmicks like field reporters, fan interviews, and booth visits. If MLB controls the broadcasts, they will have a more direct reason to improve the game to improve ratings.
I look forward to how this will play out in the next decade.
Local MLB
With Bally Sports potentially folding, MLB sits ready to take over the game broadcasts:
“I think you should assume that if Diamond doesn’t broadcast, we’ll be in a position to step in,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday after an owners’ meeting. “Our goal would be to make games available not only within the traditional cable bundle but on the digital side, as well.”
Chron.com
I hope this is the in to allow local teams to be seen on MLB streaming.
Bally Low
Ben Clemens pens a very good article on the upcoming bankruptcy of the parent of Bally Sports Network and how it might effect payments to major league teams.
One thing not mentioned in the article was the lack of gambling money. A few years ago when Bally was new, they touted how they would merge sports betting into their broadcasts. As far as I know, that did not happen, so a helpful stream of revenue never materialized.
Heidi Bowl Two, Electric Boogaloo
ESPN receives criticism for cutting in to college football games with Aaron Judge at the plate.
Could they not do a picture in picture for the event?
Didn’t they learn anything from 1968?
Actually, now that I think about it, NBC did the right thing. Games just kept getting longer after that. NBC should have stuck to their guns and said, “If you can’t finish the game in three hours, we’re not going to show the end!” That would have helped prevent the time creep we see today. 🙂
He Couldn’t Find Anything to Rhyme with Zelig
Jim Kaat makes a poor choice in a rhyming nickname for Nestor Cortes.
Of course, Nestor the Investor doesn’t work that well. Maybe Nestor the Divestor? Nestor the Ingestor?
Blackout Rules
If you’re trying to watch your favorite team on a streaming service, here are the blackout rules and maps that may prevent you from seeing them. The article also discusses how this may be changing in the near future.
An Apple a Week
Apple TV will broadcast two games on Friday nights, taking over the time slots formerly held by ESPN. That is, as my wife said, if they ever play.