Baseball Telecasts In Full Swing

Play ball! We will know in just a couple of days how MLB's experiment of having all 30 teams open on the same day and moving it to a Thursday will work in terms of audience draw.

As much as the Sunday triple header opening seemed a good idea and made for a holiday atmosphere, this move to an earlier Thursday is most likely MLB's way of getting out from under the shadow of Final Four weekend. By moving up to Thursday, MLB finally gets the full spotlight it deserves, ahead of the Final Four and The Masters as the lead story.

ESPN showing a total of nine live games over the first five days of the regular season is also cause for discussion. On one hand, the network could attract viewers for the games as fans tune in expecting to see Final Four coverage on Sunday and Monday. On the other hand, having the majority of these telecasts going up against a full load of local/regional telecasts on Thursday and then on Sunday afternoon, along with the NCAA Tournament Championship on Monday night could combine to make these games a ratings challenge.

It's nothing short of amazing that ESPN is allowed to show the Cardinals vs. Mets game in the early Sunday afternoon slot (separate from its Sunday Night Baseball opener of Giants vs. Dodgers). This shows how much TBS drops the ball, so to speak, by waiting and waiting until after the All-Star break to begin its Sunday afternoon telecasts, long after baseball fans are in the habit of looking elsewhere for their Sunday telecasts.

MLB Network chips in with one telecast on Friday night, two on Saturday (outside of the FS1 game times) and a west coast game on Sunday to provide viewers with a national tripleheader on Sunday.

The once per week live streams on Facebook begin on Weds. April 4th with the Phillies vs. Mets telecast, with Brewers vs. Cardinals scheduled for the same 1 PM ET spot the following Wednesday. Facebook will show one weekday afternoon game each week this season under its $30 million deal. They also unveiled a rights package of 10 football and 16 basketball games they will stream from Conference USA starting in September, although CBS has priority of which games it wants across its network.


Over at the NFL, officials have to be laughing behind closed doors at the hype over the NFL Draft having risen to even more epic proportions. Mock drafts being touted as if they are news stories for weeks leading in are now only a part of this. As if there isn't already enough "coverage", now it seems that Fox Sports will also air both the first and second days of coverage, with ABC taking on ESPN's coverage of Day 3.

Yes, this means that all of the mass hysteria over sixth and seventh round draft picks as they happen will have expanded live national coverage even for those who do not pay for cable or satellite. No telling what else will be happening with the coverage, since the Draft is still one month away as of press time.


At ESPN, it's time to change the name of its ESPNews Network to ESPN4 or ESPNRadioOnTV or something else. It was originally intended to be continuous 30 minute sportscasts, but that concept has long since disappeared. Now, the Network has decided to move its radio show simulcasts over there during the weekdays starting next week (4/2).

The 6 AM ET to 6 PM ET schedule on this channel will consist of simulcasts of Golic & Wingo, Dan LeBatard with Stugotz, and the Will Cain Show.






This coming Memorial Day weekend will mark the end of an era when ABC shows its final Indy 500 live after more than 50 years. NBC's new Indy Car deal includes the Indy 500 starting in 2019 in the first of three years under this new pact. NBC will air eight Indy Car races total, with the remainder in the package airing on NBC Sports Network. The timing appears to be good for NBC on this one, since Indy Car viewership has reportedly increased by more than 80% over the past four years.


NEW YORK: Even with the MLB Opener, The Final Four, and The Masters in the spotlight over the next week, the whereabouts of Mike Francesa will likely be in the news. It seems that his "retirement" from WFAN does not mean he will remain fully retired. Francesa's non-compete clause expires as of April 1st, with numerous reports claiming that he has been negotiating to return to work. The thinking is that either a podcast or satellite radio show would be next, as it is hard to imagine giving up a premier position on WFAN to move to another radio station.


HOUSTON: The Astros have increased their Spanish broadcast presence in time for the regular season, announcing a new multi-year agreement to have all 162 regular season games air on both LaRanchera Deportes stations, 850 and 101.7. Francisco Romero returns for his 11th season on play-by-play along with (former Astros catcher) Alex Trevino, who returns for his 23rd season as analyst.


SAN DIEGO: XPRS The Mighty 1090 has put the team of Ben Higgins and Steve Woods onto its morning show as of this week. Higgins will continue as Sports Director and nightly anchor on KGTV Channel 10 in addition. The duo replaces Dan Sileo.


ALBANY: The Mets broadcasts have moved over to WROW 590 and 100.5 effective immediately due to a change in format by WINU radio.