The Baseball Network kicked off its coverage on July 12, 1994, on
NBC with the
All-Star Game from
Three Rivers Stadium in
Pittsburgh. This was NBC's first telecast of a Major League Baseball game since Game 5 of the
1989 National League Championship Series between the
San Francisco Giants and
Chicago Cubs on October 9 of
that year. The NBC broadcast team consisted of
Bob Costas on play-by-play, with
Joe Morgan and
Bob Uecker as analysts. Costas, a veteran presence at NBC, had been NBC's secondary baseball play-by-play announcer behind
Vin Scully during the 1980s. Morgan, who was also working for
ESPN at the time, had spent two years at NBC in the mid-1980s and two years at ABC from 1988 to 1989. Uecker, the longtime voice of the
Milwaukee Brewers, returned to national television for the first time since he worked for ABC in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Greg Gumbel hosted the pre game show; this was one of his first assignments for NBC after having left
CBS Sports following that network's coverage of the
1994 College World Series. Gumbel had also previously served as the secondary play-by-play announcer (behind
Sean McDonough) for CBS's baseball coverage, calling the
1993 American League Championship Series along the way with
Jim Kaat. Helping with interviews were
Hannah Storm (reporting from the
American League dugout) and
Johnny Bench (reporting from the
National League dugout). The 1994 All-Star Game reportedly sold out all its advertising slots. This was considered an impressive financial accomplishment, given that one 30-second spot cost US$300,000. NBC station
WEEK-TV in
Peoria, Illinois suffered significant transmitter difficulties throughout most of the 1994 All-Star Game telecast, knocking its signal off the air until one hour after the game's conclusion. The station would later air an abbreviated version of the game the following weekend due to its transmitter problems during the live NBC broadcast. ABC, meanwhile, was able to have its primary broadcast team from 1989 return intact.
Al Michaels served as the play-by-play announcer once again.
Tim McCarver, who had just spent four years at CBS, returned as an analyst along with
Jim Palmer. On the subject of Michaels returning to baseball for the first time since the
Loma Prieta earthquake interrupted the
1989 World Series, Jim Palmer said, "Here Al is, having done five games since
1989, and steps right in. It's hard to comprehend how one guy could so amaze."
Baseball Night in America and
NBC respectively for the
1994 seasons. After the All-Star Game was complete, ABC took over coverage with what was to be their weekly slate of games. ABC was scheduled to televise six regular season games on Saturdays or Mondays in
prime time. NBC would then pick up where ABC left off by televising six more regular season Friday night games. Every
Baseball Night in America game was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
Eastern Time (or 8 p.m.
Pacific Time if the game occurred on the
West Coast). A single starting time gave the networks the opportunity to broadcast one game and then, simultaneously, cut to another game when there was a break in action. The networks had exclusive rights for the twelve regular season dates, in that no regional or national cable service (such as
ESPN or
superstations like
Chicago's
WGN-TV broadcaster was allowed to telecast a Major League Baseball game on those dates.
Baseball Night in America on July 16, 1994) usually aired up to fourteen games based on the viewers' region (affiliates chose games of local interest to carry) as opposed to a traditional coast-to-coast format. Normally, announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were paired with each other. More specifically, on regional Saturday night broadcasts and all non-"national" broadcasts, TBN let the two lead announcers from the opposing teams call the games involving their teams together. Games involving either of the two Canadian-based MLB teams at the time, the
Toronto Blue Jays and
Montreal Expos, were not always included in the
Baseball Night in America package. Canadian rightsholders were allowed to broadcast the games. When
TSN (which owned the cable rights to the Blue Jays and Expos) covered the games in Canada, they re-broadcast the
BNIA feed across their network. Typically, if the Blue Jays were idle for the day, the Expos would be featured on TSN. Also,
CBET (the
CBC affiliate in
Windsor, Ontario) would air Blue Jays games if the
Detroit Tigers were not playing at home that night or if the Blue Jays were scheduled to play in Detroit. Whether or not the game would air in the opposing team's market would depend on which time zone they were from, or if they shared a market with another team. All of the 1994 games aired on ABC; due to the strike NBC was unable to air its slate of games, which were supposed to begin on August 26.
Postseason coverage In even-numbered years, NBC would have the rights to the
All-Star Game and both
League Championship Series while ABC would have the
World Series and newly created
Division Series. In odd-numbered years, the postseason and All-Star Game television rights were supposed to alternate. When ABC and NBC last covered baseball together from 1976 to 1989, ABC had the rights to the World Series in odd-numbered years while NBC would cover the All-Star Game and both League Championship Series in said years. Likewise, this process would alternate in even numbered years, with ABC getting the All-Star Game and both League Championship Series in years that NBC had the World Series. The networks also promised not to begin any World Series weekend broadcasts after 7:20 p.m. Eastern Time. When CBS held the television rights, postseason games routinely aired on the
East Coast at 8:30 p.m. at the earliest. This meant that
Joe Carter's dramatic
World Series clinching home run in 1993 occurred after midnight in the East. As CBS' baseball coverage progressed, CBS dropped the 8 p.m. pregame coverage (in favor of airing
sitcoms such as
Evening Shade) before finally starting its coverage at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The first pitch would generally arrive at approximately 8:45 p.m. ABC won the rights to the first dibs at the World Series in August 1993 after
ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson won a coin toss by calling "heads." Ken Schanzer, who was the
CEO of The Baseball Network, handled the coin toss. Schanzer agreed to the coin toss by ABC and NBC at the outset as the means of determining the order in which they would divide up the playoffs. What separated The Baseball Network from previous television deals with Major League Baseball, and was by far the most controversial part of the deal, was that not all postseason games (aside from the World Series) were guaranteed to be shown nationally. To increase viewership by preventing games from being played in the afternoon (the league was the only professional sports league in the country to play postseason games on weekday afternoons), the National League and American League's division and championship series games were instead played simultaneously in primetime, and affiliates could only air one game each night, which were again determined regionally. If one playoff series had already concluded, the remaining games would be aired nationally. Ken Schanzer, The Baseball Network's president said "We've been given a responsibility to broadcast the games regionally and, within that context, we tried to come up with a plan that makes it as exciting as possible". On that end, The Baseball Network implemented a strategy that included cutting in to one game with highlights from other games—sometimes between batters, and more often, between pitches. Therefore, viewers watching one divisional series or League Championship Series game would often see action continuing on one reduced screen while a clip from another game is shown on another screen and vice versa. The theory was that by inserting highlights, even live action from other games, into the natural lulls, The Baseball Network could produce an exciting, technology-enhanced experience. Despite the frustration of not being able to see both League Championship Series on a national level, the 1995 LCS averaged a 13.1 rating. Besides the
1994 All-Star Game and Game 6 of the
1995 World Series, arguably, the most famous Baseball Network broadcast was Game 5 of the
1995 American League Division Series between the
New York Yankees and the
Seattle Mariners, broadcast on ABC. It ended with the Mariners winning in 11 innings (via
Edgar Martínez's game winning
double), to clinch both their first postseason series win, and their first ever trip to the
American League Championship Series. However, because the public would only be permitted to see one postseason game per day, the Division Series between the Mariners and Yankees would only be seen in its entirety by 20
% of the country. Meanwhile, 30% could see the
Braves-
Rockies series, 27% could see the
Reds-
Dodgers series, and 23% could see the
Red Sox-
Indians series. For example, in
New York City,
WNBC-TV broadcast the first two games of the Yankees-Mariners series, while
WABC-TV aired the final three contests. In the neighboring
Hartford–
New Haven television market in
Connecticut, NBC affiliate
WVIT aired the first two games of the Boston–Cleveland series, but ABC station
WTNH would alternate with the Yankees in Game 3, the Red Sox in Game 4, and the Yankees in Game 5. In
Ohio, NBC stations in
Cleveland,
Steubenville,
Columbus,
Toledo, and
Youngstown would get to see the Red Sox–Indians series. Viewers of
WLWT in
Cincinnati and all other cities would receive the Reds–Dodgers series. The remaining telecasts, on
WSYX, the ABC affiliate in Columbus, would be of the Indians series. In
South Dakota, viewers would get the Braves-Rockies series, while
North Dakotans would have access to the Red Sox-Indians series. Only about 20% of the country in itself, had access of the 15-inning long second game of the Mariners-Yankees series.
Criticisms A major problem with
Baseball Night in America was the idea that viewers could not watch "important" games. Marty Noble put it in perspective by saying "With the
Network determining when games will begin and which games are made available to which
television markets, Major League Baseball can conduct parts of its pennant races in relative secrecy." What added to the troubles of The Baseball Network was the fact that
Baseball Night in America held exclusivity over every market. This most severely impacted markets with two teams, specifically
New York City (
Mets and
Yankees), to the
Greater Los Angeles Area (
Dodgers and
Angels),
Chicago Even though Wrigley Field had lights installed and was capable of holding night games since
1988, a city ordinance at the time, prohibited regular season Friday and Saturday night games to be played there. The Baseball Network regardless, owned the broadcasting rights to those entire dates. Even in markets with only one team, the ABC or NBC affiliate could still not broadcast that team's game if the start time was not appropriate for the time zone. For example, if the
Detroit Tigers (the only team in their market) played a road game in
Seattle,
Oakland or
Anaheim beginning at 8 p.m. Pacific Time (a late game), Detroit's Baseball Network affiliate (either
WXYZ-TV or
WDIV, depending on the network which held the rights to the game) could not air the game because the start time was too late for the Detroit area (11 p.m. Eastern Time). Detroit viewers only had the option of viewing the early game of the night. Some local broadcasters also objected the policies of The Baseball Network.
KSMO-TV in
Kansas City, the primary over-the-air station for the
Kansas City Royals, went as far as to sue the Royals for breach of contract resulting from their broadcasts being "overexposed" and violating its territorial exclusivity.
Sports Illustrated columnist
Tom Verducci for one, was very harsh on The Baseball Network, dubbing it both "America's regional pastime" and an "abomination." ABC Sports president Dennis Swanson, in announcing the dissolution of The Baseball Network, said: While on assignment at the
1993 World Series,
CBS Sports broadcaster
Sean McDonough told the
New York Times wrote in his book Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball
that The Baseball Network was "stupid and an abomination." Costas further wrote that the agreement involving the World Series being the only instance of The Baseball Network broadcasting a nationally televised game was an unprecedented surrender of prestige, as well as a slap to all serious fans. He also acknowledged that the most impassioned fans in baseball were now prevented for decades. Costas added that both the divisional series and the League Championship Series now merited scarcely higher priority than regional coverage provided for a Big Ten football game between Wisconsin and Michigan. When Costas was preparing call the 1995 American League Division Series between Boston-Cleveland for NBC, he told the New York Times'' that "It's baseball's objective to market itself nationally, but TBN makes it a local sport." Costas added "Baseball says the wild card is supposed to save baseball, but TBN shows you as little as possible." According to
Curt Smith's book, ''The Voice – Mel Allen's Untold Story
, the longtime New York Yankees broadcaster and This Week in Baseball''
host was quoted as saying "You wonder how anything would be worse [than CBS]. What kind of show cancels a twenty-six-week-season's first fourteen weeks?" (in response to TBN's tagline, "Welcome to the Show"). During the 1995 Division Series, the fan frustration with The Baseball Network was so bad that the mere mention of it during the
Mariners–
Yankees ALDS from public address announcer
Tom Hutyler at
Seattle's
Kingdome brought boos from most of the crowd. To further put things into perspective, 55% for the games, all of would be coordinated from the office of Ken Schanzer, the chief executive officer of The Baseball Network and former executive vice president for
NBC Sports. The graphics, camera placements, and audio quality were intended on looking and sounding about the same on both networks. When critiquing The Baseball Network's coverage of the 1995 postseason, Jerry Trecker of the
Hartford Courant wrote that the broadcasts suffered from having too many men in the booth, sloppy camera work, and a lack of consistency in graphics. Trecker also felt that the ABC and NBC crews during the World Series, spent too much time in story-telling and not enough in nuts-and-bolts game setup. Instead, the coverage according to Trecker, proceeded as if fans have followed the game with the same attention as in the past. As for the graphics, Trecker argued that not only were the
game graphics provided by The Baseball Network not there all the time as was the case with
ESPN's, but it was too big. Trecker would however, praise ABC's production of the
1995 All-Star Game in
Arlington. He said that the broadcast crew of
Al Michaels,
Jim Palmer, and
Tim McCarver paced their broadcast as if they had never been away, and the different looks, especially ground level cameras, had always been a trademark of effective work by ABC. ABC also according to him, made effective use of graphics to recap season leaders.
ABC Sports' technical coverage as a whole, included 21 cameras from all
vantage points, including one in the
Goodyear Blimp, and an unmanned camera directly above home plate. Coaches would wear
wireless microphones. Trecker did however, point out that times, the broadcasters seemed to be ahead of the production people, especially when they wanted to talk about
Raul Mondesi's speed getting to a drive into the right field corner. They never showed it. Trecker also believed that ABC's usage of dugout reporters (in this case,
Lesley Visser,
John Saunders, and
Rick Dempsey), even in showcase games like the All-Star Game, was overkill. Visser in particular, was singled out for asked such lengthy questions of
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
Hideo Nomo that it was almost farcical when his answers came back in translation. For the 1995 World Series, ABC and NBC shared 17 cameras and 13 tape machines, two of the
"Super Slo-Mo" variety.
Sponsorships Among the key sponsors for The Baseball Network were
Anheuser-Busch,
Sherwin-Williams,
Texaco, and
Russell Athletic. The sponsorship with Anheuser-Busch in particular, was worth over $20 million for two years with an option of a third.
Budweiser was announced as the presenter during the
starting line-up were announcements during The Baseball Network's telecasts. According to Busch Media president Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch liked The Baseball Network's idea of broadcasting games, including the Division Series and League Championship Series regionally instead of to the entire nation all at once. Other sponsors for The Baseball Network included
Gillette,
Avis (who paid The Baseball Network approximately $6.5 million),
Chevrolet,
Fruit of the Loom,
Gatorade,
General Motors (who was expected to pay The Baseball Network at least $40 million),
Upper Deck, and
Toyota. Chevrolet in particular, sponsored the
"player of the game" award that would be announced towards the end of the telecasts. All in all, The Baseball Network was said to have more than 20 corporate sponsors and advertisers. In the event of a strike, these sponsors either had the option of taking back the money that they otherwise, would've used to support The Baseball Network and be able to spend it elsewhere or, they would've been able to delay any spending on baseball telecasts until the strike was resolved. At the time of the actual
strike's start on August 12, 1994, The Baseball Network was reportedly able to sell approximately $130 million in advertisement time. Unfortunately, about $100 million of that was expected to run through the entire postseason, including the
World Series, which would ultimately be canceled on September 14, 1994. ==Downfall and demise==