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''Major League Baseball on NBC'' was the de facto branding for weekly broadcasts of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB) games produced by
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
, and televised on the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
television network and its streaming service
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
. Major League Baseball games first aired on NBC from to , including '' The NBC Game of the Week'', when
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
acquired the broadcast television rights. Games returned to NBC in as part of
The Baseball Network The Baseball Network was an American television broadcasting joint venture between ABC, NBC and Major League Baseball (MLB). Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 season, MLB produced its own broadcasts in-house which were then broker ...
, a time-brokered package of broadcasts produced by Major League Baseball and split with
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
. After The Baseball Network folded after the 1995 season, NBC retained a smaller package through
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, alternating rights to a package of postseason games with
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
(with NBC carrying the
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Natio ...
and
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
in odd-numbered years, and the
American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...
and
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
in even-numbered years). The
Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...
regional sports networks became part of NBC Sports after
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
acquired ''Acquired'' is a podcast by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal about business history and strategy. As of 2024, the podcast has more than 600,000 monthly listeners. History Gilbert and Rosenthal worked together at Madrona Venture Group and ini ...
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
in 2011; they currently hold rights to the
Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...
,
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
, and
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
. For the first time since 2000, regular season baseball returned to NBC in
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
after the network agreed to a deal with the league for ''
MLB Sunday Leadoff ''MLB Sunday Leadoff'' is the branding used for broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games that primarily are held on Sunday afternoon. It was originally produced by NBC Sports for the streaming service Peacock (streaming service), Peacock ...
''. One game per season would air on NBC, with the remainder of the games on the streaming service Peacock. This deal was short lived, with the contract ending after the 2023 season.


History

From
1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...
to
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
and again in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
, NBC only aired the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
(beginning in
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
) and
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
. From
1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...
to
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, NBC aired the Saturday afternoon ''Game of the Week'' (or a variation of it prior to
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, when NBC did not hold the exclusive over-the-air television rights). From
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
to
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
, NBC aired games under a joint broadcasting venture with Major League Baseball and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
called
The Baseball Network The Baseball Network was an American television broadcasting joint venture between ABC, NBC and Major League Baseball (MLB). Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 season, MLB produced its own broadcasts in-house which were then broker ...
. From
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
to
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, NBC's league coverage was reduced to postseason games (three
Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball postseason. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series ...
games in prime time, the
American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...
in even-numbered years, and the
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Natio ...
and World Series in odd-numbered years), as well as the All-Star Game in even-numbered years (during years when NBC did not hold the rights to the World Series).


Attempted bid for 2007–13

A June 4, 2006 ''
Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (''B&C'', or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') was a telecommunications industry monthly trade magazine and, later, news website published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as ''Broadcasting'', subsequent mergers, acquisitions and ...
'' article stated that Fox may have considered a partnership with another network (which ultimately, turned out to be TBS) for the next contract. NBC was the only network named in connection to a possible partnership in the article. The setup being suggested was similar to the last time NBC had the rights to baseball, that being NBC would get the rights to some League Championship Series games and alternate rights to the World Series and
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
with Fox, which may or may not have kept the ''Game of the Week''. After weeks of speculation and rumors, on July 11, 2006, at the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...
, Major League Baseball announced a renewal of its existing current with Fox Sports through
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, allowing Fox to retain exclusive television rights to the World Series and the All-Star Game (the World Series would begin the Wednesday after the League Championship Series are completed). The deal also allowed Fox to retain the Saturday ''Game of the Week'' and gave it broadcast rights to one League Championship Series annually. This ruled out baseball returning to NBC, as the two annual showpiece events were not available in any contract NBC might obtain before then. OLN (later
NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...
) briefly considered acquiring the rights to the Sunday and
Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In English, the name is derived from Old English and Middle English , 'day of Woden', reflecting ...
games, which expired after the
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
season. However, on September 14, 2005, existing rightsholder
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
signed an eight-year contract with the league, highlighted by the continuation of ESPN's ''
Sunday Night Baseball ''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN during the regular season. The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show '' Baseball Tonight: Sun ...
'' with additional, exclusive team appearances. Currently, NBCUniversal parent
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
owns 5.44% of the MLB Network and featured a
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
game with Bob Costas and Al Michaels (who while working for the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
had previously helped call the
1972 World Series The 1972 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1972 season. The 69th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Oakland Athletics and the National League ...
for NBC and from
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
-
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
, served as the play-by-play voice for NBC's ''Sunday Night Football'' telecasts) in July 2011. ''The New York Times'', however, reported that it was unlikely that NBC would get baseball, as NBC would have had to preempt up to three weeks of NFL coverage on Sunday nights. However, the NFL used to not schedule a Sunday night game on the second night of the World Series, which meant that NBC gaining the rights was not completely out of the question (however, the following Sunday, in which a possible World Series Game 7 was scheduled, a Sunday night NFL game was also scheduled). In addition to this, other Sunday playoff games, such as the ALCS and NLCS could be pushed to the afternoon. This might not have been appetizing to league officials, as major playoff games would have gone up head-to-head against highly rated afternoon NFL games (as opposed to today's system, in which only one game out of two for the day would go up against network NFL broadcasts).


Attempted bid for 2014–21

During the summer of 2012, NBC Sports was reportedly involved in negotiations for a television contract with Major League Baseball. NBCSN was expected to play a large part in NBC's bid. However, it was likely that NBC would want either marquee event (All-Star Game and World Series) to air on the broadcast network rather than cable. This could have potentially conflicted with NBC's broadcasts of ''Sunday Night Football'', which has generally had a game or two scheduled on nights when a World Series game is held since
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
; however, prior to this, no game was scheduled on these nights so it would not have been unprecedented. Besides the potential conflicts with ''Sunday Night Football'', another disadvantage for NBCSN is that it was available in fewer than 80 million homes, trailing the national reach of both
Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...
and TBS. On August 28, 2012, Major League Baseball and ESPN agreed to an eight-year, $5.6 billion contract extension, the largest broadcasting deal in Major League Baseball history. It gave ESPN the rights to up to 90 regular-season games, alternating rights to one of the two Wild Card games (between American League and National League teams) each year, and the rights to all regular-season tiebreaker games. On September 19, 2012, ''
Sports Business Daily This is a list of subsidiaries of the American media company Advance Publications Inc. Local media groups The following subsidiaries are owned through Advance Local Advance Media New York *''The Post-Standard'' (Syracuse, New York) **Syracuse.c ...
'' reported that the league would agree to separate eight-year television deals with Fox Sports and
Turner Sports TNT Sports is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery in the United States that is responsible for Sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's streaming service, Max (streaming service), Max, and primarily the TruTV, TBS (Americ ...
through the 2021 season. On October 2, 2012, the new deal between Major League Baseball and TBS was officially confirmed; NBC looked to be left without a package, because though it made an offer, Major League Baseball did not consider NBC a serious bidder after the ESPN deal was made public. Sources said that NBC did not make a strong offer, and that it was most interested in ESPN's package, which included exclusivity on Sunday night and rights to the two mid-week games. When ESPN took that package, NBC's interest waned.


''MLB Sunday Leadoff'' on Peacock (2022–2023)

On June 14, 2021, NBC Sports announced that it would stream the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
and
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
' June 18–20 series exclusively for free on
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
's streaming service
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
. The local rights to both teams are owned by the
NBC Sports Regional Networks NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...
, and the games featured a mixture of personnel from the teams' broadcasts on
NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquar ...
and
NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Phila ...
: the commentary team featured the Giants'
Jon Miller Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997, he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball ann ...
on play-by-play, with his partner
Mike Krukow Michael Edward Krukow (born January 21, 1952), nicknamed "Kruk", is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball player. As a starting pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and ...
, and the Phillies'
John Kruk John Martin Kruk (born February 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. Kruk played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox from through . D ...
and
Jimmy Rollins James Calvin Rollins (born November 27, 1978), nicknamed "J-Roll", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Los Angeles Dodgers (), and Chicago White S ...
, serving as analysts. Peacock would ultimately acquire a new package of 18 Sunday afternoon games from each participating team, beginning in the
2022 Major League Baseball season The 2022 Major League Baseball season (MLB) was originally scheduled to begin on March 31 and end on October 2. The 2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout, 2021–22 lockout caused the season to be delayed by one week, starting on April 7. The ...
, branded as ''
MLB Sunday Leadoff ''MLB Sunday Leadoff'' is the branding used for broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games that primarily are held on Sunday afternoon. It was originally produced by NBC Sports for the streaming service Peacock (streaming service), Peacock ...
''. Peacock's first game aired on May 8 between the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
and
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
, and was also
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
on the NBC broadcast network (marking its first MLB broadcast since
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
). It also had officially been 7,873 days since NBC last televised a Major League Baseball game. The agreement also included rights to the
All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...
, and an MLB content hub on Peacock with classic games and other content. The contract ended following the 2023 season and would move to
The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...
in
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
.


Related coverage


''Major League Baseball on NBC Radio''

For many years, the
NBC Radio Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
also had a role in Major League Baseball coverage. The network shared World Series broadcast rights with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
beginning in
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
, with All-Star Game broadcasts added in
1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
. The
Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...
joined NBC and CBS in 1935; the three networks continued to share coverage of baseball's "jewels" in this manner through 1938, with Mutual gaining exclusive rights to the World Series in 1939 and the All-Star Game in 1942. In 1957, NBC replaced Mutual as the exclusive radio broadcaster for the World Series and All-Star Game. The network would continue in this role through 1975, with CBS taking over the rights the following year. NBC Radio did not air regular season games during this period (save for the three-game National League tie-breaker playoff in
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
); nor did the network cover the League Championship Series from 1969 to 1975, those series instead having local team radio broadcasts syndicated nationally over
ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
networks. NBC ended its radio association with baseball after the 1975 season in order to clear space for the network's 24-hour "News and Information" service programming.


Major League Baseball on NBC Sports Regional Networks


Major League Baseball coverage on NBC's owned-and-operated television stations

Even as WNBC became the first to broadcast Major League Baseball games in 1939 with the pioneer broadcast being that of an August 26 doubleheader at Ebbets Field between the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
and the Cincinnati Reds, it does not have any local broadcasts today, with the over-the-air packages of both the New York Mets and Yankees airing on
WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...
, and produced by their cable rightsholders
SportsNet New York SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between Fred Wilpon's Sterling Equities (which owns a controlling 65% interest), Charter Communications th ...
(which is partially owned by NBCUniversal) and
YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
respectively. The station has aired numerous Met (since 1962) and Yankee games (and before 1957, games of the Dodgers and Giants) as part of NBC's network coverage, including 18 of the Yankees' World Series appearances (12 of which the team won), and three Mets World Series appearances (two of which the Mets won). KCST was home to
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
games during two different periods, first in the
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
and 1972 seasons, and again from
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
to
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
. The station also carried any games that were part of
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
's MLB coverage in
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
, then over to NBC's MLB broadcasts from
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
to
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
; this included the Padres' first World Series appearance in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
; limited postseason games involving the Padres were aired from 1995 to 2000. KXAS (then WBAP-TV until 1974) aired Texas Rangers games as part of NBC's broadcast contract with Major League Baseball from their arrival in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
until
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, and again for the postseason only from 1994 to 2000. On November 1, 2007, KNTV entered into a three-year broadcast contract with the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
through 2010, replacing the team's longtime broadcaster KTVU, which had carried Giants games since 1961, three years after the team moved to the Bay Area and KTVU first began broadcasting. The team's first game broadcast on KNTV aired on April 1,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
. KNTV broadcasts 20 to 40 Giants baseball games a year, which are produced by sister network
NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS Bay Area) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the San Francisco Giants, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquar ...
. In addition, KNTV airs ''Giants Clubhouse'' each weekend during the
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
season. All of the Giants broadcasts are carried in
high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *Blu-ray Disc, the universal optical High Definition disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tap ...
. The station has preempted Giants telecasts during the
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
due to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
currently holding the television rights to the Olympics. The Giants' contract with KNTV concluded at the end of the 2010 season, however, the broadcast rights were renewed prior to the 2011 season. Thus, it is one of the few major network affiliates that carry live local MLB games to viewers in their broadcast area. Despite this, it does not offer any live over-the-air broadcasts of the American League's Oakland Athletics, which are broadcast exclusively by
NBC Sports California NBC Sports California (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS California) is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regio ...
on cable. Since Comcast acquired the WCAU's parent NBCUniversal in 2011, WCAU has aired Philadelphia's major sports teams in many years. Because of those commitments to air these major sports teams, they reschedule NBC network programs preempted on the station. WCAU, as both a CBS and NBC station, has also aired Philadelphia's pro sports teams through their network coverage as well. On January 2, 2014, Comcast and the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
announced a 25-year, $2.5 billion TV contract, including WCAU and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (now
NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Phila ...
); although it averaged $100 million a year, it was structured to begin below the average and end above it. As part of its 25-year TV contract, WCAU took over free-to-air broadcast rights for Phillies baseball games from
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
affiliate
WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. The station also maintains a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, ...
beginning in the 2014 season, including its Opening Day game and selected games aired on the station.


Surviving telecasts

For all of the League Championship Series telecasts spanning from 1969 to 1975, only Game 2 of the
1972 American League Championship Series The 1972 American League Championship Series was the best-of-five semifinal series in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 1972 postseason between the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers for the right to go to the 1972 World Series. The fourth ...
(
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
vs.
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
) is known to exist. However, the copy on the trade circuit of Game 2 of the 1972 ALCS is missing the
Bert Campaneris Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco (born March 9, 1942), nicknamed "Bert" or "Campy", is a Cuban Americans, Cuban American former professional baseball shortstop, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for four American League (AL) teams, primarily the ...
Lerrin LaGrow Lerrin Harris LaGrow (born July 8, 1948) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers (), (–), St. Louis Cardinals (), Chicago White Sox (–), Los Angeles Do ...
brawl. There are some instances where the only brief glimpse of telecast footage of an early LCS game can be seen in a surviving newscast from that night. For instance, the last out of the
1973 National League Championship Series The 1973 National League Championship Series was a semifinal series in Major League Baseball’s 1973 Major League Baseball postseason, 1973 postseason played between the 1973 New York Mets season, New York Mets and the 1973 Cincinnati Reds seaso ...
as described by Jim Simpson was played on that night's ''
NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...
'', but other than that, the entire game is gone. On the day the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
and
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
wrapped up their respective League Championship Series in 1969, a feature story on the ''
CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...
'' showed telecast clips of the ALCS game (there's no original sound, just voiceover narration). This is all that likely remains of anything from that third game of the
Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and early ...
Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...
series. Simpson's call of the injury of
Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...
during Game 5 of the 1972 ALCS is heard on the
1972 World Series The 1972 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1972 season. The 69th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Oakland Athletics and the National League ...
film, as well as
Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
's call of the home run by
Johnny Bench Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from to , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the ...
in Game 5 of the 1972 NLCS as well as
Bob Moose Robert Ralph Moose Jr. (October 9, 1947 – October 9, 1976) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates from through . Biography Moose ...
throwing a wild pitch to pinch-hitter
Hal McRae Harold Abraham McRae (; born July 10, 1945) is an American former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1968, 1970–72) and Kansas City Royals (1973–87). Utilized as a designated hitter for most of his care ...
scoring George Foster with the winning run. While all telecasts of World Series games starting with
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
are accounted for and exist, the LCS is still a spotty situation through the late 1970s: *1977 – Major League Baseball has in the vault, Game 3 of the
NLCS The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff, best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Major League Baseball po ...
(from the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
' local NBC affiliate) and apparently has all of Game 4 of the NLCS. Also, both the
WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...
and NBC versions of Game 5 of the ALCS (both of which are also out there in terms of off-air recordings) are known to exist. Earlier games of the NLCS and ALCS have not surfaced and may not exist in the vault. Clips of these games may be seen in highlight shows or programs such as '' Yankeeography''. It is believed that incomplete tapes of the ALCS exist. It is possible these games are not shown in part because the audio quality is poor. A common method of getting around such deficiencies would be to overlay a radio telecast or narration by a player or commentator where gaps exist.


Announcers


References


External links

*
NBC Baseball (1983, video)
*
NBC Tracer

Searchable Network TV Broadcasts
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network broadcast partner, years=1947–1989
with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
(1947–1950, 1955–1965)
with DuMont (1947–1950)
with
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(1948–1950, 1953–1954,
1960–1965, 1976–1989), after=
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
{{Succession box, before=
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
, title=Major League Baseball
network broadcast partner, years=1994–2000
with
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(1994–1995)
with
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(1996–2000), after=
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
{{succession box, before= Mutual, title= Major League Baseball national radio broadcast partner, years=
1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...
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