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MLB Network goes live tomorrow, January 1st
Good news, baseball fans -- starting at 6:00PM ET tomorrow, you'll have all the action you can handle, anytime of the year. If your provider is signed on to begin offering MLB Network, that is. Said channel is expected to begin airing in some 50 million homes tomorrow, and the League has high hopes that its 24-hour baseball channel will end up paying for itself ($50 million to launch, give or take) over time. We're hearing that deals with new carriers are being finalized "every day," with agreements already in place with DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications. As of now, the station is expected to broadcast 26 regular season matchups in 2009, and it's hoping to acquire even more tilts after current TV contracts expire in 2013. For a look at the studios in which you'll be peering at in a matter of hours, check the read link for galleries.[Via Reuters]
Bright House Networks to host up MLB Network HD in Tampa Bay
We get the feeling that we'll see quite a few carriers proudly announcing carriage deals with MLB Network during the run-up to its launch (January 1, 2009), and Bright House Networks is getting us started by promising its Tampa Bay, Florida customers the channel come the new year. Starting in 2009, MLB Network will be available in SD on digital cable channel 159 and in HD on slot 744, and Joe Durkin, senior director corporate communications at the carrier, has confirmed that it will be added at no extra charge. For those unaware, the channel will carry "live games, original programming, highlights, classic games and coverage of baseball events," and its signature show -- MLB Tonight -- is obviously aiming to take viewers away from Karl Ravech, John Kruk and the rest of the gang at ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight.'
MLB Network HD / MLB Extra Innings sliding into FiOS TV in 2009
Way back in February, we heard that Verizon was attempting to cut a deal that would bring MLB Extra Innings to its fiber-based FiOS TV service. Now, it looks as if the Is have been dotted and the Ts crossed. Verizon has formally announced that the baseball lover's most favorite package will be available starting next year, and better still, MLB Network HD will be added on slot 586 (SD version on 86) when the channel debuts on January 1, 2009. For those unaware, the channel will air live games, original programming, highlights, classic games and coverage of baseball events, and it's sure to spark up all sorts of controversy à la NFL Network.[Thanks, Pete]
