The Crier
Why the MLB Playoffs are on TBS
TBS’s coverage might not be as bad as their commercials would lead you to believe
Matt Rosenberg · Sport · Oct 11, 2007
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Newsvine“There is only one postseason, there is only one fall classic, there is only one… OCTOBER!”
If you are even mildly aware of playoff baseball, then you have heard Dane Cook scream this line countless times. Then again, most casual fans don’t even know where to turn to find October baseball. Although MLB hasn’t traveled as far as the VS Network like the NHL and some college football games, October baseball is now being broadcast on the home of the Atlanta Braves, TBS.
How October ended up on TBS:
TBS originally stood for Turner Broadcasting System after owner Ted Turner. The channel began broadcasting nationally in 1976. Turner, who owned a piece of the Atlanta Braves, by this time was already broadcasting the Braves games on TBS. So, to say TBS is new to the game of baseball broadcasting would be a lie.
That being said, TBS’s work with the MLB has been minor, focusing mainly on Atlanta fans, shying away from the larger matchups. So why the sudden change?
One rationale for the shift is the success that TBS’s sister network, TNT, has had with its partnership with the NBA. TNT started broadcasting games in the 80s and now, along with scheduling priority for their Thursday night games, TNT has the rights to all of the NBA’s premier products (Opening night, All-star weekend, Conference Finals, Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett).
On top of this, TNT is now the cream of the broadcast NBA crop. That title had been held by the NBA on NBC for most of the 90s (why can’t someone bring that song back?), but by taking many of the broadcasters from the NBC team, TNT has now successfully replaced NBC.
The backbone of the TNT broadcast is a great studio, featuring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. This trio provide a great deal of humor and keeps the broadcast fun.
The studio is complemented by a crack-staff of NBA commentators including broadcasting vets Marv Albert, Hubie Brown, Doug Collins, and Steve Kerr.
Thursday night on TNT is the Monday Night Football of the NBA. I have already circled all the Bulls’ Thursday night games on my calender and look forward to these match-ups all season. If this formula is so successful with a niche game like basketball, TBS surely wants to know why it can’t have the same success with America’s game?
This experiment was put into action during the 2006 MLB All-Star game. TBS purchased the exclusive rights to the 2007 division series and one of the two Championship series. The coverage expands in 2008 to a weekly game on Sunday, along with Fourth of July, Memorial and Labor day games.
The Challenge:
The difficult aspect about hosting October baseball is that the ratings rely on large market teams. Unlike the NBA, where average viewers will tune in to catch Kobe scoring fifty or LeBron taking over a game, MLB is heavily driven by a team’s fanbase. Translation: If the Yankees and Red Sox aren’t in the playoffs, then a network has a lot of selling to do.
On top of this, there has been a downward trend in the ratings of playoff baseball. Whether scandals with performance enhancing drugs and the compromised integrity of the league have resulted in worse ratings, or simply the taste of the American viewer has changed, the fact is that the national pastime is having trouble drawing the fringe audience, especially in October.
So how has TBS gone about overcoming this challenge and selling their product?
Execution:
We will start with the image. As I mentioned earlier, TBS and the MLB have hired Dane Cook as the ambassador to October. Dane Cook, who claims to be a Red Sox fan (questionable), is better known as an non-threatening comedian who appeals to young girls. I write this off as typical misunderstanding of the market-audience’s taste by execs (happens all the time).
A better fit would have been someone with a little bit of an edge like Bernie Mac, Larry David or a groggy Bill Murray. Or how about something goofy like Ms. Teen South Carolina (I swear, that is the best thing that ever happened to her). Or since the market is predominately male, how about a sexy spokeswoman like Eva Mendez? Anything that will actually get people’s attention.
But the message from these commercials is clear. The commercials sell the stars and the excitement of baseball. Reminding you with a scream, “There is only ONE October!!!”
As for the viewing experience, the studio is still manned by Ernie Johnson who is joined by, Cal Ripken Jr and Frank Thomas. While the Big Hurt does a nice job in replacing the Round Mound of Rebound in size and shape, he fails in any kind of personality.
I love Frank Thomas. Growing up a White Sox fan, Thomas is one of my favorite players. Something he has never been, however, is a media personality. He shies from the camera and adds nothing to the studio.
Ripken is, well, Ripken. He is reliable and steady.
TNT’s NBA studio is fun and full of great player insights (on and off-court tidbits). Kenny and Charles never stop laughing at Ernie and each other. Although at times you may ask how they justify their paychecks, they mostly keep you laughing until the game starts.
If TBS was trying to emulate this formula, they failed on all fronts. The studio that TBS has assembled is bland and without insight. Baseball is an extremely deep game, rich with history, interesting statistics, and colorful players. The studio show taps into very little of this. Luckily there are no halftimes in baseball and the studio is only for pre/postgame analysis (which is also provided by other sports channels like ESPN).
What really matters when watching baseball is the booth. Calling baseball games is for the most part a lost art. The role of the announcer is no longer to inform the viewer, but to comfort the average viewer with inane banter.
For the most part, TBS did a good job with its booth (it is not mute-the-TV-turn-on-the-radio bad). Chip Carrey, Dan Orsillo, Ted Robinson and Dick Stockton are all veterans of the announcing game. It’s a welcomed escape from the usual Joe Buck/Chris Burman tragedy. But they aren’t the type of announcer who enhance the viewing experience.
TBS did itself a favor by signing one of the best baseball minds in the Media, Steve Stone. Stone is a delight in the booth. He is a student of the game and is one of the few announcers who can speak at length about the history of the game in his announcing. To me, Steve Stone working these games makes up for the Dane Cook commercials, and actually has me watching games that I wouldn’t normally watch.
The fact is that the baseball games sell themselves. Exciting playoffs with long series will get ratings, not gimmicks and expensive ad campaigns. In the end, there impact a broadcasting team can actually have on the ratings is probably minimal. Even the worst broadcasting team will just lead to more muted televisions while the best broadcasting team will only lead to a more satisfying experience for the real fans of the game.
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