Will baseball network hit a home run?
The Major League Baseball Network launches today and will be available in 50 million homes. But will the startup cable channel be a home run or strike out, especially in these economic times? Jeremy Hobson reports.
Baseball mitts sitting on the field (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
More on Sports
TEXT OF STORY
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: There's another channel being added to many cable TV lineups tonight. The MLB network -- as in Major League Baseball. But can a startup cable network survive in this economy? Here's Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson.
JEREMY HOBSON: The MLB Network is doing one thing very differently than its football counterpart, the NFL network: It's giving an equity interest to various cable and satellite providers -- in order to get on the air in more homes right away. Sports Consultant and former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson says that means if the MLB Network is successful...
NEAL PILSON: They're going to have to share their revenues with a number of other partners. On the other hand, if the NFL channel achieves success, they will keep 100 percent of their revenues.
The MLB Network will not be airing many live games. It'll be a mix of classic matchups and original programming, including a daily 8-hour baseball highlight show once the regular season starts.
PILSON: Their effort is going to be to make the channel the place to go first for baseball news and information 24/7.
As for starting up in the middle of a recession, Pilson says there's never really an easy time to start a cable channel.
In New York, I'm Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.