Braves TBS Baseball

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Braves TBS Baseball or Braves Baseball on TBS is a Major League Baseball broadcast on the TBS (Turner Broadcasting System) television network, featuring Atlanta Braves regular season games. The program made its debut in 1972 and is expected to end national broadcasts in 2007.

Contents 1 80's and early 90's 2 New era for viewers 3 Announcers 3.1 Current 3.2 Former 4 History 4.1 2003 4.2 Braves TBS Xtra 4.3 2006 Season 4.4 2007 and Beyond 4.5 High Definition 5 Blackouts 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] 80's and early 90's

In the 80's and 90's the Braves games on TBS got good ratings around a 2.0 and sometimes even higher. This was the time when they were once called America's team.

[edit] New era for viewers

See also: Major League Baseball on TBS

TBS is currently phasing out its national coverage of Braves baseball after striking a contract to broadcast other regular season and playoff MLB games. Many Braves games will in the future only be broadcast regionally on SportSouth, FSN South, and WTBS.

[edit] Announcers

[edit] Current

• Chip Caray (2005-present), Play-by-Play
• Skip Caray (1975-present), Play-by-Play
• Marc Fein (2004-present), Host
• Joe Simpson (1992-present), Analyst

[edit] Former

• Hank Aaron (1980), Analyst
• Erin Andrews (2001-2003), Host
• Darrell Chaney (1982), Analyst
• Ron Gant (2004-2006), Analyst
• Ernie Johnson Sr. (1977-1999), Analyst
• Ernie Johnson Jr. (1993-1996), Host
• Dave O'Brien (1990-1991), Play-by-Play
• Billy Sample (1988-1989), Analyst
• John Sterling (1982-1987), Play-by-Play
• Don Sutton (1989-2006), Analyst
• Pete Van Wieren (1975-2006), Play-by-Play

[edit] History

[edit] 2003

In 2003, Braves games on TBS began to undergo significant change for the first time in many years. They let Don Sutton and Joe Simpson be the lead commentators while longtime play-by-play men Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren had their roles cut back. The slogan Braves Baseball on TBS was replaced by Major League Baseball on TBS. After the All-Star Break, TBS brought back Skip and Pete to work with the two analysts while in the following year, the title reverted back to Braves Baseball on TBS.

These changes reflected increased rights fee payments to MLB. In turn, national sponsors could fulfill their advertising commitments by purchasing ads on TBS, in addition to ESPN or FOX.

[edit] Braves TBS Xtra

Starting in 2004, some TBS telecasts (mostly Fridays or Saturdays) became more enhanced. The network decided to call it Braves TBS Xtra. Enhancements included catcher cam, Xtra Motion, which featured the type of pitch and movement, also leadOff Line. It would also show features with inside access to players.

[edit] 2006 Season

While just carrying 70 Braves games on TBS, TBS sold Turner South to Fox Sports, and let them keep the games. After that, the FSN South broadcasters did all Turner South Telecasts, which was renamed SportSouth later in the year to distinguish it from FSN South. FSN South's 25 game package (all on Wednesdays) is a vestige of its days as the former SportSouth (launched by Turner), as well as a means to ensure that ESPN's game will be the only one seen nationwide on Wednesdays without subscribing to MLB Extra Innings. With the decision to allow FSN to broadcast over 85 games, TBS was no longer the Braves' primary broadcaster. Coupled with the impending sale of the team, Pete Van Wieren said, "It's like an end of an era." At the end of the 2006 season, Turner Sports decided not to renew analyst Don Sutton's contract with the network.

[edit] 2007 and Beyond

2007 will mark the last year of Braves baseball on TBS in a fully national feed, covering 70 Braves games as in recent years. From 2008 until 2013, the Southeast will get 45 Braves games a season on WTBS' over-the-air Channel 17 (it is unclear whether TBS Superstation will carry the Braves throughout the region, or if other over-the-air stations will partner with WTBS). The remaining games will air on FSN South or SportSouth, meaning the Braves will now revert to primarily regional coverage, as most other teams have done ever since recent expansions gave MLB a virtually nationwide footprint.

Previously, TBS had announced a deal to air those same 45 games nationally, not expecting to end up with its eventual Sunday afternoon and playoffs contract, Major League Baseball on TBS. Some of the national games could end up including the Braves.

[edit] High Definition

In recent years, all Braves home games on TBS have been broadcast in high definition to viewers in the team's home market and throughout the southeast on cable packages. Temporary HD channels are created to accommodate the games.

[edit] Blackouts

Due to MLB's restriction, most Braves games are blacked out on TBS within about 35-50 air miles of the opposing team's stadium, meaning games available on local television (except for the Atlanta area, where WTBS is the exclusive channel for Atlanta Braves games when not airing on FSN South or SportSouth) cannot be seen on TBS. This blackout rule is somewhat less restrictive than that for ESPN, which covers all of a team's designated market.

[edit] See also

• Major League Baseball on TBS
• Major League Baseball on FOX
• ESPN Major League Baseball

[edit] External links

• AtlantaBraves.com