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Major League Baseball television contracts


 

Major League Baseball on CBS-TV: 1990-1993

On December 14, 1988, CBS (under the guidance of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth) paid approximately $1.2 billion for exclusive television rights for over four years (beginning in 1990). CBS paid about $265 million each year for the World Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the Saturday Game of the Week. It was one of the largest agreements (to date) between the sport of baseball and the business of broadcasting.

Related Topics:
December 14 - 1988 - CBS - Peter Ueberroth - 1990 - World Series - League Championship Series - All-Star Game - Broadcasting

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The deal with CBS was also suppose to pay each team $10 million a year. A separate deal with cable TV would bring each team an additional $4 million. Each team could also cut its own deal with local TV. For example, the New York Yankees signed with a cable network (MSG) that would pay the team $41 million annually for 12 years. Radio broadcast rights can bring in additional money. Reportedly, after the huge TV contracts with CBS and ESPN were signed, ballclubs spent their excess millions on free agents.

Related Topics:
New York Yankees - MSG - ESPN - Free agents

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Before the previous television contract (1983-1989) with Major League Baseball was signed, CBS was at one point, interested in a pact which would have called for three interleague games every Thursday night (only). The proposed deal with CBS involved the AL East teams playing the NL East and the AL West playing the NL West respectively.

Related Topics:
Interleague - AL - NL

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A trademark of CBS' baseball coverage was its majestic, uplifting, and harmonious theme music. The music was usually set to the opening graphic of an opaque rendition of the CBS insignia entering an big, waving red, white, and blue bunting and then a smaller, unfolding red, white, and blue bunting (over a white diamond) and floating blue banner (which usually featured an indicating year like "1991 World Series" for instance) complete with dark red Old English text. Pat O'Brien anchored the World Series and All-Star Game telecasts while usually delivering the prologue (normally set against the live scenery over the theme music). A recurring theme during CBS' coverage of the 1991 World Series was the usage of Michael Kamen's "Overture" from '. From start to finish, an audio montage of baseball's most memorable moments played on top, followed by a video and music only (no narration) recap of both League Championship Series from 1991. The "Training" cue from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was played against an all slow-motion montage of the entire series.

Related Topics:
Opaque - Insignia - Bunting - 1991 World Series - Old English - Text - Pat O'Brien - Prologue - Michael Kamen - League Championship Series - 1991

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Major League Baseball's four year tenure with CBS (1990-1993) was marred by turmoil and shortcomings throughout. For starters, Brent Musburger, who was originally slated to be the #1 play-by-play announcer for baseball telecasts (thus, having the tasks of calling the All-Star Game, National League Championship Series, and World Series) was fired by CBS on April Fools Day of 1990. Jack Buck was bumped to the top play-by-play spot with just weeks before CBS' first baseball telecast. With Buck now the #1 play-by-play man (with ABC baseball alumni Tim McCarver as his partner), his original back-up spot was filled in by CBS' top NBA announcer Dick Stockton (with Jim Kaat as Stockton's partner). Studio host Greg Gumbel took over for Stockton in 1993, who in return would be replaced by Andrea Joyce. On the teaming of Buck and McCarver, Broadcasting magazine wrote "The network has exclusivity, much rides on them." Meanwhile, Jim Kaat earned rave reviews for his role as CBS' backup analyst (which flashed a considerable "good-guy air"). Ron Bergman wrote of Kaat's performance during the 1990 ALCS "This was a night for pitchers to excel. Dave Stewart. Roger Clemens. Jim Kaat ."

Related Topics:
1990 - 1993 - Brent Musburger - All-Star Game - National League Championship Series - World Series - April Fools Day - Jack Buck - ABC - Tim McCarver - NBA - Dick Stockton - Jim Kaat - Greg Gumbel - Andrea Joyce - Dave Stewart - Roger Clemens

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After sustaining huge losses from 1990's abbreviated postseason (which ended with a Cincinnati Reds shockingly sweeping the defending World Champion Oakland Athletics in the World Series), CBS made serveral notable adjustments for 1991. Regular season telecasts had been reduced to a meager handful. Where as pregame shows during the League Championship Series were entirely eliminated, to minimize the ratings damage.

Related Topics:
Cincinnati Reds - World Champion - Oakland Athletics - World Series

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After two years of calling baseball telecasts for CBS, Jack Buck was dismissed in December 1991. According to the radio veteran Buck, he had a hard time adjusting to the demands of a more constricting television production. CBS felt that Buck should've done more to make himself appear to be a set-up man for lead analyst Tim McCarver. Jack Buck's son Joe tried to rationalize his father's on-air problems by saying "My dad was brought up in the golden age of radio, I think he had his hands tied somewhat, being accustomed to the freedom of radio. I'm more used to acquiescing to what the producer wants to do, what the director wants to do." Jack Buck himself sized up CBS' handling of the announcers by saying "CBS never got that baseball play-by-play draws word-pictures. All they knew was that football stars analysts. So they said, 'Let McCarver run the show.'" Buck added "In television, all they want you to do is shut up. I'm not very good at shutting up." Phil Mushnick added insult to injury to Buck by accusing him of "Trying to predict plays, as if to prove he was still on top."

Related Topics:
December 1991 - Radio - Phil Mushnick

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Jack Buck got into deep trouble with CBS executives (namely, director Ted Shaker, who approached Buck in the hotel lobby to tell him that he was in trouble) over questionable comments made towards singer Bobby Vinton. While on air during the 1991 National League Championship Series in Pittsburgh, Buck criticized Vinton's off-key rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. What got Buck into trouble was that his pot-shot towards Vinton sounded as if he was making a prejudicial remark centered on Vinton's Polish heritage. Joe Buck believed that the Bobby Vinton situation was ironic because his father was "trying to help the guy." Legend has it, that Buck soon received death threats from Pirate fans and discovered a footprint on his pillow once he returned to his hotel room.

Related Topics:
Bobby Vinton - Pittsburgh - Star Spangled Banner - Polish - Joe Buck - Pirate

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Jack Buck was soon replaced by Boston Red Sox announcer Sean McDonough. Ted Shaker called McDonough about his interests for the top announcing job. After McDonough hung up the telephone, he claimed that he didn't want to act like a 10 year old, but he jumped so high that he put a hole in his ceiling. In 1992, McDonough at 30 years of age, became the youngest man to call a national broadcast of a World Series.

Related Topics:
Boston Red Sox - Sean McDonough - 1992 - World Series

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Also in 1992, Tim McCarver ran afoul of Atlanta Braves outfielder Deion Sanders while in the Braves' clubhouse following Game 7 of the NLCS. Sanders dumped a bucket of ice water on McCarver as retaliation for McCarver's on-air comments that criticized Sanders' life as a two-sport athlete (the other sport being as a member of the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL).

Related Topics:
Atlanta Braves - Deion Sanders - Atlanta Falcons - NFL

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A mildly notorious moment game during CBS' coverage of the 1990 All-Star Game from Wrigley Field in Chicago. In a game that was marred by rain delays for a combined 85 minutes (including a 68 minute monsoon during the 7th inning), CBS annoyed many diehard fans by airing the William Shatner hosted reality series Rescue 911 during the delay.

Related Topics:
Wrigley Field - Chicago - Monsoon - William Shatner - Rescue 911

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In the end, CBS wound up losing approximately half a billion dollars from their television contract with Major League Baseball.

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Reasons for CBS losing so much money may include:

  • CBS alienated fans with their sporadic treatment of regular season telecasts. With a sense of true continuity destroyed, fans eventually figured that they couldn't count on CBS to satisfy their needs (thus poor ratings were a result). CBS televised about 16 regular season Saturday afternoon games (not counting back-up telecasts) which was 14 less than what NBC televised during the previous contract. CBS used the strategy of broadcasting only a select amount of games in order to build a demand in response to supposedly sagging ratings.

    • Marv Albert, who hosted NBC's studio baseball pre-game show for many years said about CBS' baseball coverage "You wouldn't see a game for a month. Then you didn't know when CBS came back on." Sports Illustrated joked that CBS stood for Covers Baseball Sporadically. USA Today added that Jack Buck and Tim McCarver "may have to have a reunion before telecast."

    Related Topics:
    Marv Albert - Sports Illustrated - USA Today

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  • The Toronto Blue Jays were in back-to-back World Series from 1992-1993. Unfortunately, Canada does not factor in the Nielsen ratings so as a consequence, CBS got the lowest ratings in over 20 years for a World Series (not counting the earthquake interrupted 1989 World Series that was televised by ABC). In any other World Series, viewership increases across the country and spikes to off-the-chart ratings shares in the two competing cities (especially in 1991 when CBS was fortunate to cover the riviting, ultra intense, seven game battle between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves). Another reasoning behind the poor ratings likely has to do with the gradual attrition of the audience for almost all network programming.
  • The country at the time was going through a recession.
  • CBS couldn't properly maximize the deal because the Division Series wasn't created yet (thus automatically giving CBS more games to carry) and they didn't have a cable outlet like Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Sports Net.
  • CBS simply made way too high of a bid (especially for a network that wound up frustrating fans with its lack of regular season coverage) and substained a shortfall in advertising revenue.

    • The final Major League Baseball game that CBS has televised to date, was Game 6 of the 1993 World Series on October 23. Before Major League Baseball decided to seek the services of other networks, CBS offered $120 million in annual rights fees over a two-year period, as well as advertising revenues in excess of $150 million a season.

    Related Topics:
    1993 World Series - October 23

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    In October 1995, when it was a known fact that ABC and NBC were going to pull out of their television deal/joint venture with Major League Baseball, preliminary talks rose about CBS returning. It was rumored that CBS would show Thursday night games while Fox would show Saturday afternoon games. CBS and Fox were also rumored to share the rights to the postseason.

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    :"Everyone at CBS who cared about baseball felt like they went through hell with it." - Ed Goren

    Related Topics:
    Hell - Ed Goren

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Regular Season (Saturday afternoons: April-September) Ratings

All-Star Game Television Ratings Breakdown: 1986-1993

American League Championship Series Ratings

National League Championship Series Ratings

World Series Television Ratings Breakdown: 1986-1993

References

◄ Major League Baseball television contracts: Monday Night Baseball
Major League Baseball television contracts: The Baseball Network: 1994-1995 ►

~ Table of Content ~

►Introduction
►Baseball Firsts
►NBC's Game of the Week
►Monday Night Baseball
►Major League Baseball on CBS-TV: 1990-1993
►The Baseball Network: 1994-1995
►Baseball Comes to Fox
►Trouble at NBC: 1996-2000
►Sources

 

 

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