ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" on Sundays this season will move "out of the studio and to the scene of the action ... for the first time since the program's debut in 1990," according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Host Karl Ravech and analysts John Kruk and Barry Larkin will broadcast "live from the streets outside the site of ESPN's exclusive 'Sunday Night Baseball' broadcast." The on-site coverage will debut with tonight's Giants-Dodgers game. ESPN Senior VP & Exec Producer for Event Production Jed Drake said that the "Baseball Tonight" tweaks are "necessary and have been for a while." Drake: "The opportunity to take 'Baseball Tonight' out on the road is something we should have done a long time ago." But Drake did not "go so far as to admit it's a reaction to the ascent of the MLB Network, which has won positive reviews for its innovative programming" since debuting in January '09. Finn noted "comparisons with the wildly popular 'College GameDay' show ... are as inevitable as they are logical." But Ravech, beginning his 17th season as "Baseball Tonight" host, said that he "doesn't expect it to feel the same as 'GameDay,' largely because the atmosphere and audience on a college campus on a Saturday afternoon is considerably different than that of a Sunday night baseball game." Meanwhile, Finn wrote the "most significant change" to ESPN's MLB coverage this season involves the departure of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan from "Sunday Night Baseball." Analyst Orel Hershiser, the "lone holdover" from last year, will be joined in the Sunday night booth by play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman and analyst Bobby Valentine (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/27). Valentine discussed the new assignment, along with several other topics, in a Q&A with THE DAILY's Preston Bounds.
TRAVEL PLANS: In Oklahoma City, Mel Bracht noted ESPN taking "Baseball Tonight" on the road "in an apparent attempt to set it apart from MLB Network's studio shows" (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 3/28). In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote the "Baseball Tonight" road trips "have nothing to do with scenery or bringing the show closer to fans." Instead, it is "more about differentiating ESPN's baseball studio show from the MLB Network product." MLB Network's ratings "have been nothing to rave about," but its "MLB Tonight" studio show "has pulled eyeballs away" from "Baseball Tonight." For ESPN, "any viewer erosion in this niche audience is a big deal" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/27).
MAKING MOVES: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand reports ESPN officials "have settled on a series of talent and technical changes" to MLB telecasts that have roots in a "restructuring of its production department last September." As part of the changes, ESPN put VP/Production Mike McQuade "in charge of MLB productions," reporting to Drake. On the technology front, ESPN is "looking to bring viewers inside the action." The network "will time -- to the hundredth of a second -- how long it takes for a ball to leave the pitcher's hand and hit the catcher's mitt, or how long it takes a runner to go from first base to second base." ESPN also is "testing a 'K Zone Live' application in spring training." ESPN officials "have not decided whether the application, which shows where a pitch goes over the plate, will be rolled out for the regular season" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/28 issue). Meanwhile, a BROADCASTING & CABLE editorial states, "Our hope for the 2011 season is that ESPN will honor the game's pastoral setting, gradually unfolding pace and generally lo-fi charm and do away with all of the statistical white noise that dominates the TV screen during its Sunday-night telecasts. ... Just give us the batting average, RBI and home runs at the top of the at-bat." The editorial: "We applaud the Worldwide Leader in Sports for reimagining what a baseball telecast can be. But give us baseball purists the option to click off the bottom-third wall of stats, so we can watch baseball" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 3/28 issue).
MLB NET READY FOR THIRD CAMPAIGN: MULTICHANNEL NEWS' Mike Reynolds notes MLB Network "continues to expand its programming, sponsor and distribution roster" entering its third season of coverage. The network is "supplementing its original Thursday game productions and the pickups of regional sports network feeds on Saturdays, with an early evening contest on Fridays and doubleheaders on Tuesday nights." MLBN "plans to showcase all of the circuit's squads in April with '30 Games, 30 Clubs, 30 Days,'" beginning with tomorrow's Mariners-A's game. MLBN President & CEO Tony Petitti said that there "has been 'great cooperation' with ESPN, Fox Sports Nets and Comcast's regional sports networks, as well as those owned by the clubs, with the entities sharing the games, footage and feeds of press conferences." Petitti: "Our goal is to grow the sport." Petitti noted that the network also "will pick up the game coverage pace under its 'Pennant Chase' banner during September" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 3/28 issue).
