Rogers Communications yesterday announced it has expanded its partnership with MLB with a first-to-market launch of MLB Network in Canada on Rogers digital TV and an eight-year multiplatform broadcast rights extension with MLB, MLBAM and Sportsnet through '21. The extension includes comprehensive multimedia rights for TV, online and mobile. Sportsnet under the deal will continue to carry nearly 300 games annually, including the All-Star Game, Home Run Derby and postseason games including the World Series. Sportsnet has broadcast MLB games since '03 (Rogers).
BIRD WORDSMITHS: In Baltimore, Eduardo Encina reported Orioles radio broadcasts will remain on WBAL-AM "for at least the next two seasons." A source said that the team and the station have "finalized a multiyear deal for WBAL to remain the Orioles' radio affiliate." The source added that Joe Angel and Fred Manfra, who "have called Orioles radio broadcasts together" since '04, "will also return." A "previous three-year deal with WBAL expired at the end of this season." Specifics of the new deal "are not known, but it is structured as a revenue-sharing partnership between the two sides" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 1/8).
DRAW, PARTNER: The Cowboys in '13 were featured in five of the top 10 most-watched regular-season NFL games. The NFL's most-viewed regular-season game in '13 was Raiders-Cowboys on Thanksgiving with 31.7 million viewers. The Cowboys, Broncos and Packers appeared in nine of the top 10 most-watched NFL regular-season games, with the outlier being Fox' Seahawks-49ers in the national window on Dec. 8 with 27.7 million viewers (NFL).
GLOBE TROTTER: In Boston, Chris Cassidy notes Red Sox co-Owner John Henry yesterday "told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce he was looking to hire" a COO for the Boston Globe, which he purchased last year. Henry also said that the paper "will soon develop a Globe television network." But Henry was "short on details about other initiatives he has in mind." He "spoke vaguely about finding new ways to recruit sponsors and advertisers for Globe content." Henry added the Globe would be "aggressively relevant" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/9).
