MLB Network has hired Mark Loomis from ESPN to oversee the network’s production.
Loomis replaces John Entz, who left the network after the World Series to take a senior production role at Fox. His title is senior vice president of production and he reports to MLB Network President Tony Petitti.
He started at the beginning of the year and is based in the network’s New Jersey studios.
Most recently, Loomis had been a coordinating producer for ESPN’s golf and college football coverage. Previously, he was a coordinating producer for NFL Network’s “Thursday Night Football” package.
Since it launched in January 2009, MLB Network has been widely praised for the high-quality look and feel of its TV productions. Loomis said he has no plans to change any of that.
“The worst thing I could do would be to come in and tinker with it,” he said. “This affords me the opportunity to continue heading in the direction they’re already going in.”
Loomis said his focus would be making sure that the on-air talent has the right chemistry.
“Whenever people are asked about telecasts, they always start with the announcers,” he said. “You can change the graphics. You can change the music. But the chemistry with the announcers is always the first thing noticed.”
Loomis said the transition to MLB Network has been easy, considering the number of employees he previously has worked with during his career. That includes Petitti, whom he first met in the early 1990s when both worked at ABC.
“It was really one of the main attractions for me,” he said.
ESPN has not replaced Loomis. It plans to find a replacement during college football’s offseason.
