The Braves today announced that FS South and SportSouth are acquiring the 45 games that previously aired on Turner's Peachtree TV and will become the team's exclusive local TV outlets. FS South will broadcast 72 games this season, while SportSouth will air 80 games (Braves). In Atlanta, Tim Tucker writes Turner will be "out of the Braves TV business for the first time since the mid-1970s." It also means "the last of the Braves’ telecasts are moving from a free over-the-air station" to cable. The change "completes a long trend of the team’s games moving away from Turner networks," as the company moved from 70 Braves games to 45 in '08 following its national TV deal with MLB. Neither the Braves nor Fox would reveal terms of the deal, but the Braves "acknowledged it will somewhat improve their local TV revenue, which has been a source of concern because of long-term contracts signed before a recent explosion in rights fees." Turner Senior VP/Corporate Communications Misty Skedgell in a statement said the company reached the agreement with the Braves “in exchange for other consideration" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/28).
