Sadly, the rumours have been confirmed. After over a decade of bringing us insightful and entertaining coverage of MLB, Five have decided to drop the ‘Baseball on Five’ show for the 2009 season.  The news is made worse for British baseball fans as no other free-to-air channel has picked up the rights (as yet).
The chances of being able to watch the Braves-Phillies game next Sunday if you don’t have an ESPN America or MLB.tv subscription appear slim.   Â
While many of us were basically resigned to the news, that didn’t make it any easier to read Jonny Gould’s message to the FantasyBaseballUK players:
Welcome Fellow-Baseball Nuts……. God I’m going to miss saying that.
I’m sure most of you have heard the rumours. Five TV have ended their association with our beloved sport, or at least they have not committed to another season of Baseball on 5 every Wednesday and Sunday night. The rumours have been many and mixed, and I’m sorry that I’m not in a position to fully clarify the situation for you. What I can tell you is that if this is the end, it has been one hell of a ride. Understandably many of our hardcore viewers are pretty pissed off with Five, but rememeber they have made a 12-year committent and for that alone we should all be very grateful.
So what’s next? Well first and foremost the movers and the shakers in UK Baseball are still committed to finding a home for Baseball on UK television. There is no guarantee as to when or even if that will happen, but we are committed to keeping the Baseball family intact. To that end we are continuing the Fantasy League this season regardless of whether my Baseball TV career has legs. So get your Fantasy Caps on tilt because it’s time to play ball!
For all the details go www.fantasybaseballuk.com and sign up now.
Baseball – it’s a Hardcore thing!!
Jonny Gould
The second main paragraph provides a glimmer of hope. Of course, we expect nothing less than for Jonny, Josh, Erik and the rest of the team to be doing all they can to get the show back on the road. Unfortunately, their passion and skill can only go so far. They need a willing TV partner to give them an opportunity to continue their fantastic coverage of MLB.
The first paragraph also suggests things may not be quite so black-and-white in regards to Five. It is possible that they will broadcast some games without the studio element, most likely the Wednesday night games (‘Sunday Night Baseball’ being available on ESPN America). As mentioned previously, that would be better than absolutely nothing, but it would be a poor substitute to the coverage that we have enjoyed for many years.
The news is a massive blow on many levels.Â
The ‘Baseball on Five’ team certainly do not deserve to have their show cancelled when judged on the high quality of their coverage, but we all know that it is other factors (primarily financial) that have influenced the decision.Â
‘Baseball on Five’ was committed to fostering a baseball community and their support and promotion of British baseball events and teams was invaluable.Â
As a loyal viewer for over ten years, I will greatly miss watching the programme and I know many others will as well.Â
But perhaps most importantly, it was Five’s coverage that got me hooked on the sport back in 1998. They’ve made me a baseball fan for life and for that I will always be grateful. Now, potential newcomers keen to discover if baseball is for them will not have a free-to-air option to watch games, accompanied by Jonny and Josh explaining and entertaining along the way.Â
Everyone in Britain with an interest in baseball can only remain hopeful that the team will return at some point. If they don’t, it will be a very sad loss.
Hi Dawn. ESPN America is available via Sky and Virgin Media. It’s currently part of the Setanta Sports subscription package, but Setanta are on the verge of collpase (as ‘Magnus ..’ noted). What this will mean for ESPN America isn’t completely clear. I’ll be publishing an article about it tomorrow.
Thanks Matt
Its not fair to blame Five for their 12 excellent years – its a pity MLB couldnt find a credible free alternative.
With the impending demise of Setanta there are potentially rocky days ahead for baseball coverage in the uk – this is covered excellently elsewhere on the site.
Again i echo all the comments above about the demise of channel 5 baseball coverage. i can’t believe they have made such a poor decision to pull this outstanding show from the schedules.
Jonny and Josh are amazing and allowed me to learn all about baseball over the many years of watching with intelligent and witty commentary and explaination of all aspects of this amazing game.
Because of thier show i actually went to a MLB game at the Tropicana Stadium in Tampa when on holiday with my family and friends and everyone absolutly loved the experiance
Josh and Jonny – if you are reading this – don’t give up on the fight to find a broadcaster – because you are the best at what you guys do and any broadcaster would be lucky to have you.
You are sorely missed
I was just really getting into the sport as well, I’m mightily pissed off. I’m a huge cricket fan, and always considered baseball, to be a simple and unsophisticated game. It was only when I started watching baseball on 5, that I discovered what a great great game it is, and how wrong I’d been. So not only can I not watch cricket anymore; I can no longer watch my baseball. My sunday nights/mon mornings will be less richer for it. I actually feel quite sad.
As an American, I am disappointed that 5 decided to stop showing MLB and NFL…the 2 most popular American sports in favor of Quiz efin Night…btw people, please don’t use it as you`ll never win or if you do win you`ll have spent a fortune to win £100…sheesh.
If MLB are preparing to give it away for free why aren`t they giving it to 5? I don`t get it! Unless I missed something in previous post.
Well, whoever gets it must bring back our hosts from 5. They are great fun to watch and helped us to learn about the games history and understand the game itself.
Thanx Dudes
All i can say is it’s a colossal shame it’s been scrubbed!!! For all the newbie basbeall nuts it’s like a kick in the face regarding watching players to aspire to and the practical side of baseball exhibited by the profesionals.
I sincerely hope the BBC step in or even maybe ITV late night to rescue the plight of airing a truly growing sport over the last 5 or 10 years.
But i am going to take this opportunity to say thanks to Jonny & Josh & Erik & David Lengel for hosting so many shows and giving us all a laugh and a smile along the way, may we hope to see you back on terrestial TV very, very soon
swing and a miss
Thanks Matt.
Setanta have lost the football so what will happen to the baseball ……perhaps this will give us more of a chance to get it on another unpaid channel again….
COME ON BBC…. dont know if thats just really wishful thinking.
Dawn
Hi Dawn. I’ve written about the Setanta situation in my column today: https://baseballgb.co.uk/?p=3282
Matt
thank you Matt,it is a good write up and site.
I feel if baseball is only on a paid tv package then this will lose a lot of British fans, same with NFL followers especially in this financial climate.
10 years ago I purchased cable sports channel only to watch NFL games, unfortunately you had to subscribe for 12mths, it seemed unfair I had to pay for whole channels to watch one or two games a week.
Ive now moved to a small rural seaside town with no cable or sky. Just got a freeview box which works when the wind is blowing the correct way! My tv baseball and nfl watching days appears to be over and I shall exist on what can be seen via my pc screen…
Oh the woes of a UK baseball fan and my yankees not having a good week doesnt help !!!!!!!
Dawn
It’s very depressing and there doesn’t appear to be anyone falling over themselves to put baseball back on our screens. I’m just hoping someone sees sense and at least gets Jonny and Josh on our screens for the World Series. I can’t imagine watching the Fall Classic without those tuxedoes or the marks out of ten for the national anthem!
More interesting days ahead – Setanta now in administration.
Will ESPN America be added to Sky subscription? If so at what level? Will it be a seperate subscription?
On the plus side it was great to see free ball over the weekend – something NASN did last year also during interleague. Doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out 1 free game per week could generate a lot of goodwill.
Yes, will be interesting to see what will happen now. The administrators state that Setanta will stop broadcasting shortly, so news about ESPN America should be following soon.
And I fully agree with the 1 free game idea.
I`ve just checked out mlb.com tv and a years subscription is just £42.56,and you can pay with paypal.Seems a pretty good deal and a previous poster on this thread reckons the quality is spot on,so i guess i`ll give it a go!
Just watching the Capitals and the Marlins live on my pc,the quality and sound is brilliant!Though i guess you need a really fast broadband(i`ve got virgin).So if you`ve any doubts,forget them its well worth it!
I was watching ESPN America on Sky last night and it was great, after checking the website today I see it has been added to Sky and Virgin. Virgin was £10 a month I think but Sky was £1 as part of the ‘news package’. As I had this already I am getting it for free.
While it’s good to get something it still isn’t like the good old days of ch5, the presenters make the programme.
soooo gutted…just cant believe it…josh and jonny you guy’s were the best. such a damn shame. was so looking forward to this season. five will regret this..you’ll see the numbers drop at those times and what then five. if its left too late some other channel will definately take it up…hopefully sky but whoever does josh and jonny need to be hosting it…you guy’s were..HARDCORE.
Since Setanta has stopped… and there is free games on ESPN for the next couple of mths until ESPN get themselves sorted out there has been a lot more free online streams available. Which is great whne the games are on early…
I suddenly appear to now have an ESPN signal on my digital box , so when all is ready I will conider joining them….. I cant face not being able to watch the world series…
Dawn
This is an outrage. Not only is there no place to watch the baseball, all star game and world series, but instead there is a load of tosh.
I have no interest in poker, blackjack, PGA golf (a week or so old), NHL, NBA (also on sky).
Hopefully the facade will correct itself and we can go back to watching Jonny and JOsh and their opening low fives.
BRING IT BACK PLEASE CHANNEL 5.
It is such a shame. Imagine poker on TV? How sleazy can you get!
Unfortunately the free TV websites tend to have poor reception in my experience.
I accept that TV is a business, but properly packaged I’m sure there’s an audience out there for the MLB and other american sports. Look at how popular NFL highlights were on a Sunday evening all those years ago until the powers that be tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.
Am I alone in thinking that all that is needed is a good North American sports highlight package of between 30 and 60 minutes, broadcast between the hours of 6:00pm and 11:00pm to raise interest in the MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA. This may then translate into better viewing figures / recording of late night games and increased advertising revenue.
I suppose not, it’s just too easy to show yet another repeat.
Anyway a big thank you to Jonny, Josh, Erik and everyone else who gave us so many years of enjoyment. No more HARDCORE nights for the foreseeable future, but thanks for the memories and hope to see you again soon. All the best.
Looks like, as expected, ESPN America will cease when the footy season starts & ESPN will rebrand as a new station – cost £9 per mth minimum.
All the goodwill earned by allowing viewers to see live baseball will be undone at the push of a button – & all because of football.
We wait – but future of US sports viewing in the UK looks like it will be subscription only….again.
So that was that
ESPNA finishes 03/08/09.
ESPN Uk starts as a subscription only channel charging between £9 & £12 per month on top of existing charges. In addition US sports coverage will be diluted by english & scottish prem footy.
Meanwhile MLB International can only sit & watch the UK fanbase disappear before there eyes….
Wonder how many games will be on new ESPN channel per week ?
I dont think we should have to pay to watch baseball , it is a real shame but I cant face not seeing the world series… as it is Im only seeing the yankee’s early games via pc.
Dawn
Hi Dawn.
I guess we just have to wait for ESPN’s schedules before we find out. The only probable clashes with football would be where ESPN America currently shows MLB games live at 18.00 on a Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully the number of games doesn’t drop.
As for the World Series, I’m still holding out hope that someone steps in and picks those up, not that I’ve got any insider info on that though.
The new ESPN channel launches on Monday and lots of details are being released. TV schedules aren’t up just yet, but the main points seem to be:
1) that ESPN have bought up rights to lots of sports/events, which may mean North American sports aren’t covered quite as much as we would like,
2) that the channel reportedly will be free to all Sky and Virgin Media customers during August, so you can at least see what it’s like before committing to it.
I’m going to publish a feature about the new channel on Saturday.
As far as I can tell on Sky ESPN America will merely switch to Channel 430, with the new ESPN taking over over Channel 417. As such there should be no loss of MLB coverage. The catch is it at the same time it will also move out of the ‘News’ package and will cost an extra £9 (Sky Sports subscribers) or £12 (Sky subscribers) per month.
Those who also like American Football, hold note that in the UK ESPN America doesn’t carry the NFL, as the rights are currenttly owned by Sky!
Its good news that their are options to see baseball live on UK tv , its a shame we now have to pay… I will look into Virgin package.
I am disappointed that ESPN America doesnt carry NFL…. I was always under the impression that NFL here in the UK was more popular that baseball, hence the recent NFL games held in London.
Dawn
Hi Dawn. NFL’s not on ESPN America because Sky have exclusive rights to it. They do show a large amount of live games mind you (3 on Sundays I believe, with others available at the same time via the red button), so that’s the option for NFL fans to go down. Five used to offer the best of both worlds of course, but you have to subscribe to Sky Sports and ESPN now to get both sports, which is obviously quite pricey.
Thank yo uMatt for explaining. That is going to be pricey and in this financial climate not fair to the average sports fan.. How can one choose to pay to watch either football or baseball.. boo hoo…
this is so weak! the hell am i supposed to watch now, cricket? quess i’ll check the standings online every now and again. awesome.
Why watch baseball on ESPN – the coverage is absolutely dreadful! They break away from the game every 30 seconds, and it’s a joke. If they do this during the Premier League games, then I will not be watching it.
great show, great laughs what a pity the sporting highlight of the week. to be fair probably made by the excellent jonny gould. master of the sporting genre. come back soon
It has been confirmed NFL on Five is to get a reprieve
Thanks for the info Paul. Of all the US sports, NFL was the most likely. Can only hope that bringing the NFL back (if they do) will have a positive knock-on effect for baseball’s return.
WOO HOO , thats great news , looks like it is only Sunday night games…. Now lets get the baseball back on…
I bloody hated mlb until I watched johnny and co. This is pants. I also get to miss out on the NBA. Pants pants pants
Been in hospital so just trying to catch up… any news on whether 5 will at least show world series live?
Hi Dawn. Good to hear from you. Sorry I can’t pass on any positive news though. I haven’t heard anything as yet about the World Series. Five have decided to show some NFL now. This backs up the view that was coming from those involved that the people in Five were genuinely supportive of US Sports but that they needed to cut costs. NFL was always the most likely to get a reprieve as the most popular of the sports. I’m sure MLB will be very keen for the World Series to be on free-to-air TV, so I guess there still remains some hope that Five could come to an agreement to just do the World Series. We’ll have to wait and see.
Hi Matt,
I have been watching nfl on five… it has renewed my hope that CH 5 will at least consider giving us World Series Live.
Lets keep hoping…
Dawn
Aww this is rubbish. I used to love sitting up late and getting a few beers witht the baseball on. The banter and presentation made the whole show, I don’t think i might have neen as interested otherwise! Oh well. All i can say is, I hope it returns, with the same cast/crew. Sad. 🙁
Just found this on the internet when looking to see why the Baseball isn’t on Channel 5 this week – absolutely gutted.
I got into the show in the legendary World Series in 2001 my young son was quite ill and was watching TV by chance in the early hours when i had to stay up all night with him (he’s fine now!). After 911 it seemed destiny (or mystic and aura appearing nightly as the banner read) that the Yankees would beat the Diamondbacks especially with two walk out hits in the bottom of the ninth on consecutive matches – but that wasn’t to be.
I loved the show and watched it ever since (well the next evening and not live) – the banter, the marking the singing of the Anthem and God bless america along with the in depth knowledge made a compelling show. With my adopted Yankees making it through it would have been a dream! I’m lucky to have ESPN America but thats a poor second choice!
Thanks so much to Jonny and Josh for so much entertainment!!
Martin
Well that’s a whole season gone and I have seen no baseball whatsoever, except on MLB website highlights. I think it’s time to stop thinking about the game and realise that it will never come back to our screens.
I started watching the WS in 1997 when Cleveland should have defeated the Marlins. The game was a revelation to me then.
Farewell baseball!
bring it back
Like John McIntosh I started watching back in 97′ and have been an ardent fan since. I thought the writing was on the wall a year or two back when 5 stopped showing the play-off games and you went suddenly from the league virtually to the WS. Still I agree with all the comments regarding the excellent coverage of 5’s people over the years.
I live in the country and my broadband speed is less than 1gb and thus I probably could not get anything via my PC. In any case I don’t want to watch TV on a PC monitor. Similarly we do not have cable here and everything comes in via BT landlines or TV aerial. THerefore we have no access to any “special offers”. To add insult to injury I do not know if ESPN will continue to transmit baseball live so why should I opt for a 12 month package at something like £50 per month. I blame MLB for this. They should have ensured that the game was available. I also blame 5. God knows they have enough tosh on TV already.
well not happy gone a season with out baseball. are channel 5 getting the 2010 seasons games!if its a money problem then just get rid of the 2 soaps from Aus cause there crap…. sorry totally crap an cost alot of money! so channel 5 Please get the great game of baseball back, yours a BIG CUBBY FAN mick.
look just bring Baseball back. its better than the Auzzie soaps an cheeper!
Sad that Five has terminated baseball but as has been mentioned here, ESPN America has taken up the mantle – its coverage is what you would see in the States and includes the droll, non-stop facts and coverage from the Dodger’s TV commentator and our old faves from Sunday night, Joe Morgan and Jon Miller amongst others. I decided it was worth paying £9.00 a month to see over 250 games and the post-season and All-Star Games (£9 is almost a packet of 20 fags I believe!) so put it into perspective it is good value for money. You also get lots of other sports as well via ESPN.
It may not replace Johnny and co and the entertainment they provided but at least it gives me the chance of watching ball games.
Sadly it seems that Poker really is more popular than a sport which requires some skill and physical and mental prowess.
If you are able to get ESPN via subscription and enjoy baseball I would recommend it.
Hi everyone.
First let me tell you before I begin, I am not defending Channel Five’s decision to cancel MLB on Five however there are very valid reason’s for it’s cancelation.
The plain and simple truth is, financially it was no longer viable for Five to continue on with it’s current setup. Quiz night while not “apparently” being popular nets the channel quite a substantial amount from sponsors and advertisers which enable’s the channel to aquire new material and compete with channels such as Sky 1 and other network channels for US programming.
In the UK, MLB is a minority sport that is very expensive to purchase rights for. Coupled with the above, it was a business decision that has paid off for the channel.
Dawn – I must say that you do love to use the words in the current climate quite a lot. However I would like to clear some things up. Satellite pay tv has come a long long way since the 80’s and its a very profitable business. NFL enjoys large audiences on pay tv, and in many has increased it’s viewership tenfold over the years. The same was true with NHL. Baseball won’t loose its following if anything it will likely improve it’s viewer numbers.
If you subscribe to Virgin Media XL tv package you can get all the ESPN channels for free, as you could with Setanta before they went bust in the UK.
MLB rights where very expensive, year on year just like the english premiership rights continue to excalate. You can either afford the rights or you cannot, if you cannot then someone else is free to come in and make a bid.
John, if tv companies are foolish enough to pay these ridiculous prices so audiences can watch certain sports then the prices will continue to rise out of control and the public will suffer the most followed by the sport.
In order to watch baseball I would need to pay via Virgin Media XL £35 a mth just to watch baseball!!!!!!!!!! I already pay a tv licence fee , why should I be blackmailed to pay more to watch a sport ?
Channel 5 managed for many years to show baseball, MLB hoped this would continue with even a reduction in price for CH 5… but no Ch 5 saw financially it was better to pay for all the repeats of CSI and NCIS !
It is shocking and disappointing that fans are being blackmailed in this manner .. pay up or you dont see the game !
Long may the internet sites that show ball games for free exist until tv companies charging ridiculous prices go under, just like Setanta !
Dawn
Hi Dawn. At least we’ll get to hear from Jonny and Josh again via the upcoming BBC radio show. It’s not quite a return to those great Baseball on 5 days, but it’s a lot better than nothing.
Jonny and Josh back again… wonderful news and hopefully the start of a long relationship between BBC and MLB 😀
Dawnb