Home MLBBST Game Guides Where next for MLB on British TV?

Where next for MLB on British TV?

by Matt Smith

The news has still to be officially confirmed, but Five’s decision to discontinue coverage of all U.S. sports from the end of the current NFL season has sent shock waves through the hordes of North American sports fans in this country. 

The omnipresent ‘credit crunch’ may hurt your ability  to find the money for subscriptions to other services such as NASN or MLB.tv and technical issues could prevent you from going down that route even if you want to.  Coupled with the immense importance for MLB to retain a free-to-air presence if the sport wants to encourage people to the sport, everyone who has an interest in baseball has an interest in trying to keep MLB on British TV.

If Five are not going to bring it back next season, what other options are there? 

MLB’s TV future firstly needs to take into account NASN’s ‘exclusive’ deal to broadcast games and other related programming.  This contract expires at the end of the 2010 season, so SKY are immediately out of the running for the next two years.  In some respects, that in itself is not a problem as NASN already provides a subscription service for people who want to (and can) go down that route. 

Five’s brilliant coverage of MLB over the last eleven years has enabled many an inquisitive Brit (including this one) to take a look at the sport without finding additional funds to do so.  Without this opportunity, many potential baseball fans will be lost.  The entertainment industry is as competitive today as it has ever been and if you don’t put your product in front of people, someone else will. 

The British market is not about to make or break the financial fortunes of MLB, but it is incumbent on the sport to widen its potential customer base as much as possible, particularly in times when disposal income is at a premium. MLB have done a better job than most in exploiting the wealth of opportunities the Internet has created to generate revenue from outside the traditional base of American fans.  The MLB.tv subscription packages have proved to be very popular amongst international fans, while services such as the MLB Shop allow them to sell related products around the world. 

Their ability to sell these products depends on people being interested in the sport in the first place.  That’s why it is in MLB’s interests to see baseball maintain a free-to-air presence in countries like Britain.  Hopefully they will be committed to helping the cause.

The efforts from the baseball fraternity have to be matched by the willingness of a broadcaster to back the sport.  Of all the North American sports, the NFL has the best chance of finding a new home as it already has links with the BBC and the attraction of the games played at Wembley can be used as a strong selling point to a potential broadcaster. 

MLB’s strength is that it provides something different to the standard sporting fayre; a unique experience that can be sold as such.  A potential channel already has a highly-skilled team waiting in the wings with considerable experience in bringing the game to life for a British audience, alongside a loyal fanbase who will follow them wherever they go. 

Now would also be a great time to jump on board because there is an event prior to the 2009 regular season perfectly designed to appeal to newcomers.  Showing a few games (or even just some highlights) from the World Baseball Classic held next March would be an excellent way to introduce the sport on a new channel, with the passion and excitement of international competition played by the best in the world helping to debunk the myth that baseball is just a game played by Americans. 

Are there any channels out there that might make for a good home?  Much as I would love to see MLB on BBC One or Two every week, that’s clearly not going to happen.  Both ITV and Channel Four might have some interest (ITV have covered NFL in the recent past, for example) and the crucial factor would then be quite what sort of coverage they would be willing to back (full live games throughout the season? A magazine-style show? etc)?  There is still the possibility that Five might continue showing games without any studio involvement, which would do very little to attract new people to the sport or to encourage current fans to continue tuning in.  It would be better than nothing, but that’s about it.

Terrestrial TV by its nature doesn’t offer a great deal of potential new homes, but the growing digital network could come to the rescue.  NASN’s ‘exclusive’ deal does not appear to prevent MLB programming on Freeview channels.  Switching to a digital-only channel would not be without its problems.  There may be a cost for some viewers (a new digital receiver or TV) and there are still parts of the British Isles that cannot receive the signal.  However, it would still give MLB a free-to-air platform to showcase the sport.

Looking through the channels, the best fit would be ITV4.  This channel already devotes a considerable part of its schedule to sports, from live coverage of the British Touring Car Championship to Guinness Premiership Rugby highlights, darts, poker and much more.  The early hours of the morning are currently given over to ‘Teleshopping’ so there is a potential space to fill without taking over anyone else’s patch.  The channel does close at 06.00 in the morning, which regular Five viewers will know could be a problem for a few games. However, ITV4 do not share their channel with another, as quite a lot of the Freeview channels do, so the odd overrun might not be a problem.

Would ITV4 be interested in broadcasting MLB?  That’s not for me to answer, but perhaps it would be worth the while of baseball fan’s to make themselves known to the channel and to show that there is a demand for the sport?  If done in a courteous and respectful way, it certainly cannot hurt.

There are many compelling reasons to keep MLB on free-to-air TV in Britain and undoubtedly some potential opportunities to make this happen.  Maybe Five could even reverse their decision?  All British baseball fans can only hope that the new year brings positive news.

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4 comments

Clive Barker December 22, 2008 - 1:48 pm

Whilst this item is still to be confirmed I doubt that Five will announce that their American sports coverage will stay, unfortunately. It would be a real loss to the British game if the MLB were not available free to view.

I too think that ITV 4 would be the front runner for coverage but I don’t think they would have the studio aspect. It would be devastating to lose Josh and Johnny, they are a great duo bringing a lightness to proceedings but unless the head honchoes at ITV 4 are fans of the existing format on Five I can’t see them keeping it due to the cost. Most likely it would just show the game. If whoever goes on to show MLB puts on a magazine style show earlier on in the day then this may help non-fans come into the game but it would probably depend on viewing figures. I for one would watch a magazine style show (as well as live games) and I know that I could convince more of my friends to watch this than watch a full game, which would obviosuly bring more people to the game and increase exposure.

Unfortunately the BBC are not likely to take up MLB any time soon. Especially now that they have paid for Superbowl and NFL International game rights. Couple this with the move of F1 to the BBC in 2009, I think they will be lacking in money to bring in MLB, though as a licence fee payer it would be nice to have a say and try to influence the BBC to take it. Whilst I am a fan of the NFL as well as MLB, I feel that the BBC should not have bought the rights to the NFL games that they have.

It will be a very sad day when the announcement is made that Five are taking away the coverage of American sports and I hope that another channel will pick up the rights ASAP and treat the franchises as they deserve to be treated, with respect and definitely with a studio presence.

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Joe Gray December 22, 2008 - 7:59 pm

My initial thoughts on hearing the news were that ITV4 would be the best channel to take this on. And the sports department there has shown that it values having a team of presenters as well as coverage of the sports (Boulting, Liggett, Sherwen, Imlach, Rendell, and Boardman is more than they really need to show the Tour de France, but they go with them anyway because they know the benefits – and this for a sport that has arguably struggled more than baseball to remain free to air over the past 5-10 years).

Also, I agree that MLB should be concerned, as it will hurt their pocket if this show goes, and it will certainly damage their attempts to grow the game in Britain.

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Joe Cooter December 23, 2008 - 12:57 am

Even if they simply pick up the rights to simulcast the Fox Broadcast and pregame for the game of the week, it would be excellent exposure for MLB in the UK. The Fox game starts at exactly 3:55 pm eastern daylight time in the United States, which is 8:55 British Daylight Time in the UK. That’s considered by TV executives Prime Time. In the summer, when there really aren’t any sports on in the evening this could be a win win. What would you rather watch? Eastenders or Baseball. With all due respect to eastenders. I’d much rather watch the bronx zoo.

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Clive Barker December 23, 2008 - 9:19 am

Whilst I agree, the baseball would be my first priority, my wife may have other ideas. This could be the same for others as well, though I do agree that games being shown at this time would be excellent exposure and people wouldn’t have to stay up too late to watch the game, so could still make it to work relatively coherently the next day.

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