Just when we were lamenting the reduced schedule on Five!
I attached a comment to my previous post about the NASN deal noting it has been confirmed that Five’s Sunday Night Baseball would be on again this year. This info was posted on the UK MLB Supporters Forum, quoting a Five “Advance Programming Information†booklet. I skipped my way to the listings for Sunday April 2nd and was overjoyed that the season’s opener was there.
What I didn’t do was look ahead to the next page. I have to admit that I don’t watch much else on Five except for Baseball and the odd NFL game. So why should I be interested in what Five were showing on Monday night? Well, thanks to another post on the Forum, I’ve just rushed back to the link on Five’s website and there it is!
Monday April 3rd:
“02.40 Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants @ San Diego Padres (Stereo)
The first of a new Monday night series features the top game of the night from the world’s top league. California is the destination with the game between the San Diego Padres and their visitors the San Francisco Giants.â€
After losing the Wednesday games last year and then losing the play-offs and the World Series for the next five years, Five could have easily given up on Baseball. Instead they have kept hold of the big media game of the week, “Sunday Night Baseballâ€, and have complimented this with a top match-up on the following night. Not only have Five made sure that Baseball maintains a presence on terrestrial TV, they have brought back the two games per week format that we had grown accustomed to. I expect that Five will continue showing Monday Night Football despite its switch from ABC to ESPN. However, this should only affect the last three weeks of the MLB season.
This decision is no less than the guys at Sunset & Vine productions deserve. Congratulations to all those who work on Five’s coverage of Baseball. And thanks a lot to Five for making this commitment to the sport (especially after I doubted you only a few days ago!)
What this means is that British baseball fans have never been so spoilt for action. Those with terrestrial TV will still be able to catch two games a week. Subscribers will be able to watch ten other games per week on NASN. And with access to Broadband quickly spreading throughout the British Isles, more and more people are able to sign up for the MLB multimedia packages.
The WBC is reaching its climax; the beginning of the MLB season is now just two weeks away; baseball is back twice a week on Five and all is good with the world!
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UPDATE(S):
Lots of news on Five’s baseball coverage, courtesy of a post by phantomsteve on the Baseball Softball UK Forum. Jonny Gould himself answered some of his questions in an e-mail and phantomsteve was kind enough to post it on the forum.
Main points =
1) Monday night baseball will be on for three weeks, before the show will revert back to Wednesday.
2) FIVE STILL HAVE THE RIGHTS TO THE PLAY-OFFS, WORLD SERIES, AND ALL STAR GAME!!!
3) Josh is back in the hotseat having completed his Law degree and moved back to Blighty with his wife and their baby (Congrats Josh!). Dave has taken up a great job at MLB.com. Just click on the Fastcast clips for the proof! He has written a message about this at http://www.baseballfan.co.uk/ .
Great news all round.