This article details the current and historical radio and television broadcasters for the National League
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
. The history of Dodgers' games being broadcast began when the then-
Brooklyn Dodgers became one of the first
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams to begin radio broadcasts and were the first to be featured on a television baseball game broadcast, both during the
1939 season.
Broadcasters
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four d ...
was the Dodgers' original broadcaster, calling Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio (and later TV) from 1939 to 1953.
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...
called Dodgers games from 1950 to 2016.
His longtime partners were
Jerry Doggett
Jerome Howard Doggett (September 14, 1916 – July 7, 1997) was an American sportscaster who called games for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1987.
Early days
Doggett was born in Moberly, Missouri and ...
(1956–1987) and
Ross Porter (1977–2004).
In 1976, he was selected by Dodgers fans as the Most Memorable Personality (on the field or off) in the team's history. He is also a recipient of the
Baseball Hall of Fame's
Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Before h ...
for broadcasters (inducted in 1982). Unlike the modern style in which multiple sportscasters have an on-air conversation (usually with one functioning as
play-by-play announcer
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio wa ...
and the other(s) as
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...
), Scully, Doggett and Porter generally called games solo, trading with each other inning-by-inning. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Scully would call the radio broadcast except for the 3rd and 7th inning; allowing the other Dodger commentators to broadcast an inning. In the later '90s, Scully would call the first three innings and the last three on television and the middle three on the radio, switching off with his partners.
When Doggett retired after the 1987 season, he was replaced by Hall-of-Fame Dodgers pitcher
Don Drysdale, who previously broadcast games for the
California Angels.
Drysdale died in his hotel room following a heart attack before a game in 1993, resulting in a very difficult broadcast for Scully and Porter, who were told of the death but could not mention it on-air until Drysdale's family had been notified and the official announcement of the death made.
He was replaced by former Dodgers outfielder
Rick Monday
Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...
.
Porter's tenure was terminated somewhat controversially after the 2004 season, after which the current format of play-by-play announcers and color commentators was installed, led by newcomer
Charley Steiner
Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday.
Early career
Steiner grew up a Bro ...
and Monday.
Scully, however, continued to announce solo.
As of the 2012 season, Scully called roughly 80 games per season (all home games and select road games in Southern California)
for both radio and television. Scully was
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
for the first three innings of each of his appearances, before calling the remainder of the game exclusively on television. The 2016 season marked his 67th and final season as a Dodgers broadcaster; Scully called a reduced schedule with only 6 road games, including the team's season finale in San Francisco.
Scully's commentary during his final game was simulcast in its entirety on radio, instead of only the first three innings.
During games called by Scully,
Charley Steiner
Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday.
Early career
Steiner grew up a Bro ...
took over play-by-play on radio beginning with the fourth inning, with
Rick Monday
Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...
as
color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...
.
If Scully was not calling the game, an alternate team of broadcasters (Steiner and
Steve Lyons from 2005 to 2008, Lyons and
Eric Collins
Eric Collins (born June 16, 1969) is a play-by-play sports announcer, currently the voice of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets on Bally Sports South.
Education
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Collins is a graduate of St. Lawrence University. He earned ...
from 2009 to 2013, and Steiner and
Orel Hershiser
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a bro ...
starting in 2014) called the entire game on television while Steiner and Monday did the same on radio. Starting in 2014,
Nomar Garciaparra
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, third ...
joined Steiner and Hershiser to form a three-man television crew; for those games,
Kevin Kennedy worked with Monday on radio. In 2016,
Joe Davis
Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...
was hired to join the broadcast team to call approximately 50 road games on television. The pre-game show on the radio is hosted by
Tim Cates and the post-game show features
David Vassegh
This article details the current and historical radio and television broadcasters for the National League Los Angeles Dodgers. The history of Dodgers' games being broadcast began when the then-Brooklyn Dodgers became one of the first Major League B ...
. Davis was later announced to be the team's new primary play-by-play announcer after Vin Scully's retirement, working with Hershisher. Kennedy left the broadcast booth after 2018 and
Tim Neverett
Timothy Joseph Neverett (born March 19, 1966) is an American sportscaster who currently works as a television and radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously worked as a play-by-play a ...
joined.
The Dodgers also broadcast on radio in Spanish, and the play-by-play is handled by another
Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Before h ...
winner,
Jaime Jarrín
Jaime Jarrín (; born December 10, 1935) is an Ecuadorian-born American sportscaster known as the Spanish-language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He began broadcasting for the Dodgers in 1959 and was the 1998 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Aw ...
. Jarrín has been with the Dodgers since 1959. The color analyst for some games is former Dodger pitcher
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered f ...
, for whom Jarrín once translated post-game interviews. Since 2011, the Spanish-language flagship station is
KTNQ
KTNQ (1020 AM) is a radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with a Spanish News/ Talk format. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision. From its original licensing on March 13, 1925 until 1955 it was called KFVD. The station has studios on ...
Univision America 1020.
In 2014, the Dodgers launched Korean-language broadcasts on the second audio program of SportsNet LA, becoming the first MLB team to offer a Korean-language feed for all of its games. The broadcasts are called by Richard Choi and Chong Ho Yim. It followed the launch of Korean
Los Angeles Lakers broadcasts on
Time Warner Cable SportsNet
Spectrum Sports (abbreviated as SPECTSN), also known under the corporate names Spectrum Networks, or Charter Sports Regional Networks, is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned a ...
, and the return of Korean-language radio broadcasts in 2013 following the arrival of
Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Broadcast outlets
From 2006 to 2013, the over-the-air games were aired on
KCAL-TV after the two parties signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal in 2005, and they aired 50 games per season. The previous over-the-air television homes for the Dodgers in Los Angeles were
KCOP
KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both station ...
from 2002 to 2005;
KTLA from 1993 to 2001; and
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...
from 1958 to 1992. In their New York days,
WOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW (ch ...
carried Dodgers games from 1950 until their move following the 1957 season.
The cable television home of the Dodgers was
Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket (previously known as Fox Sports Net West 2) from 1997 to 2013.
Starting in the late 1970s through the early 1990s, the Dodgers put a small number of their home games on a subscription/pay-per-view service appropriately carried Dodgervision. During that timeframe, in addition to the road telecasts from KTTV, selected home games were also televised on the
ONTV subscription service, the now-defunct
Z Channel
The Z Channel was one of the first pay television stations in the United States best known for its devotion to the art of cinema due to the eclectic choice of films"Film-News and Notes." ''Daily News of Los Angeles'' October 3, 1986 by the prog ...
/
SportsChannel Los Angeles
SportsChannel Los Angeles was an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between the Rainbow Media subsidiary of Cablevision and NBC, and operated as an affiliate of SportsChannel. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the channel broad ...
network, and then again, on a pay-per-view basis until a majority of Dodgers games debuted on the then-new Fox Sports Net West 2 in 1997, just around the same time FSN West 2's parent company,
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
(also owner of KTTV) bought the team from the
O'Malley family. In relation to News Corp's purchase of the Dodgers, there was speculation that the Dodgers over-the-air telecasts would return to KTTV, but they were still under contract to KTLA. KTLA's contract with the Dodgers ended in 2001, and the over-the-air telecasts then moved to KTTV's now-sister station, KCOP, with the production handled by FSN West 2.
On radio, the Dodgers have broadcast on
KLAC
KLAC (570 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. Owned by a joint venture between iHeartMedia, Inc. and the Los Angeles Dodgers b ...
(570 AM) since 2012. In October 2011 the team signed a three-year deal with KLAC parent company Clear Channel Communications.
KABC (790 AM) was the Dodgers' flagship station from 1974 through 1997 and from 2008 through 2011. The games had aired on
KFWB
KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...
(980 AM) from 2002 through 2007. Other station to carry the Dodgers included KXTA (1150 AM; now
KEIB), which was a sports-talk station, from 1998 through 2001.
KFI
KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
(640 AM) was the radio flagship from 1960 to 1973. And previous to that,
KMPC
KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean– ...
(710 AM, now KSPN) was the original flagship radio station in Los Angeles of the vast Dodgers Radio Network, which is carried on 16 stations in five states (
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, plus the
U.S. Virgin Islands). Their Spanish radio network was led by
KHJ which took over in 2008 from longtime home
KWKW
KWKW (1330 AM) is a commercial Spanish language radio station licensed to serve Los Angeles, California, featuring a sports format known as "Tu Liga Radio 1330". Owned by Lotus Communications, the station services Greater Los Angeles and mu ...
(1330 AM), with Jarrín, Pepe Yñiguez, and former Dodger great
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered f ...
on the call, and was carried on six stations in California, Nevada, and Arizona. In 2011 Spanish-language Dodger broadcasts returned to
KTNQ
KTNQ (1020 AM) is a radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with a Spanish News/ Talk format. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision. From its original licensing on March 13, 1925 until 1955 it was called KFVD. The station has studios on ...
, the station that carried the games from 1979 to 1986.
During Scully's later years in the broadcast booth, he normally called all nine innings (plus extra innings if necessary) on locally televised games, with the first three innings being simulcast on radio, while Steiner and Monday took over in the final innings on radio. However, as he neared retirement, he cut back on his schedule. Starting in 2005, he largely stopped working non-playoff games played east of Phoenix, and did not regularly call any Dodgers regular-season games that were nationally televised. By his final season in 2016, he called only home games, plus select road games in California; he chose to end his broadcasting career at the end of the 2016 regular season despite the Dodgers making the playoffs.
Fox Sports West's broadcast deal with the team expired at the end of the
2013 MLB season
The 2013 Major League Baseball season started on March 31 with a Sunday night game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. . On June 20, 2011, MLB Commissioner
Bud Selig
Allan Huber "Bud" Selig
(; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...
rejected a proposed contract extension between the Dodgers and Fox, stating "Critically, the transaction is structured to facilitate the further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of Mr.
McCourt. Given the magnitude of the transaction, such a diversion of assets would have the effect of mortgaging the future of the franchise to the long-term detriment of the club and its fans." Both Fox Sports West and the Dodgers were involved in separate lawsuits over the team's broadcast rights as well as the sale of the club. On January 10, 2012, Fox and the Dodgers reached a settlement in court, clearing the way for the sale of the team. Fox's exclusive negotiating period with the Dodgers expired on November 30, 2012: both sides were in discussions over a TV deal worth $6 billion over 25 years. The team was also in talks to move to the newly formed
Time Warner Cable SportsNet
Spectrum Sports (abbreviated as SPECTSN), also known under the corporate names Spectrum Networks, or Charter Sports Regional Networks, is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned a ...
, or to form a team-owned regional sports network with
Dick Clark Productions (which was also recently acquired by the Dodgers' parent company,
Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory financial services firm that engages in investment banking, asset management, capital markets services, and insurance services.
Organization
The firm is headquartered in New York City an ...
).
In 2014 the Dodgers began a new exclusive television deal with
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
and began airing games on the team-controlled cable channel,
SportsNet LA
Spectrum SportsNet LA and Spectrum Deportes LA (otherwise known as simply SportsNet LA and Deportes LA and originally known as Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA) is an American regional sports network jointly owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers Major L ...
. This meant the end of over-the-air broadcast of the team's games, for the first time since 1949.
Dodgers to launch network with Time Warner TV deal
/ref> Limited over-the-air broadcasts would only resume in 2016 on KTLA, with several over the air game broadcasts simulcast from SportsNet LA during the season. The simulcasts began first as a chance for non-cable viewers to hear and see Vin Scully's final season as the long time team play-by-play commentator.
List of current and former broadcasters and stations
See also
* List of current Major League Baseball announcers
* Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network
The Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network is a network that consists of 27 radio stations that air Major League Baseball games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in parts of seven states and one U.S. territory and in three languages. , 20 stations broadcast ga ...
References
Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network
Los Angeles Dodgers Broadcasters History
{{Lists of Major League Baseball broadcasters
Broadcasters
Broadcaster may refer to:
* A presenter of any syndicated media program
* A broadcasting organization, one responsible for audio and video content and/or their transmission
* A sports commentator on television or radio
* Broadcaster, currently ...
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
SportsChannel
Fox Sports Networks
Spectrum Sports Channel
Broadcasters
Broadcaster may refer to:
* A presenter of any syndicated media program
* A broadcasting organization, one responsible for audio and video content and/or their transmission
* A sports commentator on television or radio
* Broadcaster, currently ...