''MLB on FS1'' is the de facto name for the presentation of

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), ...

(MLB) games produced by

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

for

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

(FS1). FS1 airs 40 regular season MLB games (mostly on Saturdays), along with post-season games from the

Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

and

League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...

Business history

On September 19, 2012, ''

Sports Business Daily American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'' reported that Major League Baseball would agree to separate eight-year television deals with Fox Sports and

Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...

through the 2021 season. Fox would reportedly pay around $4 billion over eight years (close to $500 million per year), while Turner would pay around $2.8 billion over eight years (more than $300 million per year). Under the new deals, Fox and TBS' coverage would essentially be the same as in the 2007–2013 contract with the exception of Fox and TBS splitting coverage of the Division Series, which TBS has broadcast exclusively dating back to 2007. More importantly, Fox would carry some of the games (such as the Saturday afternoon ''Game of the Week'') on its new general sports channel,

, which launched on August 17, 2013. Sources also said it was possible that Fox would sell some League Division Series games to

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

. On October 2, 2012, the new deal between Major League Baseball and Fox was officially confirmed; it included the television rights to 12 Saturday afternoon games on Fox (reduced from 26), 40 games on Fox Sports 1, rights to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

, two League Division Series (two games were sold to MLB Network, the rest would air on Fox Sports 1), one League Championship Series (in which Fox Sports and Turner Sports would each respectively alternate coverage of

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

postseason games each year on an odd-even basis, with Games 1 and, if necessary, 6 in 2014 airing on Fox), and the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

(which would remain on Fox). In addition, all ''Fox Saturday Baseball'' games would be made available on

MLB Extra Innings MLB Extra Innings is an out-of-market sports package distributed in North America by satellite provider DirecTV since 1996 and by most cable providers since 2001. The package allowed its subscribers to see up to 80 out-of-market Major League Bas ...

and

MLB.TV MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

(subject to local blackout restrictions), Fox Sports was awarded

TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselv ...

rights for streaming of game telecasts on computers, mobile and tablet devices, rights to a nightly baseball highlights show, Spanish language rights to all games carried on Fox and Fox Cable (

Fox Deportes Fox Deportes (formerly Fox Sports en Español and stylized in all caps as FOX Deportes) is an American pay television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming in Spanish, aimed at the Hispanic population in the United States ...

) and rights to a weekly show produced by

MLB Productions 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), ...

. On November 15, 2018, Fox renewed its rights through 2028, maintaining its existing structure but with expanded digital rights, and a promise to begin airing more games on the Fox broadcast network (beginning with at least two of the first four League Championship Series games and all seventh games from 2020 to 2028, with additional games in 2022). It had been criticized for airing only Game 1 of the

2019 American League Championship Series The 2019 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven series between the two winners of the 2019 American League Division Series, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, for the American League (AL) pennant and the right to play in t ...

, while placing the rest on Fox Sports 1.

Scheduling history

Beginning with the 2014 television contract, FS1's regular-season telecasts are not exclusive, with the teams' local broadcasters also showing the games and FS1 broadcasts of those games blacked-out in the teams' local markets. As of 2022, most FS1 games air Saturday afternoons, with additional, irregularly scheduled weeknight games. Weeknight games that have aired on FS1 include:

Monday nights

Tuesday nights

Wednesday nights

Thursday nights

Saturday afternoons

As of the 2022 season, FS1 carries a Saturday afternoon game most weeks. These games, like the weeknight games, are non-exclusive. FS1's coverage begins with the pregame show a half-hour before the game, which usually starts at 1 or 4 p.m. Eastern Time. If there is a second game on FS1, which occurs in the early season before the Fox broadcast network's exclusive Saturday evening coverage begins, a studio show is aired in between.

Postseason coverage

With FS1 taking over most MLB coverage in 2014, postseason coverage on Fox Sports' end of the package began to be split between the Fox broadcast network and FS1. The deal, which brought back Division Series baseball to Fox for the first time since 2006, put Fox's Division Series games exclusively on FS1. As part of their contract renewal before the 2019 season, Fox has agreed to air any League Championship Series Game 7 on the broadcast network. Fox airs the World Series in its entirety, as has been the case every year since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. For the 2020 NLCS however, while Fox aired Games 1, 4 and 7, FS1 aired every game except Game 1 as it

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, simultane ...

Games 4 and 7. (Game 4 was scheduled to air only on FS1 but the postponement of a previously scheduled Thursday Night Football game that was supposed to air on Fox allowed both Fox and FS1 to air the game.) For the 2021 ALCS, Fox aired Games 1 and 2 while FS1 aired Games 2-6 (Game 2 was simulcast on both channels). From 2022 on, Fox will air more postseason games as part of the renewal made in 2018.

Digital on-screen graphics

In 2020, Fox unveiled a new graphics package for its NFL and

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coverage starting with

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

. Baseball broadcasts continued using this package through the end of the 2021 regular season, as the new on-screen look is for football only. Beginning with the 2021 season, Fox and FS1 started using stylized cartoon illustrations on players rather than traditional photos, similar to those used on the network's NFL coverage since the previous year's Super Bowl.

Theme music

NJJ Music Scott P. Schreer (born 1953) is an American musician. He is a Broadcast Music, Inc., BMI composer and producer of theme songs for television programs, including ''Fox NFL (Same as Fox USFL)'', ''NHL on Fox'', ''Fox Major League Baseball, Fox MLB'' ...

composed the original ''MLB on Fox'' theme music in 1996. This theme music was used exclusively from June 1996 until early May 2007. In mid-May 2007, an updated version was unveiled, featuring a more jazzy feel and implementing a full orchestra instead of the synth elements used by the 1996 theme. Beginning with the 2010 postseason, both the 2007 theme and the Flach theme were replaced by the longtime ''NFL on Fox'' theme music, which began to be used for all Fox sporting events. In 2014, the 2007–2010 jazz theme was brought back for regular season games on ''MLB on FS1''. The NFL theme was retained for ''MLB on Fox'', including ''Fox Saturday Baseball'', ''Baseball Night in America'', the All-Star Game and all coverage of the postseason. However, occasionally one of the two themes was heard on telecasts that were designated for the other, implying that the designations are slightly fluid. In 2020, ''MLB on Fox'' reintroduced the original 1996–2007 theme; Fox Sports regional affiliates continued to use the 2007–2010 theme until the network was rebranded to

Bally Sports The Bally Sports Regional Networks are a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint-venture company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. The naming rights to the network we ...

in 2021. As of the 2021 season, the original theme is now used for coverage of all games across both Fox and FS1.

Ratings

Postseason

* 2014 National League Championship Series ** Game 2: 4.4 million viewers ** Game 4: 5.1 million viewers ** Game 5: 4.9 million viewers * 2015 American League Championship Series ** Game 1: 5.9 million viewers ** Game 6: 5.6 million viewers * 2016 National League Championship Series ** Game 2: 7.3 million viewers ** Game 6: 9.7 million viewers *

2017 American League Championship Series The 2017 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees for the American League pennant and the right to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. The Astros d ...

** Game 1: 6.2 million viewers ** Game 3: 3.1 (5.1 million viewers) ** Game 4: 4.7 million viewers ** Game 5: 3.3 (5.3 million viewers) ** Game 6: 8.2 million viewers ** Game 7: 9.9 million viewers * 2018 National League Division Series ** Milwaukee Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies *** Game 1: 2.46 million viewers *** Game 2: 1.77 million viewers ** Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves *** Game 2: 2.03 million viewers *** Game 3: 3.02 million viewers *** Game 4: 2.17 million viewers * 2018 National League Championship Series ** Game 1: 4.64 million viewers ** Game 3: 4.21 million viewers ** Game 4: 4.21 million viewers * 2019 American League Division Series ** New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins *** Game 2: 2.32 million viewers *** Game 3: 2.66 million viewers ** Houston Astros vs Tampa Bay Rays *** Game 1: 2.53 million viewers *** Game 2: 1.39 million viewers *** Game 4: 3.70 million viewers *** Game 5: 3.67 million viewers *

** Houston Astros vs New York Yankees *** Game 2: 5.59 million viewers *** Game 3: 3.84 million viewers *** Game 4: 5.86 million viewers *** Game 5: 5.63 million viewers *** Game 6: 7.47 million viewers * 2020 National League Division Series ** Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres *** Game 1: 1.49 million viewers *** Game 2: 1.64 million viewers ** Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins *** Game 1: 1.30 million viewers *** Game 3: 1.01 million viewers * 2020 National League Championship Series ** Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves *** Game 2: 2.46 million viewers *** Game 3: 2.09 million viewers *** Game 4: 5.04 million viewers (also aired on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

) *** Game 5: 3.61 million viewers *** Game 6: 4.28 million viewers *** Game 7: 9.67 million viewers (also aired on

) * 2021 American League Division Series ** Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox *** Game 1: 2.70 million viewers *** Game 2: 2.70 million viewers *** Game 4: 3.47 million viewers ** Houston Astros vs Chicago White Sox *** Game 1: 2.06 million viewers *** Game 4: 1.70 million viewers * 2021 American League Championship Series ** Houston Astros vs Boston Red Sox *** Game 2: 5.7 million viewers (also aired on

) *** Game 3: 4.1 million viewers

Saturday afternoons

Commentators and studio personalities

Game 1 of the 2014 National League Championship Series was simulcast on Fox Sports 1 and hosted by

Kevin Burkhardt Kevin Burkhardt (born ) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play voice for the ''NFL on Fox'' and lead studio host for ''Fox Major League Baseball''. Burkhardt was formerly a reporter with SportsNet New York (SNY) du ...

Gabe Kapler Gabriel Stefan Kapler (born July 31, 1975), nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder, and current manager of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kapler was a 57th-round draft pick (1,487th ove ...

and C. J. Nitkowski, who offered

sabermetric Sabermetrics, or originally SABRmetrics, is the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. Sabermetricians collect and summarize the relevant data from this in-game activity to answer specific ques ...

analysis of the game.

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 i ...

called play-by-play for Game 4 of the

due to

Joe Buck Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster. The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for the network's Nation ...

calling ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'' for

Other MLB related programming

As part of Fox Sports' new Major League Baseball broadcast deal, in April 2014, Fox Sports 1 premiered '' MLB Whiparound'', an hour-long nightly baseball highlight program (similar in vein to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's ''

Baseball Tonight ''Baseball Tonight'' (stylized as ''Baseball Tonight presented by Chevrolet'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American television program that airs on ESPN. The show, which covers the day's Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since ...

'' and

's ''

MLB Tonight ''MLB Tonight'' is the signature program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers complete coverage of all Major League Baseball games from 6pm ET – 1am ET during the regular season, and gives news from al ...

'') featuring quick-turnaround highlights, and news and analysis from around the league (live look-ins of games being played in progress generally can not be shown on ''Whiparound'', as ''MLB Tonight'' is reserved that right exclusively). It is hosted by

Chris Myers Chris Myers (born ) is an American sportscaster. He has covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Triple Crown, the Olympics, and the Daytona 500. Early life and care ...

, who is joined by one or two analysts rotating between Frank Thomas,

Eric Karros Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Karros played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 2004 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics. He was the Nati ...

Dontrelle Willis Dontrelle Wayne Willis (born January 12, 1982), nicknamed "The D-Train", is an American former left-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinn ...

and C. J. Nitkowski. Although ''Whiparound'' airs most weeknights at 10 p.m., the Wednesday editions are usually delayed to 12 a.m. Eastern Time on weeks when Fox Sports 1 airs a sporting event in prime time during the MLB season (on weeks without predetermined programming conflicts, the program airs in its regular 10 p.m. slot). Also in 2014, Fox Sports 1 began airing ''MLB 162'' (the title being a reference to the total number of games each team plays during the Major League Baseball season), which was hosted by Julie Alexandria. In 2015, Fox Sports 1 began airing ''MLB's Best'', a half-hour weekly show completely containing highlights of the best plays of the previous week in a countdown format, with no host or interviews.

References

External links

*
Searchable Network TV Broadcasts
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FS1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed (TV network), Speed on August 1 ...

American sports television series

Business history

Scheduling history

Monday nights

Tuesday nights

Wednesday nights

Thursday nights

Saturday afternoons

Postseason coverage

Digital on-screen graphics

Theme music

Ratings

Postseason

Saturday afternoons

Commentators and studio personalities

Other MLB related programming

See also

References

External links