Baseball Network scheduled to open January 1st-still seek #1 voice

• UPDATE, 12/18/08: MLB Network now available on Cablevision and Verizon Fios

MLB Network studios are in Secaucus, New Jersey:

• (NY Times): "The project is costing about $54 million, an investment that led New Jersey last month to approve an $8 million employment incentive grant. “This is likely to be our permanent place,” Petitti said.

The architectural plans for the facility look lavish, with two enormous studios (one is designed to look like a ballpark). But the network will be judged by its programming, including the centerpiece “MLB Tonight” studio program, which during the season will offer updates, live game look-ins and wrap-ups from 7 p.m. until at least 1 a.m. Eastern...

• One live regular-season game will be seen on the network on either Thursday or Saturday night.
• But it will be a simulcasted version of a game produced in one of the teams’ local markets, and
• the MLB Network feed will be seen only outside that area.

There will also be archival, hot stove, reality, youth and

• spring training programming, as well as

• World Baseball Classic, minor league and

• Caribbean World Series games.

The roster of commentators is expected to include Harold Reynolds and Al Leiter, but one of Petitti’s tasks will be to hire someone

• to be the undisputed voice of the network....

Baseball is swapping one-third ownership of its channel with DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner and Cox for wide distribution, thus avoiding the kind of ongoing distribution turf war that the NFL Network is having with Big Cable."... Per Neil Best, the MLB Network's board "consists of five owners, two MLB executives and two network partners:"

• (THE USUAL SUSPECTS. There will be much 'consensus'). sm

• "Royals Owner David Glass,
• White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf,
• Red Sox Chair Tom Werner,
• Mets co-Owner Jeff Wilpon and
• A's Owner Lewis Wolff,
• MLB President Bob DuPuy and
• Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan, along with
• DirecTV President Chase Carey and
• Comcast COO Steve Burke.

The CEO is expected to collaborate on a day-to-day basis with Brosnan. MLB Senior VP/Broadcasting Chris Tully is expected to be tapped as COO, reporting to Petitti."

• (Board member list from Neil Best's Watchdog blog, 4/23/08)

P.S. Hank's invitation must have been lost in the mail.....

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