No More TBS Braves Telecast

[Royals Fan]

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp...=.jsp&c_id=atl


found this article looking at the braves website. Sad see it happneed.


07/11/2006 8:26 PM ET
Braves' run on TBS to end in '07
Turner Sports gets exclusive rights to all Division Series games
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

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• Official press release
• MLB, FOX reach seven-year extension


PITTSBURGH -- For more than two decades, TBS was known primarily as the channel that carried Braves games and "The Andy Griffith Show." Beginning next year, it will gain a new identity through its broadcast of postseason baseball.
Just before the start of Tuesday night's All-Star Game at PNC Park, Major League Baseball announced its new television agreement for 2008-2013. Beginning in 2007, the agreement provides Turner Sports -- TBS' governing body -- exclusive broadcasting rights to all Division Series games and 26 Sunday afternoon regular-season broadcasts.

At the same time, TBS announced that next season will be the final one in which it will exclusively air Braves games for a national audience. Beginning in 2008, the only regular-season broadcasts will be those Sunday afternoon contests, which may or may not feature the Braves.

"It's a landmark day for Turner," Turner Sports President David Levy said. "We've been covering baseball either through ownership or television for the last three decades. This brings us into a fourth decade. This is something we're very proud of. We love the relationship with baseball. This adds to it."

Ted Turner's historic decision to begin beaming Braves games to a national audience came in 1977. This is the 30th consecutive season in which the team he formerly owned has benefited from the national attention it receives courtesy of TBS' coverage.

But as TBS has changed its identity and such sitcoms as "Friends" and "Seinfeld" have generated more advertising revenue, the network has started to decrease its Braves coverage. During the 2007 season, it will carry 70 Braves games. After that, the national exclusive relationship between the two will essentially be over.

"Unfortunately, we can't have it all, and some things had to give," said Levy, a staunch Braves fan. "Ultimately, it came down to a financial situation."

Though fans in such places as South Dakota and Oregon won't benefit, WTBS -- the channel's local Atlanta feed -- will carry at least 45 games per season from 2008-13. These games also could be carried on TBS in the club's six-state home territory, which includes Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

With this new agreement, TBS will choose each of its 26 Sunday afternoon broadcasts. The network has the opportunity to choose one team up to 13 times, meaning that the Braves would likely be included in at least a few broadcasts.

Beginning this year and extending through the life of the agreement, TBS will have exclusive broadcasting rights to all tiebreaker games needed to determine division winners or Wild Card entrants. In addition, the network will begin carrying the All-Star Game selection show next year.

But the jewel of the deal for Turner Sports is the exclusive rights to carry all the Division Series games for each of the next seven seasons. If any of the past 15 years are any indication, the Braves will appear in at least a few of those broadcasts.

"Postseason baseball is something Turner has always looked at as an opportunity," Levy said. "We're not a 24-hour sports channel, so we have to pick and choose what we can put on our air and what makes sense for us from a brand standpoint and marketing standpoint. Postseason baseball fits that criteria."


Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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[westofyou]

The station that stood on Teds Shoulders with Barney and Andy will now play nothing but Sex and the City and Family Guy episodes to the horror of most of americas parents.

[KoryMac5]

For years TBS was the only way I would ever get to see the Reds play. Lots of memories from those broadcasts.

[dabvu2498]

The station that stood on Teds Shoulders with Barney and Andy will now play nothing Sex and the City and Family Guy episodes to the horror of most of americas parents.

And me too.

Barney and Andy are getting harder and harder to find these days.

[REDREAD]

How sad is it that reruns of Friends can outdraw baseball? (I'm guessing the higher ad rates mean higher watching). I mean how many times can people watch the same sitcom over and over?

[Jpup]

it's a sad day for baseball. This is much like TNT/TBS dumping wrestling because it wasn't "high brow" enough for them. This would never happen if TBS was still on Ted Turner's watch. It's a shame.

[westofyou]

This would never happen if TBS was still on Ted Turner's watch. It's a shame.

Sure it would, because it's a different era with different competition.

[Reds Fanatic]

I wish they would have put these games on TNT instead of TBS. We could have got them in HD on TNT. TBS is not carried in HD.

[Jpup]

Sure it would, because it's a different era with different competition.

i beg to differ.

[Unassisted]

It could mean that Time-Warner is looking to unload the Braves down the road, which would make some sense, given that they're not a very good fit with TW's core businesses. They may have some plan to have the team's next local TV contract add real value to the team and plump up its bottom line in preparation for a sale.

The deal the team has now probably isn't comparable to what the high bidder would pay and mainly serves to perk up the programming lineup of another TW division.

[macro]

How sad is it that reruns of Friends can outdraw baseball? (I'm guessing the higher ad rates mean higher watching). I mean how many times can people watch the same sitcom over and over?

You gotta remember, though, that in the 80s there were many nights when the Braves were the only baseball on TV, unless the local team was playing on the local station. The Cubs were national on WGN, but they played all their home games during the day. If you were a sports fan, chances are you'd watch the Braves.

These days there's just so much stuff available, and the Braves telecasts must've gotten lost in the shuffle. I shed no tears about this. It saddened me to see my area of Kentucky go from being Reds country in the 70s to having so many Braves and Cubs fans spring up everywhere. The effects of that are still felt today.

[Big Klu]

I miss the old days of TBS--The Addams Family, I Dream Of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show, Sanford & Son, Georgia Championship Wrestling (with Gordon Solie), and Braves baseball.

I always liked the fact that for six series a season (three in Atlanta and three in Cincinnati), the Reds would definitely be on TV in an era when televised games were still somewhat uncommon. And although some folks don't care for him, I've always liked Skip Caray.

A sad day for baseball fans.

[Chip R]

It could mean that Time-Warner is looking to unload the Braves down the road, which would make some sense, given that they're not a very good fit with TW's core businesses. They may have some plan to have the team's next local TV contract add real value to the team and plump up its bottom line in preparation for a sale.

The deal the team has now probably isn't comparable to what the high bidder would pay and mainly serves to perk up the programming lineup of another TW division.

Looking? IIRC, the team has been on the block for a while now.

Yeah, they had a real sweetheart deal with TBS back in the day. Since TBS paid the Braves only a part of what the rights were worth, the Braves could hide revenue that way. I believe that is called a related party transaction.

This is good news for baseball fans. Like macro said, local teams have lost a generation of fans to ATL and the Cubs because their games were on so much for no extra charge.

[Heath]

Does this mean that Don Sutton and Chip Caray are national?

[Unassisted]

Looking? IIRC, the team has been on the block for a while now.

This is good news for baseball fans. Like macro said, local teams have lost a generation of fans to ATL and the Cubs because their games were on so much for no extra charge.

I had in the back of my mind I had heard the club was for sale, but I was too lazy to look it up.

I agree with your point that the demise of the baseball Superstations could be a good thing for increasing interest in the local brands of MLB.