In an active Thursday for sports programming carriage agreements driven by Major League Baseball's Opening Day, Hulu + Live TV has announced the addition of MLB Network to its channel lineup. 

Carriage of MLB Network will make another 100-plus nationally televised MLB games, plus preview and post-game shows, available to the virtual MVPD's subscribers, starting Thursday, adding to the pro baseball coverage Hulu + Live TV already delivers via FOX, Turner Sports and ESPN. 

The 2024 MLB season starts for most of the league's teams on Thursday. 

The Hulu announcement followed an early-Thursday-morning press release from Fubo, touting a new carriage deal with New York Yankees regional sports channel the Yes Network. 

Also, MLB announced that it in addition to distributing local TV access to Colorado Rockies games via DTC streaming, it has also set up linear channels locally for the team with Charter Communications, Comcast, DirecTV and Fubo. 

The Rockies were cast out of the RSN system last fall, when Warner Bros. Discovery shuttered AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain. 

As if Major League Baseball didn't have enough TV distribution problems to deal with as it gets ready for the Feb. 24 official start to Spring Training, its signature cable channel, the MLB Network, was pulled from the top virtual pay TV service, YouTube TV, earlier this week in a carriage dispute. 

With an unofficial mid-2022 tally of around 5 million subscribers, YouTube TV now ranks at the fifth largest pay TV service in America, so this is a meaningful carriage impasse.

“With Spring Training about to start, we regret that YouTube TV has been unwilling to negotiate a fair carriage agreement," Major League Baseball said in a statement. "MLB Network has offered terms consistent with what close to 300 other U.S. providers have agreed to for distribution.”

For MLB, the carriage battle comes as it gets ready for a major meltdown of its regional sports network ecosystem, with 16 teams impacted by what now appears to be an imminent bankruptcy filing by Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group subsidiary.

Debt-ridden Diamond operates 19 Bally Sports channels, which serve as the RSN home to 14 MLB teams. Additionally, Diamond co-owns RSNs with the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. 

And at least in terms of subscriber growth, the loss of the MLB Network could represent a consequential loss for YouTube TV, too, if the matter isn't resolved soon. 

MLB Network, which carries live regular season MLB games and popular studio shows, isn't cheap to license. A pricing sheet leaked by a virtual MVPD to analyst Dan Rayburn four years ago pegged carriage of the network at $2 a subscriber. That ranks it in the upper tier of pay TV channels, price-wise, ahead of other signicant pro sports league-owned channels, including the NFL's coveted RedZone network. Renewal demands have almost certainly risen over the last four years. 

However, carriage of channels featuring live sports has become a differentiator amid the super-competitive vMVPD race. Notably, Sling TV made the pricy decision to add access to ABC owned stations in eight major markets this week, upping the price of the service by $5 in those areas, but also giving affected subscribers accesws to the NBA Finals, sans over-the-air antenna, when they air exclusively on ABC in about five months. 

YouTube TV still carries Turner Networks, FOX and ESPN, so the bulk of live MLB games shown in the pay TV ecosystem are still available. But competitors including DirecTV Stream and Hulu + Live TV carry those channels, too, in addition to the MLB Network. 

The real pain could be felt by sports fans, many of whom are growing tired of having their pay TV service suddenly enter into carriage disputes right before coveted events. 

This Reddit post, first uncovered by TheVerge, says it all:

YouTube TV on Tuesday pulled MLB Network from its programming lineup after failing to reach a new distribution deal, according to a notice sent to the distributor's subscribers.

Along with losing access to MLB Network on YouTube TV's basic tier, the distributor's subscribers will also lose any network-based recorded programming. Subscribers will still be able to watch live national baseball games via Fox, ESPN and TBS as part of the distributor’s $65 basic plan. 

“We have held good faith negotiations with MLB for several months to renew our deal to continue carrying their content on YouTube TV. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a new agreement before our existing one expired,” a YouTube TV spokesperson said. “Starting today, January 31, 2023, the MLB Network will no longer be available on YouTube TV.”

The loss of MLB Network comes within weeks of the start of Major League Baseball’s spring training and less than two months before the start of its regular season. 

MLB said in a statement: “With Spring Training about to start, we regret that YouTube TV has been unwilling to negotiate a fair carriage agreement. MLB Network has offered terms consistent with what close to 300 other U.S. providers have agreed to for distribution. With the great demand and value for live baseball content, Major League Baseball’s commitment to MLB Network now and in the future is stronger than ever before, and we remain open and committed to reaching an agreement with YouTube TV as soon as possible. ■  

The July 4 holiday weekend slate of live TV sports events begins on the football field as the upstart USFL concludes its inaugural season with its Championship Game between the Birmingham Stallions and Philadelphia Stars.

Also on tap for the weekend is WNBA action as ESPN televises the Phoenix Mercury-Chicago Sky contest on Saturday as well as Sunday’s Washington Mystics-Connecticut Sun contest. Also on Sunday, NBA TV will air the Seattle Storm-Atlanta Dream game and CBSSN will televise the New York Liberty-Los Angeles Sparks game.

On the links, CBS and the Golf Channel will offer coverage of the final rounds of the John Deere Classic PGA tournament.

On the racetrack, NBC Sunday will air the Honda Indy 200 IndyCar Series race, while USA Network will televise the NASCAR Cup Series Kwik Trip 250 race and ESPN covers the British Grand Prix Formula One race.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 276 pay-per-view bout between Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier.

ESPN will continue its Wimbledon tennis tournament coverage throughout the three-day holiday weekend. On Monday, ESPNNews will telecast live the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Peacock’s Sunday afternoon baseball game will feature the Kansas City Royals against the Detroit Tigers, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup pits the St. Louis Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies.

NBC, Peacock and USA Network on Saturday will offer live coverage of the Tour de France cycling event, with USA and Peacock offering third-round coverage on Sunday.

MLB Network will offer a full day of Independence Day baseball games featuring five regional telecasts scheduled to begin as early as 11 a.m., according to the network. ■

MLB Network has cut ties with star reporter Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal has been on the baseball beat for over 25 years, and is a senior baseball writer at The Athletic. 

“Can confirm MLB Network has decided not to bring me back,“ Rosenthal said on Twitter. ”I’m grateful for the more than 12 years I spent there, and my enduring friendships with on-air personalities, producers and staff. I always strove to maintain my journalistic integrity, and my work reflects that.”  

The New York Post previously wrote of Rosenthal’s departure, saying it is tied to the bow-tied reporter’s criticism of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “Rosenthal, a top news breaker, was first kept off the air for around three months, according to sources, after he wrote columns in 2020 — with the season in jeopardy due to the pandemic — analyzing Manfred’s handling of the situation for The Athletic,” said the Post. 

Major League Baseball owns MLB Network, alongside a clutch of cable companies. 

“As MLB Network continues to look at fresh ways to bring baseball to our viewers, there is a natural turnover in our talent roster that takes place each year,” an MLB spokesman told The NY Post. “Ken played a significant part at MLB Network over the last 13 years. From spring training to the winter meetings, we thank him for his work across MLB Network’s studio, game and event programming, and wish him the very best going forward.” 

Rosenthal continues to work for The Athletic and for Fox Sports.

The lineup of live TV sports events happening this week starts in the squared ring Saturday night as ESPN and Fox Sports distribute via pay-per-view the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder heavyweight championship fight.

The event marks the third fight between the two heavyweight champions, with Fury defeating Wilder in their second fight in 2020 and both boxers fighting to a draw in 2018. 

Action from Major League Baseball’s Divisional playoffs continue on Saturday with TBS airing game two of the Atlanta Hawks-Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants series. MLB Network on Sunday will carry Game 3 of the Tampa Bay Rays- Boston Red Sox series, while FS1 will carry Game 3 of the Houston Astros-Chicago White Sox matchup.

NBC on Sunday will provide coverage of the NASCAR Cup Bank of America Roval 400 race while ESPN will air the Formula One Turkish Grand Prix race. 

The NFL will continue its week five schedule with Sunday afternoon regional games on Fox and CBS and a NBC Sunday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

Week six of the college football season kicks off Saturday with seven of the top 10 teams in action on national television. Top-ranked Alabama looks to continue its undefeated season against Texas A&M on CBS, while No. 2 Georgia faces No. 18 Auburn, also on CBS. No.3 Iowa takes on No. 4 Penn State in a major Big Ten Conference matchup on Fox, while No. 6 Oklahoma battles No. 21 Texas on ABC. Other games include no. 7 Ohio State-Maryland (Fox), No. 9 Michigan-Nebraska (ABC) and No. 10 BYU-Boise State (ABC). 

There’s a new purpose-built Major League Baseball field in Dyersville, Iowa, set to host the first MLB game ever in the state, on the farm where the 1989 movie Field of Dreams was shot. The game is on Thursday, Aug. 12, between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. The ballpark is surrounded by 159 acres of corn and there's a corn maze beyond the right field fence, near the Field of Dreams Movie Site. The teams will wear special uniforms inspired by what their predecessors wore in the early 20th Century. 

So it’s been built. Will a big nationwide audience tune in when this experiment in sports and cinema nostalgia gets underway with pre-game hoopla starting at 6 p.m. ET on Fox?

Fox and MLB obviously hope so. Planning took about two years, interrupted by the COVID pandemic that kiboshed efforts to stage the game in 2020 (the movie’s 30th anniversary). Fox is showing the game in 4K HDR, using aerial production drones for the first time at an MLB game along with two wireless “Megalodon” cameras for up-close angles and a cabled Flycam that can travel from the movie set to the ballpark. 

“We're excited,” Fox Sports Media Group senior VP of production Judy Boyd told B+C last week. “And figuring out how we capture this magical feel with the Yankees and White Sox, but also keeping the essence of the film and what this film means to a lot of families, and fathers and sons, and mothers and sons, and fathers and daughters, et cetera, just how it impacted everybody. … It's a generational sport that many families watch together, and we hope to capture that.”

“We’re trying to find that line of, are you watching a movie, are you watching a ballgame?” Boyd said. “And that’s a line that we’re still trying to toe and figure out a little bit. We definitely have lots of the movie interspersed in, whether it’s with hopefully some of the actors from the film there, or clips from the film, as well as shots of families watching the game or the house and the film field. And then whatever storylines we have within the game from the two teams.” 

Also read: Peacock Orders 'Field of Dreams' Series

The Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, for example, is part of a famous baseball family, with his grandfather Ray, his father Bob and his brother Bret and himself all having played in the major leagues successfully, Boyd noted. Several current MLB stars had famous dads who played the game, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. Families and baseball go together, which was a big theme of the movie, starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan. (Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, played by Costner, a husband and father, is tending his cornfield when he hears a voice say: “If you build it, he will come.” When Kinsella builds a ballfield, ghosts of famous players from the past, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, come out of the corn to play ball.) 

Other nods to a bygone era of baseball will include new graphics, Boyd said. “We redesigned our ‘Fox Box’ to look more like an old-school scoreboard, where the numbers are flipping like they would at Fenway or Wrigley,” she said. Real GEICO ad signs will be brought out onto the field and hung up behind the plate, instead of the green-screen virtual ads normally there.

Challenges include “broadcasting from a cornfield in Iowa,” with no stadium fiber for connectivity, she noted. “It’s been difficult, not impossible just hard, in figuring out how to do that the right way without sacrificing our quality and what we want to do.”

They couldn’t build it in 2020, but it’s ready now, and Fox and MLB are hoping other external events will cooperate, including the weather. “Fingers crossed,” Boyd said. (The forecast looked fairly good as of Tuesday night.)

MLB Network showed the movie, which was nominated for a best-picture Oscar in 1990, this past weekend, and the network’s Intentional Talk program will air live from Field of Dreams on Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 11 and 12) at 5 p.m. ET. A teaser promo that has been airing on MLB Network is here. Actors Dwier Brown and Kevin Costner have been confirmed to attend the game in Dyersville, as well. 

Joe Buck and John Smoltz will call the game on Fox, with Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci working the news on the sidelines at the new ballpark. The Fox Deportes production will feature Adrian Garcia Marquez, Carlos Alvarez and Edgar Gonzalez. 

The final rounds of the March Madness men's and women's college basketball tournaments and the return of Major League Baseball highlight the first full weekend of April.

The four remaining teams in the men’s college basketball tournament will face off Saturday night on CBS. Houston will face Baylor in the first matchup, with UCLA battling top-seeded Gonzaga in the second game. The winners will face each other in the finals on Monday night on CBS. 

ESPN on Sunday will televise the women’s college basketball tournament championship game pitting Arizona against Stanford.

Major League Baseball will take the field for the first weekend of its 2021 regular season with national games Saturday on MLB Network (Toronto vs. New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox vs LA Angels), as well as FS1 (Atlanta vs Philadelphia and LA Dodgers vs Colorado). On Sunday, ESPN will carry the Atlanta vs Philadelphia and Chicago White Sox vs LA Angels games, while MLB Network airs the Arizona vs San Diego contest.

On the NBA front, the LA Clippers-LA Lakers will continue their intra-city rivalry Sunday on ABC, while on the NHL ice NBC will telecast the Detroit-Tampa Bay contest. High school basketball will also be in play Sunday as CBS airs the Slam Dunk & 3-Point championship event.

Also on Sunday, NBC and the Golf Channel will team to carry the final round of the  PGA Texas Open golf tournament, while FS1 will air the finals of the Pro Bowling Association’s USBC Masters tournament. 

Long-time cable financial analyst Tom Wolzien’s Video Call Center, a technology that enables programmers to manage live video call-in shows with viewers via their smartphones, laptops and tablets, has struck a partnership with Major League Baseball, integrating its cloud technology and computer systems within MLB Network’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J.

“As one of the world’s great sports brands, MLB has an exceptionally active fan-base and engaged viewers, who want to interact one-on-one with their heroes,” VCC CEO Larry Thaler said in a statement. “The Video Call Center is very proud that its video calling platform has been chosen by MLB as the foundation for building next-generation engagement experiences for its fans.”

The technology will address several production requirements for MLB, according to VCC, including: 

• Expanding the number of fans that can participate with the flexibility to enable callers from anywhere in the world to connect from smartphones, laptops and tablets using a variety of native IP video calling apps including Apple FaceTime and Google’s Web-RTC format (via Gruveo), which require no downloads for callers, as well as Skype; 
• Dramatically improving call quality using patented technology from the VCC that delivers proven call reliability in excess of 99%;
• Meeting MLB’s highest quality production requirements with the VCC’s caller acquisition technology, including proprietary audio processing that cleanly interfaces with MLB’s existing control rooms; and
• Providing support for multiple simultaneous callers.

In addition to technical support, VCC also is providing training services to MLB personnel.

National cable sports network FS1 scored the most Sports Emmy Awards during ceremony held Tueaday night in New York.

FS1 took home nine Sports Emmys to top all cable and broadcast networks, according to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Sister broadcast network Fox finished second with seven awards, according to the Academy.

HBO and NBC tied for third with five awards, while CBS, ESPN and MLB Network garnered four awards each.

Overall, the Fox Sports Media Group earned 18 Sports Emmys, followed by the NBC Sports Group with 15 statuettes. NBC’s coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics won the most Sports Emmys with four, followed by two awards each for Fox’s New England Patriots-Altanta Falcons Super Bowl coverage and the network's coverage of the classic 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians, as well as HBO’s long-running magazine show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.

“Tonight we salute the competence, skill and grandeur that is the sports broadcasting industry,” said Bob Mauro, President, NATAS in a statement. “In addition to celebrating the outstanding work by this evening’s nominees, we are pleased to honor Brent Musburger for his long and prolific career and present him with the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The Summer Olympics in Rio dominated TV-related social media posts on Facebook and Twitter Tuesday night (Aug. 16) with more than 3 million uniques, according to Nielsen Social.

"Uniques" are defined as "social media accounts that have authored original content related to a linear TV episode or engaged with that content."

The Olympics aired was across six networks -- CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, NBC Universo, NBCSN, USA Network -- over several hours, with 3,410,000 Facebook uniques and 488,000 Twitter accounts.

In fact, sports (and faux sports) programming took three of the top four social spots, with the Red Sox and Orioles game on MLB Network placing third, with 102,000 uniques, and WWE Smackdown on USA placing fourth, with 87,000 uniques

Second for the night was Freeform's Pretty Little Liars, with 260,000 uniques.

After a couple of swings and misses, DirecTV says it’s ready to connect on its plan to broadcast tonight’s New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox matchup in 4K.

In partnership with MLB Network, the game from Fenway Park is set to start at 7 p.m., and will be offered in the 4K format to eligible subscribers on DirecTV channel 106.

The decision to go forward with tonight’s 4K broadcast comes after some recent set-backs.

Last week’s 4K broadcast of the Cubs-Cardinals game was relegated to an internal test, which followed a decision to postpone DirecTV’s first scheduled 4K MLB broadcast on April 15 between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers due to a “technical issue” with a third party’s field production truck.  

DirecTV, which recently  launched of three channels dedicated to 4K, originally planned to offer  25 MLB games in 4K during the regular season. The current 4K MLB broadcast schedule has eight games listed.

To get 4K, DirecTV subs need a Genie HD DVR (model HR54) or later and a 4K Genie Mini if they do not own a “DirecTV Ready” 4K TV. They’ll also need to pay for a professional install, which runs $50, and must be on the satellite TV provider’s Ultimate or Premiere package.

AT&T is following up its partial coverage of the Masters golf tournament in 4K with plans to offer 25 Major League Baseball games in the pixel-packed format, starting with Friday’s matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That game, to be called by MLB Network's Bob Costas, Harold Reynold, Tom Verducci and Sam Ryan, will mark the first live 4K telecast of a MLB game in the U.S., said AT&T, which acquired DirecTV last July.

North of the border, Canadian MSOs Rogers Communications is offering all 81 home games of the Toronto Blue Jays in the format on Sportsnet, one element of a grander 4K initiative. 

AT&T said Friday’s game will be the first in a string of “MLB Network Showcase” games offered in 4K/Ultra HD.  Others on tap for April include the Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals (April 19); and the New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox tilts on April 29 and April 30. The 4K feeds of those games will be delivered on channel 106. 

Those 4K games also come on the heels of DirecTV’s launch of three channels dedicated to 4K.  To access them, DirecTV subs will need a Genie HD DVR (model HR54) or later and a 4K Genie Mini if they do not own a “DirecTV Ready” 4K TV. They’ll also need to spring for a professional install, which runs $50, and must be on the provider’s Ultimate or Premiere package.

Timed to see the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers compete in the 2015 pennant race, Grande Communications, the Texas-based broadband and TV provider, has launched MLB Network and the MLB Network Strike Zone look-in channel, on the Ultra Sports Tier package. MLB Network is on on HD channel 922 and SD channel 133. MLB Network Strike Zone is on channel 923.

“We are thrilled to bring MLB Network and MLB Network Strike Zone to Grande customers, especially as the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers compete in the 2015 pennant races,” Rob McGlarry, president of MLB Network, said in a release. “This partnership is in line with our goal to make MLB Network available as widely as possible, and Grande customers will now have the opportunity to receive the only network on television committed to covering baseball 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

“Grande is dedicated to providing customers with an extensive lineup of sports coverage. We are excited to deliver more Major League Baseball as part of our ongoing effort to enhance our customers’ experience,” Matt Rohre, senior vice president of operations and general manager of Grande Communications, said in the release. “This new channel carriage is a direct result of customer requests, especially as the season comes to the exciting finish, with playoffs around the corner.”

MLB Network launched in January 2009 in 50 million homes and is currently distributed in approximately 70 million homes throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Grande operates in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, San Marcos, Waco, Temple, Corpus Christi, Midland and Odessa. 

Matt Kemp's eighth-inning homer (pictured) allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to even their National League Division Series with the St. Louis Cardinals at a game apiece and helped push MLB Network to record Nielsen marks on Saturday night. 

MLBN's exclusive telecast of the tight contest on Oct. 4 generated a 1.7 coverage rating and 1.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. Those deliveries topped the network's previous highs for Game 2 of the 2012 American League Division Series between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland A's by 31% and 38%, respectively.

Saturday night's telecast peasked  with 2.2 million in the 12:45 a.m. (Oct. 5) quarter hour.

Baseball's in-house service will televise Game 3 of the other NLDS battle between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants from AT&T Park at 3 p.m. (ET) on Monday, Oct. 6. Matt Vasgersian, John Smoltz and Sam Ryan will be on  the call.

MLB Network, coming off the most-watched quarter in its history, is looking to maintain its Nielsen momentum with a host of special programming centering next week’s All-Star Game festivities.

The service will present coverage of the goings-on around the Mid-Summer Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis, provide game coverage of two contests potentially showcasing future all-stars and allow viewers to get in the front row with Bob Uecker (pictured), aka “Mr. Baseball.”

Anchored by live coverage from Target Field, featuring Greg Amsinger, Sean Casey, Peter Gammons, Brian Kenny, Al Leiter, Kevin Millar, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, Chris Rose, Ken Rosenthal, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci, Heidi Watney and Matt Yallof, MLB Network will present All-Star media day on Monday, July 14 at 1 p.m. (ET), when American and National League managers John Farrell and Mike Matheny announce the starting pitchers for the junior and senior circuits.

Coverage will shift to the ballpark with four hours of shows live from batting practice for the Gillette Home Run Derby at Target Field, starting with High Heat with Christopher Russo at 4 p.m., Intentional Talk presented by Dairy Queen with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose at 5 p.m. and MLB Tonight presented by Firestone at 6 p.m., plus a highlight-filled MLB Tonight after the Home Run Derby.

On Tuesday, July 15, MLB Network will highlight all of the 2014 All-Stars as they make their way to Target Field on the All-Star Red Carpet Show presented by Chevrolet at 3 p.m.

Throughout All-Star Week, MLB Network will share behind-the-scenes photos from its sets at Target Field and the MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show via its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.

Exclusive footage of Minneapolis' own The Hold Steady  will be showcased throughout MLBN's All-Star Week programming, including video filmed at the band's performance in Minnesota last week.

MLBN will televise the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game for the first time on Sunday, July 13 at 5 p.m. with Matt Vasgersian, Casey, Watney and MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo on the call live from Target Field. Comprised of players from all levels of the minors, the U.S. and World teams feature 15 former first round draft picks, six players picked in Compensation Round A and five second-round picks.  

The service will also present the 27th annual Triple-A All-Star Game for the fifth time on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. with MLB Network’s Paul Severino, Darryl Hamilton, Sam Ryan and Baseball America editor in chief John Manuel on the mics from Durham Bulls Athletic Ballpark in Durham, N.C.

MLBN has also lined up a one-hour original special in tribute to the Milwaukee Brewers’ beloved radiocaster, Uecker . Hank Aaron, Bob Costas, Dick Ebersol, Tim McCarver, Al Michaels, Major League director David Ward and commissioner Bud Selig come together to share stories in Mr. Baseball, Bob Uecker on Thursday, July 17 at 7 p.m. Narrated by actor Tom Berenger, the hour-long special looks back on Uecker's brief career as a big-league backstop and his 43-year broadcasting run, including new interviews with the man himself and highlights from Major League, his Miller Lite commercials, and his appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

For his part, Costas interviews award-winning actor Kevin Costner during Field of Dreams: Twenty-Five Years Later in the hour immediately following the Ueckfest. Filmed last month at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa at the silver anniversary celebration of the film’s release, Costner recounts stories of the making of the movie in this one-hour special. Also featured are Field of Dreams co-stars Timothy Busfield (Mark) and Dwier Brown (John Kinsella), with whom Costner recreates their famous catch in the film's final scene.

MLBN connected on the most-watched quarter in its history from Nielsen's April through June period, averaging 206,000 viewers in primetime, and 105,000 on a total-day measure, according to the measurement company.  The deliveries over the first three months of the 2014 season mark 12% and 27% gains from the first half of the 2013 campaign.

A further breakdown shows that April ranks as the most-watched month in the service’s history, garnering 253,000 and 126,000 in primetime and total-day. May and June 2014 stand as the most-watched for the service with respective total-day amelioration of 24% and 11% from the corresponding months in 2013.

Its coverage of ballgames aside, MLBN benefited from a 62% time slot increase with rookie show, High Heat with Christopher Russo, and double-digit gains from The Rundown (42%), MLB Now (25%), Intentional Talk (16%), MLB Tonight (30%) and Quick Pitch (20%) over their second-quarter 2013 marks.

It was a very busy off-season for MLB Network.

Baseball’s in-house service renewed all of its expiring carriage deals with the top 10 MPVDs and a slew of other carriers, and has broadened the base for its ad-hoc scoring and highlights networks, MLB Network Strike Zone.

Launching in 2009 in some 50 million homes, MLB Network’s initial round of affiliate agreements were co-terminus, concluding on Dec. 31. The spate of renewals with all of the major distributors, as well as smaller players, plus the addition of 20 newcomers, including Armstrong, Shenteland Fidelity Communications and the service’s first push north of the border with Rogers Cable, pushed MLB Network’s sub count to 70 million on Opening Day. That marked a 40% jump from its first pitch five years ago.

Network officials indicate that this set of deals have staggered term lengths, and include TV Everywhere rights for 24/7 streaming simulcasts of the network, including the ballgames. All told, MLB Network will air some 150 regular-season contests, plus a pair of games in the Division Series round of the playoffs.

The network declined to comment on the value of its monthly license fee. SNL Kagan estimated that figure at 23 cents per month in 2014.

Relative to MLB Network Strike Zone, which was rolled out during the 2012 as an added-value component for affiliates, the ad hoc channel is now carried by six of the top 10 distributors, as Cox and AT&T U-verse have joined veterans Bright House, DirecTV, Dish and Time Warner Cable.

MLB Network Strike Zone, which whizzes viewers on a trip around MLB on Tuesday and Friday nights during the regular season with up-to-the-minute highlights, live look-ins and updates, can also be accessed on systems/video platforms owned by BELD, Buckeye CableSystem, Celect Communications, Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications, EPB Chattanooga, Google Fiber, ITV-3, OpenBand Multimedia, Service Electric Cable TV Inc. and Telapex.