Sportscaster Bob Costas is leaving HBO, his cable home for nearly nine years, and joining the recently launched MLB Network. He has hosted Costas Now on HBO since 2005, spanning 66 episodes. Costas has also been a regular contributor to all of the pay cabler’s sports programs, including Inside the NFL (which recently moved to HBO competitor Showtime) and its boxing coverage. Costas remains a contributor to NBC, anchoring the broadcast network's NFL and Olympics coverage.
“Bob Costas was a terrific addition when he joined HBO Sports eight years ago, providing us with a distinct and unique presence,” said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg in a statement. “Television is about change and we respect Bob’s decision to move to the MLB Network.”
“We are very proud of the work Bob did at HBO, and we wish him well in his new endeavor,” he added.
Costas will join MLB Network as a host of special programs and a play-by-play announcer and contributor to some of the network’s live regular season games. He helped launch MLB Network on January 1 by hosting a special with Yankee legends Don Larsen and Yogi Berra.
“In addition to being one of the preeminent sports broadcasters of his generation, Bob also cares very deeply about the game of baseball,” said baseball commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. “We’re glad to reunite him with the game he loves most.”
Costas will interview Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre for MLB Network Studio 42 with Bob Costas which will air on February 5 at 8 p.m.
“I’m especially enthused about the type of programming we’ll be able to create at MLB Network,” Costas said in a statement. “A mix of historical pieces, documentary-style programming, interviews and play-by-play—all the things I most enjoy, and it’s all baseball.”
Costas joins a team of studio hosts and reporters that includes former players and long-time baseball writers on MLB Network, which launched Jan. 1 in 50 million homes.
