; 7 years ago 2009 01 01 owned by major league baseball 67 % directv 16.67 % nbc sports group 5.44 % charter communications 5.44 % cox communications 5.44 % 1 picture format 720p hdtv hd feed downgraded to letterboxed 480i for sdtvs slogan our national pastime all the time get caught looking country united states language english and spanish broadcast area united states canada latin america headquarters one mlb network plaza secaucus new jersey sister channel s mlb network radio nhl network website mlbnetwork.com availability satellite directv us 213 mlb network hd sd 213 1 mlb network alternate hd sd 719 mlb strike zone hd sd directv latin america 656 dish network 152 hd sd 478 hd sd alternate feed cable available on many u.s. cable systems check local listings rogers cable canada 415 hd sd ontario systems only satellite radio xm 89 sirius 209 iptv verizon fios mlb network 586 hd 86 sd mlb strike zone 834 hd at & t u verse 1634 hd 634 sd vmedia canada 77 sd mlb network is an american television sports channel dedicated to baseball . it is primarily owned by major league baseball 2 with television providers comcast through its nbc sports group directv charter communications and cox communications having minority ownership . 3 the channel s headquarters and studios are located in the secaucus new jersey 4 facility which formerly housed msnbc s studios . mlb network s studios also house nhl network with some studio sharing which came under the management of mlb advanced media in mid 2015 and transferred most operations from the network s former toronto home base . tony petitti former executive producer of cbs sports was named the network s first president . petitti served as mlb network s president until december 2014 when he was appointed as chief operating officer of major league baseball . rob mcglarry who worked as senior and later executive vice president of business affairs at mlb network since 2009 was named the network s second president . 5 as of february 2015 mlb network is available to approximately 69 991 000 television households 60.1 % of cable satellite and telco customers in the united states . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 carriage 1.1.1 satellite radio 1.1.2 canadian carriage 2 high definition and 4k 3 on air staff 4 programming 4.1 live game coverage 4.1.1 regular season 4.1.2 postseason 4.1.3 international 4.1.4 spring training 4.1.5 other games 4.1.6 fox saturday baseball pre game show 4.2 daily shows 4.3 other 4.4 documentaries 4.5 repeats 5 mlb strike zone 6 studios 7 see also 8 references history edit major league baseball became the fourth major north american professional sports league to launch its own 24 hour cable network . nba tv dates back to 1999 the nhl network to 2001 though not in the united states until 2007 and the nfl network to 2003 . however mlb network is carried in the most households of these four networks as it is available on all of the top ten video operators in the united states . mlb network soft launched on december 16 2008 with a rolling automated loop of archival programming and promotions for the network for cable systems that carried the network s transmissions leading up to the january 1 launch . the channel fully launched at 6 pm est with the premiere of hot stove . in april 2012 mlb network s standard definition feed shifted to a 16 9 letterbox format . both of the network s sd and hd feeds now show the same format . on april 4 2016 mlb network debuted a new on air graphics package optimized for the 16 9 format replacing the previous on air look used since the network s new year s day 2009 launch . carriage edit the network has signed contracts with numerous cable and satellite carriers including directv dish network verizon fios cablevision charter comcast cox communications time warner cable bright house networks and at & t uverse . in a deal that was pioneered by other sports league owned channels mlb tied carriage of the mlb network to the ability to carry the popular out of market mlb extra innings package . in return cable and satellite providers were offered a minority share of the new network . satellite radio edit on march 26 2010 it was announced that satellite radio station mlb home plate will be rebranded to mlb network radio which will simulcast some mlb network programs such as mlb tonight and hot stove . the switchover began on april 4 the first day of the 2010 mlb season . 7 canadian carriage edit at launch no announcement was made about mlb network availability in canada home of the toronto blue jays . network officials had been in contact with blue jays owner rogers communications owner of rogers cable the largest cable provider in canada about making mlb network available in canada but emphasized prior to the channel s launch that a deal was not imminent . 8 in august 2008 rogers secured canadian radio television and telecommunications commission crtc approval for a canadian digital channel tentatively called baseball tv . 9 this license could have been used to launch a localized version of mlb network with domestic advertising and additional canadian content along the lines of nba tv canada which is owned by the parent company of the toronto raptors but uses much of the content of the league s u.s. channel nba tv . it was reported initially that rogers intended to pursue this approach to bring mlb network to canada . 10 however the licence was issued on the condition the channel launch by august 2011 which did not occur . 9 rogers ultimately agreed to sponsor mlb network s request to be added to the crtc s list of approved foreign television services which would permit canadian cable and satellite providers to import the american feed as has occurred previously with similar niche sports services such as big ten network nfl network and golf channel . 11 the application was published for public comment on june 13 2012 12 and was approved on november 21 2012 . 13 in the interim the rogers owned sportsnet one aired selected programs from mlb network including quick pitch and intentional talk . 11 mlb network was added to rogers cable systems in ontario on january 8 2014 in both standard and high definition . 14 15 16 on june 3 2015 sasktel announced that it would begin carrying mlb network . 17 high definition and 4k edit the 720p high definition simulcast of mlb network launched simultaneously to the regular channel . after much discussion mlb network decided to use the 720p format instead of 1080 line interlace because it believes 720p shows the motion of baseball more accurately and will degrade less when recompressed by cable operators to save bandwidth most of the regional fox sports networks use the same format . as mark haden vp of engineering and it of mlb network says that s our best shot of maintaining quality to viewers . 18 all studio programs and original shows are shot in hd as well as all self produced games such as those of the 2009 world baseball classic and thursday night baseball as well as simulcasted locally produced games . the network also remastered 30 world series films in high definition . 19 on april 14 2016 it was announced that 25 mlb network showcase games will be broadcast in 4k ultra high definition exclusively on directv in the 2016 season beginning april 15 . 20 on air staff edit main article list of mlb network personalities programming edit live game coverage edit regular season edit mlb network airs several live games a week . these games are blacked out in the participating markets of the two teams unless listed otherwise . blacked out markets receive an alternate game or pre taped programming . mlb network showcase mlb network s weekly presentation of self produced non exclusive games on tuesday thursday or friday nights . bob costas matt vasgersian and occasionally jim kaat do play by play . normally jim kaat or john smoltz provide color commentary with al leiter joe magrane dan plesac sean casey harold reynolds or bill ripken also providing occasional color commentary . tom verducci or sam ryan handle on field reporting . other night games mlb network airs games on tuesday friday and saturday nights simulcast from one team s local tv broadcaster . on tuesday nights mlb network features doubleheader coverage with an early east coast game followed by a later west coast one . 21 mlb matinee mlb network airs a series of weekday afternoon games throughout the regular season . 22 as with night games these matinee games feature simulcasts of one team s local telecast . minor league baseball mlb network will occasionally pick up minor league baseball games being broadcast by its cable tv partners . this has included triple a and double a games along with some minor leagues all star games . postseason edit in 2012 mlb network aired its first ever postseason telecasts . the first telecast took place on october 7 and featured the detroit tigers hosting the oakland athletics at comerica park in detroit for game two of the 2012 alds . matt vasgersian called the game alongside analyst jim kaat . the second telecast took place on october 10 and featured the washington nationals hosting the st. louis cardinals at nationals park in washington d.c. for game three of the 2012 nlds ; this was the nationals first home postseason game since moving to washington d.c. at the start of the 2005 season . bob costas provided the play by play commentary alongside analyst jim kaat . 23 international edit international live game coverage self produced by mlb network includes the world baseball classic and the caribbean series . 2 the 2014 sydney cricket ground opening series from syndey between the dodgers and diamondbacks was a co production between mlb network and espn australia along with the nine network gem which held the home rights for the broadcasts . starting 2015 season mlb network produces mlb international coverage of the mlb all star game and the world series . spring training edit the channel also airs live and tape delayed spring training games simulcasted from one of the team s local tv rights holder s feed or if not available the spring training complex s internal scoreboard video feed with team radio network audio . these games are also subject to local blackouts . other games edit the channel also carries live development league games and occasionally live college games . in august 2009 they aired youth baseball championships including the rbi world series and the cal ripken world series . it also airs some games of the arizona fall league including the championship . fox saturday baseball pre game show edit in 2012 mlb network took over the pre game production responsibilities for the mlb on fox package producing fox saturday baseball and postseason pre game shows from secaucus and on location . the show featured matt vasgersian or greg amsinger and two analysts from a rotating roster of mlb network s personalities eric byrnes kevin millar dan plesac harold reynolds bill ripken or mitch williams . 24 the show used fox s graphics and theme songs . fox took back control of the pregame show in 2014 when the game of the week package was eliminated . daily shows edit mlb network produces promos for its current mlb network original series which air on regular basis as well as for films that mlb network broadcast . mlb network also airs promos for special events that it airs and different games that it broadcast live . an mlb network ballpark cam at yankee stadium . mlb tonight the signature show of