Braves TBS Baseball
| Braves Baseball on TBS | |
|---|---|
| Presented by |
Skip Caray Pete Van Wieren Joe Simpson Don Sutton Ernie Johnson Chip Caray (for other commentators and announcers, see below) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes (varies depending on game length) |
| Production company(s) | Turner Sports |
| Release | |
| Original network | TBS |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | April 1973 – September 30, 2007 (occasional broadcasts as part of leaguewide package since) |
Braves TBS Baseball (or Braves Baseball on TBS) was a presentation of regular season Major League Baseball game telecasts featuring the Atlanta Braves National League franchise that aired on the American cable and satellite network TBS. The games were produced by Turner Sports, the sports division of the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, TBS's corporate parent. The program, which made its debut in 1973, ended national broadcasts in 2007.
TBS phased out its national coverage of Braves baseball after it was awarded a MLB-wide national broadcast contract effective in 2008. WPCH-TV, the rebranded former originating signal of the TBS superstation feed, retained Atlanta-market rights to a partial schedule of Braves games through 2013, but primary rights moved to cable regional sports networks, eventually settling with Fox Sports South. TBS may select Braves games for national broadcast on equal grounds with other MLB clubs, but their national broadcast would be blacked out in the Braves' MLB-designated territory if the regional rights-holder carries the game as well.
Coverage of the Atlanta Braves was perhaps TBS's signature program during its early years. Ted Turner – who had purchased WJRJ-TV (channel 17) in January 1970 (changing its call letters to WTCG shortly after the sale was finalized), when the station was simply a UHF independent station available primarily within the Atlanta market – shocked Atlanta media observers by acquiring the rights to Braves games after the 1972 season, taking them from NBC affiliate WSB-TV (channel 2, now an ABC affiliate), which had carried the team's games since the Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966 (however, WSB-TV's sister radio station, WSB (AM), continued to hold rights to radio broadcasts of the games for years afterward). The acquisition of television rights to the Braves was particularly striking given that WTCG had experienced major profit losses ever since Turner took over the station; channel 17's revenue was only then starting to break even and the station became more competitive among the Atlanta market's television outlets ratings-wise. Braves games began airing on WTCG during the 1973 season.
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