Major League Baseball Team TV Networks

[ShawnHill1]

Thinking about baseball on WGN, dating back to its inital sign-on in 1948, in addition to the Cubs, they also White Sox (just like today). But the difference then to now, is that WGN carried pretty much every Cubs and White Sox home games, plus I would imagine selected road games as well. Of course, the great Jack Brickhouse handled both Cubs and White Sox games on Chicago's Very Own. It was in 1968 that WGN lost the White Sox to the still-new WFLD. According to a White Sox message board I sometimes frequent, they mentioned the White Sox were a more popular team in Chicagoland than the Cubs were prior to the 1970s (although from them, it could be a biased opinion). However, as WGN itself became bigger (thus it becoming a superstation in 1978), the Tribune Company getting ownership of the Cubs, and them landing Harry Caray after he was fired from the White Sox, the tide turned. Even though the White Sox have done winning in the last 25 years than the Cubs, the people in Chicago love their Cubbies. Chicago, without a doubt, broadcasts more over-the-air baseball than any market in the country, even including New York and Los Angeles...100 combined Cubs and White Sox games on WGN, plus WGN produces 35 or so White Sox and Cubs games for WCIU.

I've grown up watching baseball, and being a native of Illinois, I've always had a soft spot for the Cubs, White Sox, and even the Brewers, being that I've always liked Milwaukee as a city and I have family there. Of the three, I like the White Sox more, even if I have put listening to Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson (and D.J. isn't bad himself; I've seen do some Fox national games, and was pretty decent). Living here in Southern California, I get to hear Vin Scully almost every game and I do watch the Angels from time to time. The Angels main TV team of Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler do too much cheerleading for my taste, almost to a nauseating point.

 

[dhett]

WNEP channel 16 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre [ABC, then as now, and I don't know its COL]

I believe the answer is Moosic.

No, it's Scranton. All of the Scranton/W-B stations are licensed to Scranton, except for WBRE (Wilkes-Barre) and WOLF (Hazleton).

WNEP's studios are in Moosic, however.

 

[EnbyCee]

At one point, WQRF did indeed carry both the White Sox and Brewers for a time, while WTVO (and later WIFR) carried many of WGN's Cubs telecasts. In 1987 and 1988 alone, WQRF had the White Sox, Brewers, Cardinals, and the Texas Rangers (don't ask me why; just remembered seeing the Rangers on WQRF).

Wow, that's REALLY odd that they would carry the Texas Rangers. I guess they did have a ton of airtime to fill before they became a Fox affiliate though, and putting a Rangers game on is certainly cooler than running tons of infomercials for car dealers barely in their viewing area (as WQRF often did when I watched the station fifteen years later).

The other three teams make sense; the Brewers, like the Green Bay Packers still do, had a large fan base in the Rockford area before the franchise was ran into the ground in the late 90's and the Cardinals are popular enough even that far north that WLUV-AM in suburban Loves Park carries their games. But only the two Chicago teams are carried on cable TV up there today, aside from some wide places in the road near the state line whose cable headends are in Wisconsin and carry FSN North, which shows Brewers games.

 

[ixnay]

WNEP channel 16 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre [ABC, then as now, and I don't know its COL]

I believe the answer is Moosic.

No, it's Scranton. All of the Scranton/W-B stations are licensed to Scranton, except for WBRE (Wilkes-Barre) and WOLF (Hazleton).

WNEP's studios are in Moosic, however.

At the Moosic exit of Interstate 81, an interchange that also serves the S/W-B Red Barons MiLB stadium and Montage Mountain Ski area, as well as a well-appointed NEPA visitors center.

ixnay

 

[dhett]

At the Moosic exit of Interstate 81, an interchange that also serves the S/W-B Red Barons MiLB stadium and Montage Mountain Ski area, as well as a well-appointed NEPA visitors center.

ixnay

Actually, that would be the Scranton/W-B Yankees now, as of this year. They're the new NY Yankees AAA affiliate.

 

[ixnay]

At the Moosic exit of Interstate 81, an interchange that also serves the S/W-B Red Barons MiLB stadium and Montage Mountain Ski area, as well as a well-appointed NEPA visitors center.

ixnay

Actually, that would be the Scranton/W-B Yankees now, as of this year. They're the new NY Yankees AAA affiliate.

You're right. I just checked MiLB.com and they are indeed the S/W-B Yankees. I knew about the affiliation change (they switched from the Phillies) but not the name change. Must've been the Boss's orders. Y'see, I once read where "Red Barons" was a hybrid of two long ago Wyoming Valley teams, the Wilkes-Barre Barons and the Scranton Red Sox. George must have done his homework and decided he didn't want another reminder of the enemy 200 miles northeast of the Bronx. ;D Or did a fan poll rename the team? ???

Back to topic... where are the Washington baseball fans on this thread? How widespread was the Senators' network before Boob, er, Bob Short took 'em away?

ixnay

 

[zman]

From the '70s to 1986, WMBD-31 in Peoria (CBS) aired some syndicated Cubs games (usually on weekends but sometimes during the week). The games moved to WEEK-25 (NBC) from 1987 to sometime during the mid-90's (can't remember exactly when).

WYZZ-43 Bloomington/Peoria aired syndicated Cardinals games from about 1986 until about 1999 (don't remember the end date). Today Cardinal baseball (usually Sunday games only) airs in Peoria on WAOE-59 (My).

/quote]


IIRC The last year that WMBD carried the CUBS games they shared the rights with WYZZ. I remember watching some of the weeknight games on WYZZ and the Sunday games on WMBD. Also WYZZ for a while had the CUBS, SOX, and Cardlnals. It used to bug me that the OTA team networks only carried the first game of a Sunday double header. Once in a while I recall seeing a listing for the CUBS or CARDS network stations to carry the second game of the double header with the home station carrying the first game. Of course you'd always get the last inning or two of the first game.

 

[ixnay]

Back to topic... where are the Washington baseball fans on this thread? How widespread was the Senators' network before Boob, er, Bob Short took 'em away?

I forgot Cal Griffith iykwim. ;D

ixnay

 

[dhett]

Y'see, I once read where "Red Barons" was a hybrid of two long ago Wyoming Valley teams, the Wilkes-Barre Barons and the Scranton Red Sox.

Wow. I never knew. I was born in W-B, and lived in the area between the ages of 4 and 9, but left there permanently in '73. I had no idea they'd ever had baseball there, or any professional sports, for that matter. Growing up, I'd always associated the area with poverty. The 'Sox shut down permanently in '53; the Barons in '55. My father had been born and raised near W-B, so he would have known about the teams, but he wasn't much of a baseball fan, and certainly not a fan of the minor leagues. Thanks for the info!!

 

[ixnay]

Y'see, I once read where "Red Barons" was a hybrid of two long ago Wyoming Valley teams, the Wilkes-Barre Barons and the Scranton Red Sox.

Wow. I never knew. I was born in W-B, and lived in the area between the ages of 4 and 9, but left there permanently in '73. I had no idea they'd ever had baseball there, or any professional sports, for that matter. Growing up, I'd always associated the area with poverty. The 'Sox shut down permanently in '53; the Barons in '55. My father had been born and raised near W-B, so he would have known about the teams, but he wasn't much of a baseball fan, and certainly not a fan of the minor leagues. Thanks for the info!!

You're welcome. I forget where I read it except it was some book about MiLB. I read this sometime in the '90s.

BTW I attended a Red Barons game in Moosic one night in 1995. I stayed in Pittston that night, and the next day on my way home to MD stopped in Reading to take in an R-Phils game.

ixnay