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No Phillies Radio Network for the World Series

A

aindik

Affiliates of the Phillies Radio Network (other than the flagship) are not allowed to broadcast the local call of the World Series. Per ESPN Radio's contract with MLB, only the team's flagship station is allowed to air coverage of the World Series with local announcers. That means only 1210 WPHT can have the local guys. The other Phillies affiliates are not permitted to broadcast local play by play.

I do believe the affiliates are given first dibs in their markets for the ESPN coverage.
 
That is correct. Any Phillies Radio Network affiliate planning to carry the World Series on their local station MUST pick up the ESPN Radio feed. Whether they get first dibs market-wise, that, I'm not entirely sure.
 
This is standard operating procedure for MLB. It came down that way in Boston two years ago. In the nearby Providence, RI market, the Red Sox affiliate ran the ESPN feed of the game, as well as the regular ESPN station there. In the case of the Red Sox, affiliates ran the local pre-game and postgame shows, then switched to ESPN for the actual game play.

It's possible that 97.5 will carry the ESPN feed while 1210 will go with the local guys. I'm sure WPHT would want the market exclusivity, but they may not get it since ESPN has the rights.
 
97.5 has been carrying the ESPN feed of every Phillies game in the postseason until now. I don't know why that would change for the Series.

And I did not mean my post to suggest that this was anything other than standard procedure.

In fact, it used to be that even the flagship wasn't allowed to produce a separate broadcast. Which is why there are no Harry Kalas calls from the 1980 World Series.

This changed some time between 1981 and 1986. There are legendary Bob Murphy/Gary Thorne calls from the 1986 Series on WHN New York. "And the pitch by Stanley...And a ground ball trickling...It's a fair ball. It gets by Buckner! Rounding third is Knight...The Mets will win the ballgame...The Mets win! They win!"

"And the Red Sox are in stunned disbelief."
 
It's OK. 1210 WPHT has a huge signal and the games are at night so it can be heard far and wide. The MLB can't control skywave propagation.
 
aindik said:
This changed some time between 1981 and 1986. There are legendary Bob Murphy/Gary Thorne calls from the 1986 Series on WHN New York. "And the pitch by Stanley...And a ground ball trickling...It's a fair ball. It gets by Buckner! Rounding third is Knight...The Mets will win the ballgame...The Mets win! They win!"
Click to expand...

I'm partial to Vin Scully's call: "Little roller up along first... behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight, and the Mets win it!"
 
97.5 will have the World Series. ESPN's #1 team John Miller & Joe Morgan will do the broadcast.

I can live w/o the Phils broadcast. The guys are ok. But it's not the same without Harry.

I'm sure in time they'll grow on me.
 
Seltzer, you're right. There will never be another Harry Kalas. But having said that, I like Scott Franzke a lot. He's really good. And he and L.A. make a great team.
 
aindik said:
97.5 has been carrying the ESPN feed of every Phillies game in the postseason until now. I don't know why that would change for the Series.

And I did not mean my post to suggest that this was anything other than standard procedure.

In fact, it used to be that even the flagship wasn't allowed to produce a separate broadcast. Which is why there are no Harry Kalas calls from the 1980 World Series.

This changed some time between 1981 and 1986. There are legendary Bob Murphy/Gary Thorne calls from the 1986 Series on WHN New York. "And the pitch by Stanley...And a ground ball trickling...It's a fair ball. It gets by Buckner! Rounding third is Knight...The Mets will win the ballgame...The Mets win! They win!"

"And the Red Sox are in stunned disbelief."
Click to expand...

The Phillies were able to produce their own radio broadcasts of the 1983 Series so the rule was changed by then (or waived).
 
fmradio1 said:
This is standard operating procedure for MLB. It came down that way in Boston two years ago. In the nearby Providence, RI market, the Red Sox affiliate ran the ESPN feed of the game, as well as the regular ESPN station there. In the case of the Red Sox, affiliates ran the local pre-game and postgame shows, then switched to ESPN for the actual game play.
Click to expand...

That's correct. It's been that way for quite some time. At a station I worked we were on the team's network up to the WS. Then we had to go to the ESPN feed for the WS. Some time later, we had the same situation only we didn't carry the WS afterward. We only went up to the LCS, then that was it. It's my understanding that depending on the market, the rights fees for ESPN's coverage can be pretty high.
 
JaMa said:
Seltzer, you're right. There will never be another Harry Kalas. But having said that, I like Scott Franzke a lot. He's really good. And he and L.A. make a great team.
Click to expand...

And, if you like the TV team, the TV guys will be doing the 4th, 5th and 6th innings of every game. Tom McCarthy on PBP, and Gary Matthews or Chris Wheeler on color. The color analysts alternate by game, I think.

It'll be nice to have three choices to listen to the games. At home, the TV crew and 2 radio stations. In the car, three radio stations including WCBS, which doesn't come in clearly enough on the radios in my house. I'll probably go with the WPHT crew. I love John Sterling but won't listen to him through static.

At home I will unplug my center channel speaker and turn up both the radio (for commentary) and the TV sound from the other speakers (for crowd noise and game sounds). I will use my TiVo to synchronize picture with sound.
 
John Sterling is good doing the play by play, but his gimmicky "Thhheeeee Yankees win!" is SO obnoxious. To me, when an announcer has a trademark ending like that, it sounds forced, and it prevents him from being spontaneous. He ended the ALCS by saying, "Game over, ALCS over. Yankees win. Thhheee Yankees win". I'd rather have my announcer show genuine excitement and get caught up in the moment.
 
I like his gimmicks. I know it's cheesy and contrived, but I like it anyway. To me, it's like an old time Top 40 DJ doing baseball play by play.

One announcer of whom I've grown tired is Joe Buck. Talk about the opposite of genuine excitement. I suppose it's genuine, but there's no excitement at all. He nonchalants everything.

Jon Miller is excellent on the radio. Better than he is on TV. Joe Morgan drags the broadcast down, but he has less time to talk on radio, so it's better.
 
Totally agree on Buck. He and McCarver aren't that good. John Miller is one of the best baseball announcers there is. I think he's superb. Besides Miller, there aren't many guys I can think of on the national level who I like.
 
Kind of odd hearing ESPN's spots with ESPN's personalities on 1210. IIRC, the flagships are required to clear the ESPN network spots.
 
Even odder hearing Tom McCarthy on 1210 reading live spots for AutoZone that send listeners to ESPNRadio.com to vote.
 
Why are they pausing for TOH station IDs? There are no network affiliates. Why not just have the PBP guy say "you're listening to the Phillies in the World Series, on the Big Talker 1210, WPHT Philadelphia" at the top of every hour?
 
John Sterling only cares about one thing when he broadcasts. John Sterling. Anyone who thinks he paints the picture doing radio play-by-play must be watching the game on TV simultaneously Sterling and Suzyn Waldman are the Yankee radio announcers for one reason and one reason only: George Steinbrenner.
 
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