Major League Baseball on CBS

Major League Baseball on CBS is the branding used for broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The most notable version is the one that lasted from 1990-1993.

Why It Deserves a Strikeout (1990-1993 verison)

 * 1) The 1990 MLB postseason proved to be problematic for CBS as none of the teams came from baseball's largest media markets which helped reduce playoff ratings from the year before and while the NLCS lasted six games, the ALCS and most importantly the World Series ended in sweeps which led to CBS lost $5 million for each playoff game not played and US$15.4 million for each World Series game not played. At the end of the day, CBS lost $12 million to $15 million on each of the League Championship Series and World Series games not played, for a total of $36 million to $45 million
 * 2) CBS alienated and confused fans with its sporadic treatment of regular season telecasts. With a sense of true continuity destroyed, fans eventually figured that they could not count on the network to satisfy their needs (thus, poor ratings were a result). CBS televised about 16 regular season Saturday afternoon games (not counting back-up telecasts) which was 14 less than what NBC televised during the previous contract. According to Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, the reason for the reduction in regular season telecasts was in order for teams to sell them locally in order to make a direct profit. CBS used the strategy of broadcasting only a select amount of games in order to build a demand in response to supposedly sagging ratings. In theory, the limited regular season package would require the network to sell less advertising during the year so it can charge more for its postseason events.
 * 3) In their first year in 1990, CBS Sports had a pretty loaded schedule (much came at the expense of the regular season baseball coverage): the NBA Playoffs (the 1989–90 season marked CBS' final year with the NBA before the over-the-air package moved over to NBC), College World Series and college football (like the NBA, CBS would lose the College Football Association (CFA) package soon after being awarded the Major League Baseball contract).
 * 4) CBS never scheduled baseball on Masters weekend, and seldom on other weekends when it was scheduled to air a PGA Tour event. It was around this time that CBS started expanding its weekend coverage from two hours to three on weekends when there was no baseball, generally from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Most of its baseball dates landed on weeks when other networks covered golf.
 * 5) The Toronto Blue Jays were in back-to-back World Series in their championship seasons of 1992 and 1993, as well as the 1991 ALCS. All of CBS's postseason telecasts were simulcast on CTV (which earned CBS approximately $7.5 million per year) in Canada, and received very high ratings north of the border when the Jays were involved. Unfortunately, Canada does not factor in the Nielsen ratings so as a consequence, CBS earned the lowest ratings in over 20 years for a World Series (not counting the earthquake interrupted 1989 World Series that was televised by ABC). In any other World Series, viewership would have likely been higher since two American teams would have been involved, to say nothing of spikes to off-the-chart ratings shares in the two competing cities (especially in 1991 when CBS was fortunate to cover the riveting, ultra intense, seven-game battle between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves). Another reason behind the poor ratings likely had to do with the gradual attrition of the audience for almost all network programming.
 * 6) The country at the time to the deal was going through a recession. More to the point, in 1990, CBS had asked for about $300,000 for 30-second spots during the World Series, but ended up filling some of its inventory for just $240,000.
 * 7) CBS could not properly maximize the deal because the Division Series had not yet been created (thus automatically giving CBS more games to carry) and the network did not have a cable outlet to air some of the games (like Fox would eventually have with Fox Sports Net). In reality, it competed with ESPN and local broadcasts outside of CBS' broadcast window. More postseason games could have increased the advertising inventory
 * 8) CBS simply made far too high of a bid (especially for a network that wound up frustrating fans with its lack of regular season coverage) and sustained a shortfall in advertising revenue. Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that back in 1987, CBS Sports president Neal Pilson said of ABC's then ongoing contract with Major League Baseball "Three years ago, we believed ABC's package was overpriced by $175 million. We still believe it's overpriced by $175 million." Whereas from 1976 to 1989, ABC split the television contract with NBC, and therefore logically, split the financial risks, CBS in sharp contrast, aggressively negotiated exclusive postseason rights. In December 1988, Arthur Watson, the president of NBC Sports, criticized CBS saying "We made every effort to keep it. Regretfully, someone bid far more than was responsible. Everybody evaluates things differently. That bid was beyond our reach. Let them explain that bid."
 * 9) For their inaugural season in 1990, CBS lost between US$75 million and $80 million. More to the point, CBS took a $55-million after-tax loss for its 1990 playoff and World Series coverage and a $115 million charge against earnings in the fourth quarter for losses during the remaining three years of its $1.06 billion contract.
 * 10) In 1991, it cost CBS $4.8 million per game in venue productions alone to televise the National League Championship Series, not including studio backup operations or the satellite time needed to transmit the game to New York City for broadcast on their network frequencies. The American League Championship Series (between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays) was another problem because of the tariffs and labor laws they had to endure going into Canada. CBS averaged $1.9 to $2.4 million per regular season game. In return, it was typical for the production cost to double come playoff time. Ultimately, CBS reported a loss of around $169 million in the third quarter of 1991. A drop of in advertiser interest caused revenue from the sale of ads during CBS' baseball telecasts to plummet. All the while, CBS was still contractually obligated to pay Major League Baseball around $260 million a year through 1993
 * 11) For regular season MLB games for CBS, for the most part, they bypassed the division and pennant races. Instead, its schedule focused on games featuring major-market teams, regardless of their record.
 * 12) A mildly notorious moment came during CBS' coverage of the 1990 All-Star Game from Wrigley Field in Chicago. In a game that was marred by rain delays for a combined 85 minutes (including a 68-minute monsoon during the 7th inning), CBS annoyed many die-hard fans by airing the William Shatner-hosted reality series Rescue 911 during the delay.

Redeeming Qualities (1990-1993 version)

 * 1) Wonderful theme music that was majestic, harmonious, and uplifting.
 * 2) There were a few great moments for CBS' MLB coverage like the 1991 World Series and Joe Carter's walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series.