Baseball Night in America
Baseball Night in America is an American television presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports for the Fox network on Saturday or Thursday nights.
| Baseball Night in America | |
|---|---|
 The current logo for Baseball Night in America. | |
| Also known as | MLB on Fox Fox Saturday Baseball |
| Genre | Baseball telecasts |
| Presented by | Joe Davis John Smoltz Ken Rosenthal |
| Opening theme | "MLB on Fox theme music" (2020–present) "NFL on Fox theme music" (2012–2019) |
| Composers | NJJ Music (2020–present) Scott Schreer (2012–2019) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Various MLB stadiums (game telecasts) Fox Network Center, Los Angeles, California (studio segments, pregame, and postgame shows) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes (varies depending on game length) |
| Production company | Fox Sports |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox FS1/FS2 (overflow coverage only) |
| Original release | May 26, 2012 – present |
| Related | |
| MLB on Fox | |
Fox's coverage includes 20 weeks worth of coverage as of 2023, with 16 Saturday windows and 4 Thursday windows. Coverage usually includes 2 to 4 separate games all starting at 7PM ET, with local affiliates airing the game of most interest to their audience.
History
While Fox has aired Fox Saturday Baseball games since 1996, Fox only began using the Baseball Night in America branding in 2012.[1] In the inaugural season, the Baseball Night in America branding was used for games from May 26 to July 7.[2]
Until 2021, Baseball Night in America aired every Saturday from the last week in May to the second week in July. Beginning with the 2019 season, late season Fox Saturday Baseball games moved from the afternoon to prime time. therefore a separate section of games was added for September. Some of these September games aired on Thursday night as Thursday Night Baseball.[3]
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the 2020 season, Fox Saturday Baseball returned to airing some afternoon Saturday games. Fox aired Saturday primetime games between July 25 and August 1, and between September 12 and September 26, as well as on August 15.[4] Fox returned to their 2019 scheduling for the 2021 season.
For the 2022 season, Fox aired Baseball Night in America games every Saturday from May 28 to September 10, as well as on Saturday, October 1. Games aired on Thursday nights on September 15 and September 22. This is the result of Fox increasing the amount of games they air on broadcast television in their new television contract, as well as a side effect of the loss of Fox's Thursday night NFL games outside of local syndication.[5][6]
For the 2023 season, Fox will air Baseball Night in America games every Saturday from May 6 to July 29, as well as on August 12, August 26, September 2 and September 30. Games will air on Thursday nights on August 3, August 17, September 14 and September 21. For the first time since 2020, Fox will also air afternoon Fox Saturday Baseball games on April 1, April 22, and April 29.[7]
On air staff
Play-by-play commentators
Color commentators
Field reporters
Studio
- Kevin Burkhardt (Host)
- Chris Myers (Host)
- Mike Hill (Host)
- Jenny Taft (Host)
- Eric Karros (Analyst)
- Mark Sweeney (Analyst)
- Dontrelle Willis (Analyst)
Ratings
2020 season
| Date | Matchup(s) | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| July 25 | Yankees-Nationals | 2.79 |
| August 1 | Red Sox-Yankees Astros-Angels |
2.07 |
| August 15 | Red Sox-Yankees Athletics-Giants |
1.80 |
| September 12 | Astros-Dodgers Indians-Twins |
1.64 |
| September 19 | Braves-Mets White Sox-Reds |
1.28 |
| September 26 | Phillies-Rays Brewers-Cardinals |
1.12 |
2021 season
| Date | Matchup(s) | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| May 22 | Dodgers-Giants Cubs-Cardinals Red Sox-Phillies |
2.59 |
| May 29 | Braves-Mets Giants-Dodgers Brewers-Nationals |
1.93 |
| June 5 | Red Sox-Yankees Dodgers-Braves Cubs-Giants |
2.68 |
| June 12 | Cardinals-Cubs Giants-Nationals Astros-Twins |
2.38 |
| June 19 | White Sox-Astros Reds-Padres |
1.41 |
| June 26 | Yankees-Red Sox Cubs-Dodgers |
2.43 |
| July 3 | Dodgers-Nationals Red Sox-Athletics Astros-Indians |
2.12 |
| July 10 | Yankees-Astros Cardinals-Cubs Reds-Brewers |
2.46 |
| July 17 | Red Sox-Yankees Giants-Cardinals Astros-White Sox |
2.29 |
| August 12 | Yankees-White Sox | 5.87 |
| September 11 | Yankees-Mets | 2.40 |
| September 18 | Cubs-Brewers Phillies-Mets |
1.68 |
| September 25 | Braves-Padres White Sox-Indians |
1.18 |
| October 2 | Mets-Braves Cubs-Cardinals |
1.65 |
2022 season
| Date | Matchup(s) | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| May 28 | Dodgers-Diamondbacks Phillies-Mets Cubs-White Sox |
1.96 |
| June 4 | Cardinals-Cubs Angels-Phillies |
1.81 |
| June 11 | Dodgers-Giants Cubs-Yankees |
2.10 |
| June 18 | Cardinals-Red Sox Guardians-Dodgers |
1.68 |
| June 25 | Dodgers-Braves Rockies-Twins |
1.95 |
| July 2 | Padres-Dodgers Red Sox-Cubs |
1.89 |
| July 9 | Yankees-Red Sox Giants-Padres |
2.64 |
| July 16 | Brewers-Giants Red Sox-Yankees |
2.38 |
| July 23 | Giants-Dodgers Guardians-White Sox |
1.75 |
| July 30 | Twins-Padres Phillies-Pirates Cardinals-Nationals |
1.65 |
| August 6 | Yankees-Cardinals Reds-Brewers |
2.22 |
| August 11 | Cubs-Reds | 3.10 |
| August 13 | Mariners-Rangers Yankees-Red Sox |
2.08 |
| August 20 | Mariners-Athletics Astros-Braves Mets-Phillies |
2.63 |
| August 27 | Giants-Twins Braves-Cardinals |
1.95 |
| September 3 | Mariners-Guardians Twins-White Sox |
1.52 |
| September 10 | Guardians-Twins Angels-Astros |
1.77 |
| September 15 | Athletics-Astros Pirates-Mets |
1.60 |
| September 22 | Yankees-Red Sox Braves-Phillies |
3.23 |
| October 1 | Rays-Astros Mets-Braves |
2.66 |
2023 season
| Date | Matchup(s) | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| May 6 | Red Sox-Phillies Orioles-Braves |
2.08 |
| May 13 | Padres-Dodgers Astros-White Sox |
|
| May 20 | Dodgers-Cardinals Mariners-Braves |
References
- "FOX Hearkens Back to the Baseball Network with 'Baseball Night in America'". 10 April 2012.
- "Was Baseball Night in America a success this year for Fox?".
- "Fox Sports and Major League Baseball Extend Rights Deal Through 2028". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- "FOX Sports Announces 2020 MLB Regular Season Schedule on FS1 and FOX Deportes". 14 July 2020.
- "FOX Sports Lays Out Its 2022 Major League Baseball Regular Season Schedule". 31 March 2022.
- "Joe Davis Takes on Flagship Baseball Role at Fox Sports". 8 April 2022.
- "FOX Sports Unveils Its 2023 Major League Baseball Regular Season Schedule". 23 March 2023.