List of National League Division Series broadcasters
The following is a list of the national television and radio networks and announcers who have broadcast the National League Division Series. It does not include any announcers who may have appeared on local radio broadcasts produced by the participating teams.
Television
2020s
| Year | Series | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Field reporter(s) |
| 2020 | Los Angeles Dodgers/San Diego Padres | FS1 (Games 1–2) | Joe Davis | John Smoltz | Ken Rosenthal |
| MLB Network (Game 3) | Matt Vasgersian | Jon Paul Morosi | |||
| Atlanta Braves/Miami Marlins | FS1 (Games 1, 3) | Adam Amin | A. J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright | Tom Verducci | |
| MLB Network (Game 2) | Matt Vasgersian | Jim Kaat and Buck Showalter |
2010s
Notes
- TNT was scheduled to air three entire Division Series games in 2011 due to conflicts with TBS. On October 1, it aired Game 2 of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. the Texas Rangers at 7 p.m. ET, which overlapped with the end of Game 1 of the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Philadelphia Phillies and the continuation of Game 1 of the Detroit Tigers vs. the New York Yankees on TBS. (The latter was also to have been Game 2, but Game 1 was suspended after 1+1⁄2 innings due to rain.) On October 2, it aired the rescheduled Game 2 between the Tigers and the Yankees at 3 p.m. ET, two hours before Game 2 of the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Milwaukee Brewers on TBS. On October 4, it aired Game 3 of the Diamondbacks vs. the Brewers at 9:30 p.m. ET, one hour after Game 3 of the Tigers vs. the Yankees started on TBS.
- For the 2012 and 2013 seasons, TBS has been awarded the rights to televise both Wild Card Playoff games that occur on the day before the Division Series games. In exchange, MLB Network has been awarded the rights to televise two of the Division Series games that previously belonged to TBS.[7]
- Beginning in 2014, when Fox Sports began a new television contract with Major League Baseball, FS1 airs 40 regular season MLB games (mostly on Saturdays), along with up to 15 post-season games (eight Divisional Series games and one best-of-7 League Championship Series). The deal resulted in a reduction of MLB coverage on the Fox network, which will air 12 regular season games, the All-Star Game, and the World Series.[8]
2000s
Notes
- ABC Family's coverage of the 2002 Division Series was produced by ESPN. The reason that games were on ABC Family instead of ESPN was because The Walt Disney Company (ESPN's parent company) bought Fox Family from News Corporation. The ABC Family/ESPN inherited Division Series package was included in Fox's then exclusive television contract with Major League Baseball (initiated in 2001). ABC Family had no other choice but to fulfill the contract handed to them. The only usage of the ABC Family "bug" was for a ten-second period when returning from a commercial break (in the lower right corner of the screen).
- During the 2006 League Division Series on ESPN, Joe Morgan left Game 1 of the Dodgers-Mets series after six innings in order to call Game 2 of the Tigers-Yankees game that same night (October 4). However, the latter game was ultimately rained out.
- Turner Sports provided a provisional plan in which if a League Division Series game televised on TBS ran into the start of the next LDS game scheduled to air on TBS, then TNT would provide supplementary coverage of the latter games' early moments. To be more specific, all games in the Division Series round were presented back-to-back, with each game scheduled for a 3½-hour window. If a game exceeded this window, the first pitch of the next game would be switched to TNT. If a game ended within 3½ hours, the studio team would return for interstitial programming.
- In 2007, TBS switched the starts of four games to TNT in the Division Series round because the previous games exceeded the time limit. TNT was also scheduled to air Game 4 of the Diamondbacks-Cubs series, which overlapped with Game 3 of the Red Sox-Angels series, but the former game was not played; the night before, the D-Backs completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs.
1990s
Notes
- 1995 marked the only year of postseason coverage provided by "The Baseball Network", which was a revenue sharing joint venture between Major League Baseball, ABC and NBC. "The Baseball Network" was also scheduled to cover the Division Series in 1994, but plans were scrapped when a strike caused the postseason to be canceled. All games in the first two rounds (including the League Championship Series) were scheduled in the same time slot for regional telecasts. Initially, under the alternating six-year plan, ABC would've covered the Division Series in even numbered years (as well as the World Series in even numbered years) while NBC would've covered the Division Series in odd numbered years (in even numbered years, they would've gotten the rights to the All-Star Game and League Championship Series).
- From 1996–2000, NBC aired LDS games on Tuesday/Friday/Saturday nights. Fox aired LDS games on Wednesday/Thursday nights, Saturdays in the late afternoon, plus Sunday/Monday nights (if necessary). Meanwhile, ESPN carried many afternoon LDS contests. At this point, all playoff games were nationally televised (mostly in unopposed timeslots).
1981
| Year | Series | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) |
| 1981 | Los Angeles Dodgers/Houston Astros[14] | NBC | Joe Garagiola | Tony Kubek |
| Montreal Expos/Philadelphia Phillies | Dick Enberg | Tom Seaver |
Notes
- In 1981, as means to recoup revenue lost during a players' strike, Major League Baseball set up a special additional playoff round (as a prelude to the League Championship Series). ABC televised the American League Division Series while NBC televised the National League Division Series.[15] The Division Series round wouldn't be officially instituted until 14 years later. Games 1, 3 and 5 of the Phillies/Expos series and Games 2–3 and 5 of the Dodgers/Astros series were regionally televised.
Radio
National
2020s
| Year | Series | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentators |
| 2020 | Los Angeles Dodgers/San Diego Padres | ESPN | Jon Sciambi | Kyle Peterson |
| Atlanta Braves/Miami Marlins | Karl Ravech | Tim Kurkjian |
Notes
- Due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of ESPN Radio's commentators for the 2020 postseason called the games at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut.[16]
2010s
2000s
1990s
1981
| Year | Series | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentators |
| 1981 | Los Angeles Dodgers/Houston Astros | CBS | Jerry Coleman | Sparky Anderson |
| Montreal Expos/Philadelphia Phillies | Jack Buck | Joe Torre |
Local
2000s
| Year | Series | Flaghsip station | Play-by-play #1 | Play-by-play #2 | Color commentators |
| 2002 | San Francisco-Atlanta | KNBR (San Francisco) WSB-AM (Atlanta) |
Duane Kuiper Pete Van Wieren |
Joe Angel Skip Caray |
Mike Krukow Don Sutton and Joe Simpson |
| St. Louis-Arizona | KMOX-AM (St. Louis) KTAR-AM (Arizona) |
Mike Shannon Greg Schulte |
Joel Meyers Jeff Munn |
Rod Allen and Jim Traber | |
| 2001 | Arizona-St. Louis | Greg Schulte Jack Buck (in St. Louis) Mike Shannon (in Arizona) |
Jeff Munn Mike Shannon (in St. Louis) Dan McLaughlin (in Arizona) |
Rod Allen (Games 4–5) and Jim Traber | |
| Atlanta-Houston |
Notes
- 2001 - Locally, the Arizona-St. Louis portion of the 2001 NLDS was called on KTAR-AM in Phoenix by Greg Schulte, Jeff Munn, Rod Allen (Games 4–5) and Jim Traber, and on KMOX-AM in St. Louis by Jack Buck (Games 3–4), Mike Shannon and Dan McLaughlin (Games 1–2, 5), while the Atlanta-Houston portion of the 2001 NLDS was called on WSB-AM in Atlanta by Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton and Joe Simpson, and on KTRH-AM in Houston by Milo Hamilton and Alan Ashby.
References
- ^ Yoder, Matt (30 September 2014). "Your MLB Postseason Announcing Schedule: Part I". Awful Announcing.
- ^ Steinberg, Dan (9 October 2012). "Game 3 start time no afternoon delight for Nationals fans". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Hiestand, Michael (10 October 2012). "Hiestand: Costas' 12-year MLB playoff absence ends". USA Today. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ^ Fang, Ken (26 September 2011). "TBS Announces League Division Series Schedule From Friday Through Monday". Fangsbites.com. Wordpress. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
- ^ Fang, Ken (6 October 2011). "Ron Darling & John Smoltz Pull Double Game 5 Duty for TBS". Fangsbites.com. Wordpress. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
- ^ TBS Announces 2010 League Division Series Schedule & Announcer Assignments
- ^ Bloom, Barry M. (17 May 2012). "TBS to televise Wild Card playoff games". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ "MLB on Fox: New voices, channel, platforms". Retrieved April 2, 2014.
- ^ "2003 NLDS Game 5". MLB.com. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ 1999 NLDS Game 1 - Mets at Diamondbacks on YouTube
- ^ "1996 NLDS Game 3". MLB.com. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ "1995 NLDS Game 1". MLB.com. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ 1995 MLB on NBC Promo (Divisional Playoffs).wmv on YouTube
- ^ "1981 NLDS Game 1". MLB.com. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ^ Henniger, Paul (October 3, 1981). "THE ARTS/TELEVISION". Los Angeles Times. p. C3.
- ^ Cafardo, Ben (October 4, 2020). "ESPN Continues its 2020 MLB Postseason Coverage with Every Game on ESPN Radio". ESPN Press Room.
- ^ Madden, Bill (October 10, 1999). "FOR WILPON, ENDING IS EMOTIONAL". New York Daily News.[permanent dead link]