The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is based in Baltimore, broadcasts local sports teams to more than five million homes from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. MASN, which competes with Comcast Sports Net, has carved a niche in the market that’s only going to get bigger.
I recently spoke with Jim Cuddihy, MASN executive vice president of programming, and Chris Glass, the station’s executive producer, about the state of the network.
Williams: Do the Nationals and Orioles get the same coverage?
Glass: The Nationals and the Orioles are partners in this network. We work closely with the Nationals so they get exactly what they want in each telecast, and we do the same with Orioles. Each production team has exactly the same tools to work with. There is no scrimping. We have been able to put together two of the best production teams in baseball. Look at our on-air talent. We have network play-by-play men in Gary Thorne, Bob Carpenter, Jim Hunter and Johnny Holiday. We have analysts with network experience, but who are also respected baseball men. Ray Knight, Rick Dempsey and Buck Martinez have playing, managing and coaching experience to go along with their extensive broadcasting resumes. Then, we have our two Hall of Fame pitchers, Don Sutton and Jim Palmer, who have become known by a new generation for their broadcasting talents. Phil Wood and Byron Kerr know baseball and also have network reporting and hosting credentials. Finally, we have our in game reporters Debbi Taylor and Amber Theoharis, who both understand baseball and are considered nationally among the best in the business. It is hard to find one regional sports network with this much talent. We are blessed that we were given the ability to put this team together.
Williams: How about programming after the season?
Cuddihy: We love having the Nationals and Orioles, but we understand that we are a regional sports network. So our goal has been to do everything that we could to get as much programming that is of interest to fans in the Mid-Atlantic region. Having a partnership with the Ravens is a big plus to us. We also hope soon to renew our relationship with Redskins Radio. College sports is a big part of our network with football and basketball from the Big East, the [Colonial Athletic Association] along with our partnerships with Georgetown, UMBC, George Mason, Towson, UNC-Wilmington and more to come. We will produce 60 college basketball to go with the many program packages. We’ll offer over 500 live sporting events this season alone.
Williams: . Will there be more Orioles and Nationals’ games in high definition next season?
Glass: The short answer is yes. I can tell you that we are ready right now to do all the Nationals and Orioles games both home and away in HD. We use the same HD remote trucks for our MASN-HD games that ESPN uses for Sunday Night Baseball so there is no cutting corners. The key is getting a dedicated MASN-HD channel, with a back-up for the overflow games. We are working hard with our cable partners to get that for next year. Right now, I can say that we will have more games next year in HD.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.
