The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network may be Baltimore-based, but it now reaches over five million homes from Pennsylvania to North Carolina — essentially blanketing the region. MASN has answered the question of “is there room for two regional sports networks in this area” by it’s ability to compete with Comcast SportsNet. But they have yet to gain the acceptance of some of the fans which always takes time.
Many forget that long before CSN there was Home Team Sports and when Comcast bought the regional network it put its stamp on it making a good regional sports network better. Meanwhile MASN is in year three of their existence proving each day that they belong in this area.
I spoke to two key members of the MASN in Jim Cuddihy, executive VP marketing and programming and Chris Glass, the executive producer. The duo wanted to answer some of the questions most often asked about the network.
Examiner » 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 — 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.
Examiner » 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 CAA, along with our partnerships with Georgetown, UMBC, George Mason, Towson, UNC-Wilmington — and more to come. We will produce 60 college basketball games to go with the many program packages we have. So we will offer over 500 live sporting events this season alone, covering sports throughout our entire region.
Examiner » The most asked question that I get has to do with getting more Orioles and Nationals games in High Definition. Will we get more next season?
Glass » The short answer in 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 backup for the over flow 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.
Both Glass and Cuddihy were very complimentary of their competition over at CSN pointing out that they have different styles. MASN relies on live events while CSN has a robust sports news department. Does that make one better than the other? No, it just makes them different — and in the end more sports choices for the viewers.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on dcexaminer.com.
