MLB Network is teaming with Fox Sports on an expanded pregame show before the broadcaster's game of the week.
Fox Saturday Baseball Pregame Show will run for 30 minutes, originating live from MLB's state-of-the-art Studio 3 in Secaucus, N.J. The program will be hosted by veteran Fox Sports and
MLB Network broadcaster Matt Vasgersian. He will be joined weekly by a rotating roster of MLB Network analysts: Harold Reynolds, Mitch Williams, Eric Byrnes and Kevin Millar.
Chris Rose, host of Fox Saturday Baseball since 2009, devotes his complete energy this year to his role as host of MLBN's Intentional Talk.
The new pregame show takes its first cut on April 7 at 3:30pm (ET), leading off the Boston Red Sox-Detroit Tigers contest, the first broadcast on Fox's 2012 regular-season schedule.
"We've enjoyed a terrific working relationship with Major League Baseball and MLB Network, sharing broadcasters and resources over the years and we're proud to form this partnership," said Eric Shanks, co-president and COO, Fox Sports Media Group and Fox Sports executive producer. "Combining our expertise with MLB Network's ample resources and high-caliber production capabilities makes sense on multiple levels, none of which is more important than providing fans the best pregame and studio coverage possible week in and week out."
Fox Sports, in cooperation with MLBN, which counts some 68 million subscribers, continues to provide comprehensive coverage from around the senior and junior circuits, including baseball's in-house network picking up the feed of Fox Sports' various regional sports networks; frequent live updates throughout Fox Saturday Baseball telecasts; MLBN's Emmy-nominated Ballpark Cam system; audio and video content; and reporters providing breaking news, analysis and coverage of milestone performances.
"This is a groundbreaking partnership between a broadcast network and a league-owned cable network and we're excited to work with Fox Sports to continue to provide viewers with the most comprehensive programming in baseball," said MLBN president and CEO Tony Petitti.
