A Decade of MLB Network: Baseball's Network Thrives as Secaucus Facility Continues to Grow

A Decade of MLB Network: Baseball's Network Thrives as Secaucus Facility Continues to Grow Ten years after launch, MLB Network's operation is only getting bigger By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - 10:56 am

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Ten years ago this month, MLB Network officially went on-air in 50 million homes, marking the largest network debut in cable-TV history and the culmination of a monumental operational buildout. Despite an aggressive six-month timetable for the launch, MLB Network's Secaucus, NJ, facility was up and running in time for its planned New Year's Day 2009 debut.

MLB Network's Studio 3 at its Secaucus, NJ, headquarters

In the decade since, both the footprint of the Secaucus facility and the content it churns out have grown exponentially. From two studios at launch, MLB Network's home now has five studios spanning two buildings, and the network's annual slate of live programming has grown from 1,638 hours in 2009 to more than 3,400 in 2018. In addition, the facility has housed all NHL Network operations since 2015.

Beyond the studio, MLB Network's remote operations also have grown by leaps and bounds. Besides the weekly MLB Network Showcase game, the network has produced a dozen MLB Postseason games (beginning in 2012), carried three World Baseball Classics (splitting games with ESPN in 2009 and solely in 2013 and 2017), and established a significant onsite studio presence and now oversees the world-feed production at the MLB All-Star Game and World Series.

From Day 1, everyone at MLB Network has been working towards the same goal, which is to put a phenomenal product on the air, says MLB Network SVP, Operations and Engineering, Susan Stone, who was employee No. 10 in 2008. I think what has differentiated MLB Network from the beginning and what we're so proud of is that our on-air product is always at the forefront of everything we do. Our mantra is What is this going to look and sound like on-air and how is this going to best serve baseball fans?'

In the Beginning: Up and Running in Six Months

Just six months prior to launch date, Stone walked into what had been MSNBC's headquarters and began plotting what was to come.

MLB Network debuted on Jan. 1, 2009, with Bob Costas interviewing Don Larsen and Yogi Berra inside Studio 42, followed by the first showing of Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series since its original broadcast.

After MSNBC left, there was all this SD equipment just sitting around. It was really a ghost town, she remembers. It was hard to imagine that we would be able to launch an HD network in just six months.

Despite the hurdles, MLB Network debuted as scheduled at 6 p.m. ET on Jan. 1, 2009, with the premiere of Hot Stove followed by a pretaped show featuring Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series (the first time the game had been shown on TV since its original broadcast). The piece - which featured Bob Costas interviewing Larsen and his battery mate, Hall of Famer Yogi Berra - had been taped two weeks prior, which meant that Stone and company had MLB Network's Studio 42 up and running well before the launch date.

Studio 42 under construction prior to MLBN's launch on New Year's Day 2009

In February 2009, MLB Tonight debuted as the network's flagship primetime program, and Quick Pitch launched early in the 2009 season. All the while, the MLBN operations and engineering teams continued to build out the Secaucus facility on the fly.

It was a little bit of smoke and mirrors, Stone notes. We had so little time to launch that everything was not quite ready. We were still using a lot of tapes the first couple months just because all of our tapeless file-based workflows weren't fully up and ready yet. We worked long hours and extremely hard, she adds, but nobody batted an eye. That was the kind of attitude that we had coming in. We just wanted to make great television, and we were working our butts off to make that happen.

The Studio Operation in Secaucus: Feeding the Ever-Growing Content Beast

Over the past decade, MLB Network has grown from two studio shows - Hot Stove and MLB Tonight - to eight in 2019. The current lineup includes High Heat With Christopher Russo, The Rundown, MLB Now, MLB Central, Intentional Talk, and Quick Pitch (all of which saw year-over-year ratings increases in 2018).

Studio 42 continues to play a central role in MLB Network's programming today.

During the season, the network has five crews producing 16 hours of live studio/game programming per day out of five studios. Add in NHL Network's in-season average of seven hours per day, and Secaucus often churns out more than 20 hours of live programming daily.

After launching with Studio 42 (named in honor of Jackie Robinson) and Studio 3 (for Babe Ruth), MLB Network converted its mailroom into the ultra-flexible Studio K in 2012 (with a Ross Video Overdrive automated control room) as the home of its Hot Stove off-season morning show and several other MLBN programs. In 2015, the network took over the building next door and built Studio 21 (for Roberto Clemente), which is now home to MLB Central, MLB Now, and Quick Pitch. Prior to the 2016-17 NHL season, NHL Network erected a dedicated studio, The Rink, inside the same building as Studio 21.

Studio 3 while under construction in Secaucus

As always, it all starts with programming. As our number of shows has grown, we've continued to add new studios, says Stone. These were all massive construction and integration projects on very short timelines, but, today, they provide us with a lot of flexibility and allow us to be really nimble.

Key members of the studio-operations crew over the years include SVP, Production, Dave Patterson; Coordinating Director Mark Deav

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/01/30/a-decade-of-mlb-network-basebal...
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