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.
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.[9]
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.[10]
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 3+1⁄2-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 3+1⁄2 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.
1995 marked the only year of postseason coverage provided by "
The Baseball Network", which was a
revenue sharingjoint 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).
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.[17] The Division Series round was not 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.
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.[18]