Cal Ripken, Jr., the legendary Baltimore Orioles shortstop and record holder for most consecutive games played, will host an exclusive, weekly XM show on MLB Home Plate starting in March. Joining Cal on the show will be his brother, fellow MLB veteran Billy Ripken.
“XM is expanding the reach of Major League Baseball to fans from coast to coast,” Cal Ripken, Jr. said. “I’m excited to be part of the XM team, and our show is going to be a terrific program for baseball fans of all ages.”
The Ripkens are part of an all-star line-up of XM on-air hosts, including baseball greats Rob Dibble, Kevin Kennedy, Larry Bowa, and Buck Martinez.
The MLB Home Plate channel (XM Channel 175) is the first channel added to XM as part of its 11-year broadcasting and marketing agreement with Major League Baseball. As the official satellite radio network of Major League Baseball, XM also will add a suite of 15 channels to carry live play-by-play coverage of every Major League Baseball team. Game programming will begin during Spring Training and continue through the 2005 World Series.
The general weekday schedule of MLB Home Plate beginning February 15 is (all times Eastern):
6– 9 am: “MLB This Morning,” a news-magazine-style show featuring leading sportscaster Mark Patrick, former Philadelphia Phillies All-Star shortstop Larry Bowa, and veteran player, manager, and broadcaster Buck Martinez.
9 am – 12 noon: “MLB This Morning,” (encore broadcast)
12 noon – 2 pm: “MLB Beat,” featuring the nation’s top baseball writers talking one-on-one with Los Angeles Dodgers’ play-by-play man Charley Steiner.
2 – 3 pm: “Fantasy Focus,” hosted by sportscaster Phil Wood, is a show for the millions of fantasy league participants, with reviews of the best and worst fantasy players and advice to callers about how best to manage their teams.
3 – 6 pm: “The Show,” with FOX Sports baseball commentator and former Boston Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy and former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble, is a fast-paced afternoon show with top guests, game previews, and listener call-ins.
6 – 7 pm: “MLB On Deck,” hosted by Phil Wood, delivers live updates from the ballparks across the country before each evening’s games.
7 – 11 pm: “MLB Live,” featuring Ronnie Lane, with guests, callers, game updates, and live game action throughout the evening.
11 pm – 3 am: “MLB Live,” the late edition, hosted by Joe Castellano, offers game highlights, analysis, callers, and previews of upcoming match-ups.
3 – 6 am: “MLB Archives,” including rebroadcasts of classic Major League Baseball games.
XM will add its suite of 15 channels for live play-by-play coverage of MLB games in March. Coverage will include broadcasts of every MLB team during the regular season and postseason, as well as select broadcasts from Spring Training. In order to reach the large number of Hispanic MLB fans, one of the 15 channels, MLB En Espanol, will be devoted to Spanish-language play-by-play and call-in shows.
MLB play-by-play channels will be XM channels 176 through 189. MLB En Espanol will be XM channel 190. XM’s college sports channels will be relocated to channels 191-199.
- From An XM Satellite Radio News Release
