List of World Series broadcasters
The following is a list of national American television and radio networks and announcers that have broadcast World Series games over the years, as well as local flagship radio stations that have aired them since 1982.
Television
Television coverage of the World Series began in 1947, but with TV broadcasting still in its infancy and the limited number of coaxial inter-connected stations, telecasts during the first four years were open to any channel with a network affiliation in selected markets. 1951 marked the first time that the World Series aired on one network, NBC, as well as the first to be seen from coast to coast. NBC continued to televise the World Series until new broadcast rights deals began in 1976 that had NBC televise in even years and ABC in odd years. CBS then had the series from 1990 to 1993. Following a players' strike that canceled the 1994 World Series, games of the 1995 World Series were split between ABC and NBC as part of The Baseball Network, a revenue-sharing joint venture between the two networks and Major League Baseball. Under the rights from 1996 to 2000, Fox televised in even years and NBC in odd years. Since 2001, Fox has been the exclusive broadcaster of the World Series.Eight different men have called eight or more different World Series telecasts as either play-by-play announcers or color commentators. They are Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, Curt Gowdy, Mel Allen and Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola and John Smoltz, Tony Kubek and Al Michaels.
1950s
Surviving telecasts
All telecasts of World Series games starting with are accounted for and exist. This is a full record of World Series telecasts prior to 1975 that are known to exist in whole or part:- – The complete telecasts of Games 6 and 7 exist, preserved on kinescope by sponsor Gillette.
- – Sections of Game 5 exist and have been released on DVD.
- – The last three innings of Game 2 are known to exist. Game 3 is complete with original commercials, and pre and post-game shows except for innings 2 and 3, and is available on DVD. Game 5, Don Larsen's perfect game, is complete except for the first inning. Game 5 was aired on the first night of the MLB Network on January 1, 2009, and is now available on DVD. Game 7 is complete except for the 2nd and 3rd innings and has also been released on DVD.
- – Games 1, 2 and 5 exist in their entirety and have been released on DVD. All of Game 3 exists, as does the first six innings of Game 6. Game 7 is believed to exist but has not been released.
- – A complete kinescope of Game 7 was discovered in the former home of Bing Crosby in December 2009. The game was rebroadcast by MLB Network in December 2010 and is now available on DVD.
- – Only half-hour segments of Game 3, Game 4 and Game 5 are known to exist.
- – Only a brief section of Game 3 is known to exist. An excerpt appears in the Yankeeography series.
- – All seven games exist, preserved on kinescope by the CBC. It is the earliest World Series whose telecasts are known to survive in their entirety, for all seven games.
- . All seven games exist, preserved on kinescope by the CBC.
- . Games 1 and 2 have been preserved on kinescope by the CBC; Games 3–5 exist in their original color videotape quality from "truck feeds", including pregames with Jim Simpson, Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle.
- . Games 1–4 have been preserved on kinescope by the CBC; Game 5 exists in its original color videotape quality from the "truck feed."
- . Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 exist in their complete forms. Games 3, 4, and 5 survive in partial form. These include pregame shows for six of the seven games, featuring Joe Garagiola and Sandy Koufax.
- – Game 4 is the only complete game extant, along with most of Game 5, and some of Game 2. Only fragments remain from Games 1, 3, and 6; The complete pregame show and condensed action of the first three innings of Game 7 exist from a home recording.
- – Game 1 is the only complete game extant. Game 2 is missing various bits, including the last inning and a half. Game 3 is complete except for the last inning. Game 4 exists from just the pregame show to the top of the 4th inning. All that remains of Game 5 are the final two innings. Game 6 is entirely missing, and Game 7 cuts off with one out in the top of the 9th inning, missing the postgame celebrations. A 20-minute presentation tape of Series highlights, narrated by Curt Gowdy, was submitted to the Peabody Awards. The Peabody tape includes the two key Mike Andrews plays from Game 2, otherwise missing from the network archives.
- – Games 1–4 are complete, and Game 5 exists in partial form.