Center Field Shot 

Improvements in television technology promote innovations in baseball’s coverage.  Although increasingly new technologies are developed specifically for sportscasts (e.g., the telestrator, disc recorders for instant replay), most innovations spring from larger developments in television and related technologies.  Color television was first applied to studio programs and gradually introduced to remote telecasts, making its first national baseball appearance at the 1955 All-Star Game.  Forty-two years later, digital high definition television (HDTV) baseball was introduced at Baltimore’s Camden Yards.  Videotape technology premiered in the mid-1950s, allowing networks to replay programs in order to adjust for time zone differences.  It then became the first technology used for instant replay in the 1960s.  Portable cameras first used in the coverage of political conventions were quickly applied to sports.  Later, miniature cameras developed for surveillance spawned on the field cameras, including catcher and diamond cams.  Ever since the 1970s, the rapid development of personal computer technology has lead to increased use of graphics on baseball telecasts.

Typically, new technology is introduced in sports telecasts relatively quickly, since sports are high profile programs with costly rights fees and more technologically interested viewers.  Because the rights fees are so high, the extra expense associated with using the newest technologies represents a small addition to the overall cost of the telecasts.  As the television industries retool with newer technologies, they become part of sports productions simply because the technology is available and technicians are excited to use the latest “toys.”

But this technological push from the television industry does not account for the timing of an innovation’s introduction.  Premiere sports events, such as baseball’s World Series, playoffs, and All-Star Game, promote innovation.  This trend has become even more pronounced as the rights fees paid by networks to cover these events have skyrocketed.  Color television, split screen images, in the stands interviews, cameras embedded in the ground, even the centerfield camera, were introduced to national audiences at baseball’s spotlight games.  In some cases, the introductions were gimmicks that faded quickly, while others, such as colorcasts and the centerfield camera, gradually became standard practice in network and local telecasts.  The All-Star Game is frequently used to tryout new techniques before their multi-game use in the post-season.  Since the All-Star Game is an exhibition and does not affect the pennant races or Championship Series, MLB has been willing to let the contests serve as televised baseball’s experimental laboratory.

As in most industries, competition among television networks promotes technical innovation.  This is especially true of sports coverage, where the basic game remains the same regardless of which network or station telecasts it.  Thus, networks must offer some variation in the coverage to differentiate themselves from their rivals.  When NBC challenged CBS with a competing game of the week in 1957, CBS installed a miniature (for its day) videon camera behind home plate, offering viewers an umpire’s view of the proceedings.  CBS may have gotten the idea from the Brooklyn Dodgers, who introduced low home camera during their 1956 games in Jersey City.  But CBS’ tinkering was minor compared to ABC’s alterations when it captured the weekly telecasts in 1965.  Having built their reputation as sports television’s most innovative sports network, ABC brought striking advances to the MLB telecast table, including isolated instant replay, field microphones, and a separate camera for each base runner.  Although ABC held the game of the week contract for only a year, it forced NBC to dramatically alter is coverage.  NBC’s 1965 coverage of the World Series features videotaped replays, pre-recorded audio analysis from key players, and enhanced animated graphics.