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I suppose they ran so many of those trippy "Baseball Zen" PSAs (between the 10th and 11th innings, 4 consecutive) because, being new to MLB, they couldn't sell much commercial time.

But, the telecast was solid, aided by a thrilling game (Dodgers at SF, 11 innings), and the announcers (Steven Nelson & Hunter Pence) were good, with terrific camera work highlighting the spectacular setting.

Let's see...Fox Sports...ESPN...FanDuel Sports...Apple+...MLB.TV...Fubo...Roku Sports...Marquee...HBO Max...TNT Sports...remember when baseball was easy to find on TV...and free?

Pink Freud wrote: ↑13 Jul 2025 19:54 pm I suppose they ran so many of those trippy "Baseball Zen" PSAs (between the 10th and 11th innings, 4 consecutive) because, being new to MLB, they couldn't sell much commercial time.

But, the telecast was solid, aided by a thrilling game (Dodgers at SF, 11 innings), and the announcers (Steven Nelson & Hunter Pence) were good, with terrific camera work highlighting the spectacular setting.

Let's see...Fox Sports...ESPN...FanDuel Sports...Apple+...MLB.TV...Fubo...Roku Sports...Marquee...HBO Max...TNT Sports...remember when baseball was easy to find on TV...and free?

yup - the Cards were on about 18 games/season

Pink Freud wrote: ↑13 Jul 2025 19:54 pm I suppose they ran so many of those trippy "Baseball Zen" PSAs (between the 10th and 11th innings, 4 consecutive) because, being new to MLB, they couldn't sell much commercial time.

But, the telecast was solid, aided by a thrilling game (Dodgers at SF, 11 innings), and the announcers (Steven Nelson & Hunter Pence) were good, with terrific camera work highlighting the spectacular setting.

Let's see...Fox Sports...ESPN...FanDuel Sports...Apple+...MLB.TV...Fubo...Roku Sports...Marquee...HBO Max...TNT Sports...remember when baseball was easy to find on TV...and free?

I'm sorry it's such a struggle for you. Sounds tough

I've been subscribing to mlb.tv since 2005, exclusively watching the Cardinals. Even those netcasts featured plenty of between-innings non-advertising -- it used to be 100% fillers at the beginning, then gradually increasing with advertising, but as recently as 3 seasons ago there were significant fillers. The plain blue screen with a slowly spinning ball, or replays of important moments, which were often the same 5 plays rehashed to monotony. Now I get served commercials local to my market, but still very occasionally there's filler.

Here's what the next few years of MLB telecasts looks like: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/648894 ... b-manfred/

I wish they'd put on a ballpark cam or just show the pitcher warming up rather than a blank screen.

PanamaCardFan wrote: ↑13 Jul 2025 22:15 pm I've been subscribing to mlb.tv since 2005, exclusively watching the Cardinals. Even those netcasts featured plenty of between-innings non-advertising -- it used to be 100% fillers at the beginning, then gradually increasing with advertising, but as recently as 3 seasons ago there were significant fillers. The plain blue screen with a slowly spinning ball, or replays of important moments, which were often the same 5 plays rehashed to monotony. Now I get served commercials local to my market, but still very occasionally there's filler.

The cable/satellite/streaming ad sales industry must be in an uproar. On one news network nearly every night I'll see --- literally --- the exact same commercial run six consecutive times; is that the network's or the cable/internet provider's issue?.

MLB, as much as I love-love-love it, has me watching Dodgers, D'backs, and Cardinals games the next day on replay, with the spoiler final score turned off, so I can FF through all the between-innings and pitching-change breaks and still enjoy it like it was live, chopping a full hour off the viewing time of each game.