truTV expanded sports block will feature MLB altcasts this fall

Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to expand their sports emphasis, especially on linear cable channels during a time of increasing cord-cutting. They’re also trying to demonstrate that their rights run well beyond the NBA (particularly around talk they’ll likely lose those rights after this coming season).

The combination of those things appears to have led to a quiet announcement that WBD’s truTV will carry a MLB Race to the Pennant altcast live look-in (or whiparound) show (alongside their main MLB on TBS coverage) on Tuesdays this September.

Looks like MLB and TNT have come to some agreement for expanded rights.

TruTV is going to be airing “MLB Race to the Pennant” every Tuesday (a live-lookin show). TruTV will also get a live game (Astros/Padres) on Tuesday, September 17th.

— Manny | Weather, TV, Sports (@sportsontvguy) August 31, 2024

The existence of Race to the Pennant was mentioned in a WBD release on “The TNets September Programming Highlights” Friday, but there weren’t any details provided beyond the show name and network. But this does fit with past WBD comments on expanding the sports programming on truTV, with remarks there this summer specifically citing MLB as one league they’d televise more from this fall. And while it’s still far from clear exactly what’s coming here, if the comment there on a “live-lookin,” or whiparound, show is accurate, that’s certainly notable.

Whiparound shows are having a moment. That’s been especially seen with the love for Gold Zone at this year’s Olympics (it started in 2012, but really took off this year on Peacock) and the excitement for the upcoming NFL RedZone. And it would be interesting to see truTV do that for MLB games, especially during actual pennant races. The idea of baseball whiparound coverage has been tried many times in one form or another, including by FS1, DAZN, MLB Network, and Marquee (for the Cubs’ minor-league affiliates), but it hasn’t fully stuck yet.

Another notable thing here is the name. There was a past Race to the Pennant under the WBD umbrella. That would be a weekly MLB show that premiered on HBO in 1978 and ran in various forms through 1992, with Len Berman, Tim McCarver, Barry Tompkins, Bob Gibson, and Maury Wills amongst those involved over the years. There probably aren’t many who remember that now, and there isn’t necessarily any connection to the upcoming show, but it is always interesting to see an old brand revived.

We’ll wait to see what winds up being announced on Race to the Pennant and why viewers should tune in for it. But this is definitely part of an overarching plan to make truTV a sports destination. And maybe that will mean that truTV Awareness Month is no longer necessary at some point.

[WBD]