Fox Sports 1 doesn’t get rights to Major League Baseball games until 2014, but the network will collaborate with MLB on an interesting new documentary series.
Fox Sports 1 collaborates with MLB on ‘Mission: October’
The eight-episode documentary series will follow a single MLB team through a three-game series every week. The Pirates are up first.
Gregory Shamus
The league, along with MLB Productions, will bring Mission: October to FS1 starting this Monday, Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The show will air for the final six weeks on Monday nights, and will follow a different team through a three-game series each weekend. The catch is that none of the teams are chosen very far in advance, and will all essentially be picked the week of the series.
MLB Productions has a crew heading out to San Francisco on Thursday to prepare to film the Pittsburgh Pirates in their three-game series with the San Francisco Giants. They will, throughout the weekend, be feeding back the footage to MLBP’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J. The crew will turn it all around in time to air this Monday night on Fox Sports 1. It’s an ambitious approach to documentary filmmaking that hasn’t really been tried in such short order before.
“Our fans crave behind the scenes access to their favorite stars, and they want to see it right away. Mission October satisfies both of those desires, and we know MLB Productions is up to the task of this extremely quick editing schedule,” said Chris Tully, Senior Vice President, Broadcasting, Major League Baseball. “We’re thrilled to be working with Fox Sports 1 on this series, which will provide a unique glimpse each week inside the inner workings of our Clubs during this most critical time of the season.”
“This is what the Pennant race is all about. Fighting tooth and nail to get the opportunity to play in October. It’s a privilege that MLB and the players have let our viewers be this close to the action at this most crucial and exciting time of the season. You will really get to see the race for October from the inside out,” said Michael Bloom, Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Fox Sports 1.
The first seven episodes will air on consecutive Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the final episode will focus on the World Series, and therefore air sometime in November. Fox Sports 1 will gain rights to Major League Baseball’s Game of the Week, along with two of the League Division Series, starting in 2014.
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