MLB Network Snags Bob Costas

Posted by Cubicle QB

The month-old MLB Network made its biggest talent announcement to date — Bob Costas will join the network in a cable-exclusive multiyear deal. Costas will host original programming and serve as a play-by-play announcer for a number of the channel’s 26 live game broadcasts in 2009.

Costas will remain with NBC Sports for its NFL and Olympics coverage, but will no longer do projects on HBO, such as Costas Now. This move is a perfect fit for both MLB Network and Costas. The network gets one of the game’s preeminent voices and historians, while Costas finally gets to call an MLB game again, something he wasn’t afforded when NBC lost MLB TV rights.

Costas’ first duty for MLB Network will be interviewing Dodgers manager Joe Torre — who’s got an incendiary new book to plug — for an episode of MLB Network Studio 42 With Bob Costas on Thursday night at 8pm ET.