First TV Baseball Game: Red Barber Calls the Action
Red Barber called the first televised Major League Baseball game on August 26, 1939, broadcasting a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds from Ebbets Field on experimental station W2XBS (later WNBC). The broadcast used only two cameras: one behind home plate and one pointed at Barber. He had no monitor and couldn't see what the camera was showing viewers. An estimated 33,000 television sets in the New York area could receive the signal, though how many were actually tuned in is unknown. Barber improvised commentary for a visual medium he was learning in real time. The Reds won the first game 5-2; the Dodgers took the second 6-1. Televised sports had been born.
August 26, 1939
87 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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