MLB Network Slides Into Dish

24-hour baseball net heads to satellite service in time for pennant races

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/2/2011 2:31:50 PM

Dish network announced Thursday night that it has added MLB Network to its channel lineup.

The 24-hour baseball network will be available on channel 153 to customers who subscribe to one of Dish Network's America's Top 200, Dish Latino Dos or MultiSport packages.

"With the pennant races heating up, Dish Network brings our customers wall-to-wall baseball coverage and MLB games in HD on MLB Network," said Dave Shull, senior VP of programming for Dish Network. "The addition of MLB Network makes Dish Network the place for fans to follow their favorite teams into the postseason and keep up with the latest information on all 30 Major League Baseball clubs."

"We are excited to bring MLB Network and our award-winning high definition programming to Dish Network's customers," said Tony Petitti, president and CEO of MLB Network. "We have experienced an incredible year of growth and this partnership is in line with our goal to make MLB Network available as widely as possible."

MLB Network debuted on Dish Thursday night with coverage of the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game.