[JonInMiddleGA]

A little broadcast news from last week
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...408sptbiz.html

Safe to say Cal Ripken Jr. won't be as outspoken or as outrageous as Charles Barkley.

But Ripken, hired by Turner Sports on Thursday as studio analyst for its new Major League Baseball television package, hopes to bring a bit of Barkley to the job.

"I'm a basketball junkie, and I love listening to Charles and Kenny [Smith] in Atlanta," said Ripken, referring to TNT's popular NBA studio show. "They're entertaining in many ways ... and Charles can be Charles ... but from an analyst's standpoint, they also really know the game. I hope I can bring some of that sort of analysis to the baseball side."

Ripken, the former Baltimore Orioles star who will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame this summer, will join host Ernie Johnson Jr. on a studio show that will precede and follow TBS' telecasts of Division Series and National League Championship Series games this fall.

TBS, which will be televising postseason baseball for the first time, also will have a Hall of Famer in the booth during games. Tony Gwynn, to be inducted into Cooperstown along with Ripken, will be the game analyst alongside play-by-play voice Chip Caray on the NLCS and on the No. 1 Division Series broadcast team.

Turner Sports executive producer Jeff Behnke said Gwynn will warm up for the postseason by serving as guest analyst with Caray on some TBS Braves telecasts, probably in September. Behnke said it hasn't been determined how many Braves games Gwynn will work.

TBS is in its final season of televising Braves games nationally and next year will debut an MLB-wide Sunday afternoon "game of the week" package. Ripken will serve as analyst on a still-being-formulated studio show in conjunction with that package. Gwynn could join play-by-play voice Caray in the booth on some of the Sunday games, but the former San Diego Padres star said his top priority is his job as San Diego State baseball coach.

Ripken, a two-time American League MVP who holds the major-league record of 2,632 consecutive games played, and Gwynn, an eight-time National League batting champion with a career .338 average, will make their TBS debuts on a July 1 All-Star Game selection show.

"Similar to what we've done with our NBA package over the years," Behnke said, "we wanted to have some signature voices, some familiar faces who are very respected in the game. We think we definitely have that with Cal and Tony."

TBS has rights to all Division Series games and one League Championship Series per year (alternating leagues) through 2013.