Apple has announced the lineup of broadcasters and production enhancements for “Friday Night Baseball,” which leads off tomorrow, April 8, only on Apple TV+.
Fans can access “Friday Night Baseball” games and additional content, including new exclusive programs such as “Countdown to First Pitch” and “MLB Daily Recap,” beginning today in the Apple TV app.
Starting tomorrow, the broadcast team of Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Chris Young (analyst), Hannah Keyser (analyst), and Brooke Fletcher (reporter) will call the New York Mets at the Washington Nationals at 7 p.m. ET; and Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence (analyst), Katie Nolan (analyst), and Heidi Watney (reporter) comprise the crew that will call the Houston Astros at the Los Angeles Angels game at 9:30 p.m. (Eastern).
Game assignments for “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasters will be announced on a weekly basis. In her new role with “Friday Night Baseball,” Newman becomes the second woman to lead play-by-play duties for a national broadcast team; she joined the Baltimore Orioles’ broadcast team in 2020.
“Friday Night Baseball” live pre- and postgame coverage will be hosted by Lauren Gardner, along with a rotating group of analysts and former Major League Baseball (MLB) players, including Carlos Peña, Cliff Floyd, and Yonder Alonso.
Scheduled games are available to anyone with internet access, for free, only on Apple TV+. Users can find step-by-step instructions to access “Friday Night Baseball” across devices.
In addition to two marquee games on Friday nights throughout the regular season, fans in the U.S. and Canada can enjoy new 24/7 live programming with MLB game replays, news and analysis, highlights, classic games, and more. Each Thursday, fans can tune in to “Countdown to First Pitch” for a preview of the week’s upcoming games, and every morning to “MLB Daily Recap” for highlights from across the league, both available only on Apple TV+, as well as the “MLB Big Inning” whip-around show featuring live look-ins and in-game highlights every weeknight.
Additionally, fans will be able to watch full games, as well as condensed game replays, on demand on Apple TV+ after the completion of the live broadcasts each week.
In Apple News, fans can easily follow their favorite teams and watch personalized MLB highlights right in the News app. Today, fans can find an Opening Day preview curated by Apple News editors, and each Friday, enjoy a curated group of highlights and stories from around the league, and easily tap to watch “Friday Night Baseball” directly in the Apple TV app.
In Apple Music, fans can find exclusive playlists of batters’ walk-up songs from teams featured on “Friday Night Baseball” each week, as well as a collection of classic songs celebrating baseball.
“Friday Night Baseball” games will be available to anyone with internet access across devices where Apple TV+ can be found, including on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and HD, and on tv.apple.com, along with smart TVs, gaming consoles, and cable set-top boxes. “Friday Night Baseball” will be available on Apple TV+ in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, and for a limited time, without the need for a subscription.
