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Saturday, March 24, 2018

MLB Phillies Game To Stream, Radio Only

For the first time ever, NBC Sports Philadelphia will broadcast a Phillies game exclusively online and not on television.

According to philly.com, the Phillies’ April 3 road game against the New York Mets will only be available through the network’s website and mobile apps. This is because the game is at 7:10 p.m., and the 76ers and Flyers both play at the same hour. NBC Sports’ two local sports cable channels were already booked with those games.

“It’s becoming pretty standard to [fans] to consume games through streaming as opposed to only on linear [television],” NBC Sports Philadelphia president Brian Monihan said. He noted that Flyers games this season have averaged around 6,500 viewers per game online, and Sixers games around 11,000.

Monihan said there was discussion of putting the game on NBC10, which broadcasts some weekday afternoon and weekend night games over the air, But NBC’s national network is broadcasting a new edition of its popular music competition show The Voice that night, and that gets priority.

NBC10’s secondary digital channel Cozi TV — which is on many local cable systems, and is broadcast over the air as channel 10.2 — is available. Cozi TV carried an Eagles preseason game this past August that was also televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Monihan said once the better-known channels were off the board, his group decided on the online-only broadcast.

“We felt like it was a good chance to try out this platform,” he said. “We know that while streaming has gotten easier, we’re going to be very active leading up to this game letting everybody know how they can watch.”

The Phillies game will be kept behind NBC Sports Philadelphia’s TV provider authentication wall, which means it will only be available to cable TV subscribers who get NBC Sports Philadelphia in their subscriptions. You will have to sign in with your TV provider account to watch the game, as you would any other Phillies or Flyers or 76ers game on the channel’s website.

The game will be available on the radio via all of the Phillies’ radio outlets, including flagship station WIP 94.1 FM.

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