The following is a list of the nationaltelevision andradio networks and announcers that have broadcastNational League Championship Series games over the years. It does not include any announcers who may have appeared on local broadcasts produced by the participating teams.

• Beginning in2022, the new 7 yearMajor League Baseball contract called for bothFox network andFS1 to air morepost-season games (two Divisional Series and one best-of-7 League Championship Series) while keeping the regular season structure intact. The deal saw Fox continue to air theAll-Star Game and theWorld Series exclusively. However, Fox has expanded digital rights, and will air at least two of the first four League Championship Series games and all seventh games in its league from 2020 to 2028.^[10][11][12] Also,TBS will airTuesday Night Baseball for the duration of the contract.^[13][14]
• 2020 –Joe Davis called play-by-play for Game 7 due toJoe Buck calling theTampa Bay Buccaneers-Green Bay Packers NFL game forFox.^[15]
• 2021 –Bob Costas took over forErnie Johnson as pregame host for TBS due to Johnson'sInside the NBA duties forTNT.
• 2022 –Matt Vasgersian filled in forKevin Burkhardt as pregame host for Game 5 due to Burkhardt calling theKansas City Chiefs–San Francisco 49ers NFL game forFox. Vasgersian also filled in for Burkhardt on the postgame show after Game 4 the night before.
• 2024 –Matt Vasgersian filled in forKevin Burkhardt as pregame host for Games 1 and 6 due to Burkhardt calling the Week 6Detroit Lions–Dallas Cowboys and Week 7Kansas City Chiefs–San Francisco 49ers NFL games forFox.

• The2010 NLCS did not air in some Philadelphia-area homes afterCablevision pulled local Fox stationWTXF off its lineup on October 16 as the result of a carriage dispute withNews Corporation, Fox's parent company.^[25]
• Brian Anderson took over forErnie Johnson as the lead play-by-play man forTBS during the 2011 postseason because Johnson had to care for his son Michael (who suffered fromMuscular dystrophy and was placed in intensive care around the same time as the playoffs).^[26][27] His son died 10 years later at 33.^[28]
• Nielsen ratings for Game 7 of the2012 NLCS between theSan Francisco Giants andSt. Louis Cardinals showed that 31.8% of households in the St. Louis area watched the game compared with 27.5 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nationally, Nielsen found that 8.1 million viewers saw this game, a 4.9% share of households. The rating peaked at 5.8 at 7:30 p.m. (Central Time Zone) before declining as viewers switched toMonday Night Football or thepresidential debate.^[29]
• Beginning in2014, whenFox Sports began a new television contract withMajor League Baseball,FS1 airs 40 regular season MLB games (mostly on Saturdays), along with up to 15post-season games (eight Divisional Series games and one best-of-7 League Championship Series). The deal resulted in a reduction of MLB coverage on theFox network, which will air 12 regular season games, theAll-Star Game, and theWorld Series.^[30][31]
  • Game 1 of the2014 NLCS was simulcast on Fox Sports 1 and hosted byKevin Burkhardt,Gabe Kapler andC. J. Nitkowski, who offeredsabermetric analysis of the game.^[32][33]
• 2017 – Anderson again took over for Johnson as the NLCS play-by-play announcer for TBS, this time because of Johnson'sInside the NBA duties forTNT.^[34]

• In2001, Game 5 of theNLCS and Game 4 of theALCS were split betweenFox andFox Sports Net. This came off the heels of Fox airing anNFLdoubleheader that particular day (October 21).
• In2002, Game 1 of theNLCS and Game 2 of theALCS were split betweenFox andFox Sports Net. The regional split was done in order for Fox to avoid televising a weekday afternoon game.
• In2003, Game 1 of theALCS and Game 2 of theNLCS were split betweenFox andFX.
• In2004, Game 1 of theNLCS and Game 2 of theALCS were split betweenFox andFox Sports Net. Also in2004, Game 5 of the ALCS ran way into the time slot of Game 5 of the NLCS. As a result, the first seven innings of the NLCS game were shown onFX, except in the home markets of the teams competing in the NLCS, which saw the conclusion of the ALCS on FX and the NLCS on Fox.
• In2005, Game 1 of theNLCS and Game 2 of theALCS were split betweenFox andFX.
• The2007 NLCS onTBS marked the first time that a League Championship Series was exclusively broadcast on acable television network.

• The1990 postseason started on a Thursday,^[46] whileWorld Series started on a Tuesday due to the brieflockout.
  • In1990, Major League Baseball andCBS went with some rather unconventional scheduling during the LCS round, with two consecutive scheduled off-days^[47] in theNLCS after Game 2.
• In1991,CBS didn't come on the air for baseball for weeknight LCS telecasts until 8:30 p.m.ET. Instead, they opted to show programming such asRescue 911 at 8 p.m. rather than a baseball pregame show.^[48]
• The1994 National League Championship Series was planned to air onNBC. However, those plans were scrapped when astrike caused the entire postseason to be cancelled.
• The rather messy1995 arrangement was courtesy of "The Baseball Network", which was Major League Baseball's in-house production facility.ABC andNBC (who essentially, distributed the telecasts rather than produce them by themselves like in the past) shared the same on-air graphics and even the microphone "flags" had the "Baseball Network" logo on it with the respective network logo. In addition, the first four games of both of the1995 League Championship Series were regionally televised.^[49][50]

• On October 11, 1980,Keith Jackson called anOklahoma vs. Texascollege football game forABC in the afternoon, then flew toHouston, Texas to call Game 4 of theNLCS. In the meantime,Don Drysdale filled-in for Jackson on play-by-play for the early innings (up until the middle of the fourth inning).^[69] ABC usedSteve Zabriskie^[70] as a field reporter during the 1980 NLCS.
• The1981 NLCS between theLos Angeles Dodgers andMontreal Expos was also broadcast by theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) withDave Van Horne andDuke Snider announcing. This was still during a period in which the participating ballclubs were allowed to do their own local League Championship Series telecasts.^[71]
  • Even thoughDick Enberg did play-by-play for the 1981 NLCS for NBC,Merle Harmon was, for the most part, NBC's backup baseball play-by-play man (serving behindJoe Garagiola, who called that year'sALCS for NBC withTony Kubek) in1981. Harmon's broadcast partner during this period wasRon Luciano.^[72] Bryon Day^[73] covered the postgame interviews for NBC following the Los Angeles Dodgers' victory in Game 5.
• Game 1 of the1982 NLCS had to be played twice. In the first attempt (on October 6), theAtlanta Braves led against theSt. Louis Cardinals 1–0 behindPhil Niekro. The game was three outs away becoming official when the umpire stopped it. When the rain did not subside, the game was cancelled.^[74] Game 1 began from the start the following night in a pitching match-up ofPascual Pérez for the Braves and longtime Cardinal starterBob Forsch.
  • ABC'sHoward Cosell did not broadcast Game 2 of the1982 NLCS because of his commitment of hosting thePittsburgh Steelers' 50th Anniversary dinner inPittsburgh on October 9, 1982, which was broadcast live onPittsburgh's ABC affiliate,WTAE-TV andPittsburgh's NBC affiliate,WPXI-TV.
  • ABC'sJim Lampley interviewed the winners in theCardinals' clubhouse after clinching the National League pennant in Game 3.
• 1983 marked the last year that the local flagship television stations for the competing teams were allowed to produce their own League Championship Series broadcasts. In1982, Major League Baseball recognized a problem with this due to the emergence ofcable superstations such asWTBS inAtlanta andWGN-TV inChicago. When WTBS tried to petition for the right to do a "local"Braves broadcast of the1982 NLCS,^[75] Major League Baseball got aPhiladelphia federal court^[76][77] to ban^[78] them on the grounds that as a cable superstation, they could not have a nationwide telecast competing withABC's.

• The rather unusual1984 NLCS schedule (which had an off day after Game 3 rather than Game 2) allowedABC to have aprime time game each weeknight even thoughChicago'sWrigley Field did not have lights at the time (which remained the case untilfour years later). ABC usedTim McCarver as a field reporter during the 1984 NLCS. During the regular season, McCarver teamed withDon Drysdale on backup games^[79] whileAl Michaels,Jim Palmer andEarl Weaver/Howard Cosell formed ABC's number one broadcasting team.
• On Thursday, October 10, 1985, NBC didn't come on the air for Game 2^[80] of theNLCS until 8:30 p.m.ET to avoid disruptingThe Cosby Show at 8.^[81] NBC would do the same thing for Thursday night games in subsequent postseasons.Dick Enberg hosted the 1985 NLCSpregame shows withJoe Morgan.^[82] It was Enberg who broke the news to most of the nation thatVince Coleman was injured before Game 4. NBC even aired an interview with one of the few people who actually saw the incident, aDodger batboy.
• On October 15, 1986, Game 6 of theNLCS ran so long (lasting for 16 innings, 5 hours and 29 minutes), that it bumped up against the start time of Game 7 of theALCS (also onABC).
  • Jack Whitaker^[83] served as an essayist during ABC's coverage of the 1986 NLCS.
  • During Game 6 of the NLCS,ABC color commentatorTim McCarver left the booth during the bottom of the 16th, in order to cover the expected celebration in theNew York Mets' clubhouse. As a result, play-by-play manKeith Jackson was on the air by himself for a short time. Eventually, McCarver rejoined the broadcast just before the end of the game, watching the action on a monitor in the Mets' clubhouse, then doing the postgame interviews with the Mets.
  • Corey McPherrin, a sports anchor withWABC (ABC's flagship station out ofNew York) interviewedMike Scott when he was presented with the 1986 NLCS MVP award after Game 6.
• NBC usedDon Sutton as a pre and postgame analyst for their 1987 LCS coverage.Marv Albert went back-and-forth during both 1987 LCS.^[84] He hosted the pregame for Game 1^[85] of theNLCS withJoe Morgan,^[86] and in fact had to read the lineups to the viewing audience. There was a problem with theSt. Louis P.A. feed, so he ended up reading the script from theCardinal dugout while the players were introduced to the crowd. He then went toMinnesota the next night to host theALCS pregame with Don Sutton.Jimmy Cefalo hosted the pregame coverage for Game 5 of the NLCS, as Marv Albert was away on aboxing assignment for NBC.
  • NBC'sJay Randolph,^[87] who was also the sports director forKSDK-TV,^[88] the NBC affiliate inSt. Louis, interviewed the winners in theSt. Louis Cardinals' clubhouse following their Game 7 victory.^[89] Also following Game 7, NBC'sMarv Albert interviewed1987 NLCS MVP,Jeffrey Leonard of theSan Francisco Giants (to date, the last person from the losing team to win a postseason series Most Valuable Player Award, either League Championship Series or World Series).
• Game 2 of the1988 NLCS didn't start until 10 p.m.ET due to avice presidential debate.^[90] This is the latest ever scheduled start for an LCS game.
  • After wrapping up his play-by-play duties forABC's coverage of the1988 ALCS, in which theOakland Athletics swept theBoston Red Sox in four games,Gary Bender^[91] covered the postgame interviews in the victoriousLos Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse following Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS.
• NBC lead play-by-play manVin Scully was unable to call Game 2 of the1989 NLCS because he had come down withlaryngitis.^[54] Thus, #2 play-by-play man,Bob Costas filled-in for him.^[54] Around the same time, Costas was assigned to call theAmerican League Championship Series betweenOakland andToronto. Game 2 of the NLCS occurred on Thursday, October 5, which was an off day^[92] for the ALCS. NBC then decided to fly Costas from Toronto to Chicago to substitute for Scully on Thursday night. Afterward, Costas flew back to Toronto, where he resumed work on the ALCS the next night.
  • NBC usedMike Schmidt as a guest analyst (Marv Albert served as thepregame host) for Game 1 of the NLCS. Schmidt subsequently, did on-field reporting for the series. Schmidt also provided periodic commentary (albeit, taped prior to the playoffs) forABC during the1988 NLCS.

• In1970, NBC televised the second games of both League Championship Series on a regional basis. Some markets got theNLCS at 1 p.m.ET along with a 4 p.m.NFL game while other markets got theALCS at 4 p.m. along with a 1 p.m. NFL game.
• NBC did not air Game 2^[96] of the1972 NLCS or the1974 NLCS.
• Except for Game 1 in both series, all games in1975 were regionally televised. Game 3 of both League Championship Series were aired inprime time, the first time such an occurrence happened.
• 1976 marked the first time that all LCS games were televised nationally.

• In the early years of the League Championship Series,^[97] NBC typically televised a doubleheader on the opening Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday (because ofNFL coverage). They then covered the weekday games with a 1.5 hour overlap, joining the second game in progress when the first one ended. NBC usually swapped announcer crews after Game 2.
• From1969 to1983, the Major League Baseball television contract allowed a local TV station in the market of each competing team to also carry the LCS games. So in 1969, for example,Mets fans inNew York could choose to watch either the NBC telecast orLindsey Nelson,Bob Murphy, andRalph Kiner onWOR-TV.

For all of the League Championship Series telecasts spanning from 1969 to 1975, only Game 2 of the1972 American League Championship Series (Oakland vs.Detroit) is known to exist. However, the copy on the trade circuit of Game 2 of the 1972 ALCS is missing theBert Campaneris-Lerrin LaGrow brawl. There are some instances where the only brief glimpse of telecast footage of an early LCS game can be seen in a surviving newscast from that night. For instance, the last out of the1973 National League Championship Series as described byJim Simpson was played on that night'sNBC Nightly News, but other than that, the entire game is gone. On the day theNew York Mets andBaltimore Orioles wrapped up their respective League Championship Series in 1969, a feature story on theCBS Evening News showed telecast clips of theALCS game (there's no original sound, just voiceover narration). This is all that likely remains of anything from that third game of theOrioles-Twins series.While all telecasts of World Series games starting with1975 are accounted for and exist, the LCS is still a spotty situation through the late 1970s:

• 1976 ALCS - Only Game 5 from theABC vault is known to exist.
• 1976 NLCS - An off-air recording of Game 3, taped in thePortland market is the only game that is known to exist. Apparently, this copy which makes the trade circuit is the only extant version because a second-hand story says that the ABC vault copy has no sound.
• 1977 - Major League Baseball has in the vault, Game 3 of theNLCS (from thePhiladelphia Phillies' localNBC affiliate) and apparently has all of Game 4 of the NLCS. Also, both theWPIX andNBC versions of Game 5 of theALCS (both of which are also out there in terms of off-air recordings) are known to exist. Earlier games of the NLCS and ALCS have not surfaced and may not exist in the vault.
• 1978 - Trade collectors have all four games of theALCS (theABC version) but only Game 4 of theNLCS (again, the source copies are those taped by those at home).

As previously mentioned, from1969 until1983, theMajor League Baseball television contract allowed a local TV station in the market of each competing team to also carry the LCS games.

• 1969 - Locally, the NLCS was broadcast in New York City byWOR-TV, the Mets' flagship TV station, andWNBC-TV, the New York City, New York NBC affiliate, and in Atlanta byWSB-TV, the Braves' flagship TV station and Atlanta, Georgia NBC affiliate.

From 1969 to 1975, there was no official national radio network coverage of the League Championship Series.NBC only had the national radio rights to theAll-Star Game andWorld Series during this period. Instead, national coverage was provided via broadcastssyndicated overad hoc networks.

• OriginallyTerry Francona was assigned to call the2012 NLCS withJon Sciambi. However, he was hired by theCleveland Indians as itsmanager.^[98]

• List of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio broadcasters

• National radio coverage of the1972 NLCS between theCincinnati Reds andPittsburgh Pirates was essentially, a nationallysyndicatedsimulcast of the Reds' local radio broadcasts.

Since 1969, the non-national radio broadcasts of theNational League Championship Series have been broadcast on theflagship stations and radio networks of the teams participating in the series.

• 2002 - Locally, the NLCS was called onKNBR inSan Francisco byJon Miller (Game 5),Duane Kuiper,Joe Angel, andMike Krukow, and onKMOX-AM inSt. Louis byMike Shannon andJoel Meyers.
• 2001 - Locally, the NLCS was called onKTAR-AM inPhoenix byGreg Schulte,Jeff Munn,Rod Allen andJim Traber, and onWSB-AM inAtlanta byPete Van Wieren,Skip Caray,Don Sutton, andJoe Simpson.

• 1989 - Locally, the NLCS was called onKNBR inSan Francisco byHank Greenwald andRon Fairly, and onWGN-AM inChicago byHarry Caray,Dewayne Staats andDave Nelson.

• 1969 - Locally, the NLCS was called onWJRZ-AM/WABC-FM in New York byLindsey Nelson,Bob Murphy, andRalph Kiner, and onWSB-AM in Atlanta byErnie Johnson andMilo Hamilton.

• League Championship Series Video
• Major League Baseball Playoff Ratings, 1976-2007
• Searchable Network TV Broadcasts
  • HERE IS HOW TV COVERED THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES IN THE EARLY YEARS
• Episode List: MLB NLCS - TV Tango

• National League Championship Series
• Lists of Major League Baseball broadcasters
• ABC Sports
• CBS Sports
• Major League Baseball on Fox
• Major League Baseball on NBC
• TNT Sports (United States)
• Major League Baseball on the radio
• ESPN Radio
• CBS Radio Sports
• Local sports television programming in the United States
• Fox Sports announcers
• ESPN announcers

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