Comcast Hometown Network to Televise 44 Live Minor League Baseball Games from the California League and the Pacific Coast League

LIVERMORE, Calif., March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Hometown Network (http://comcasthometown.com), Comcast's regional cable network covering Northern and Central California, today announced that it will televise 44 LIVE minor league baseball games in 2011, adding Fresno Grizzlies (www.fresnogrizzlies.com) contests to its baseball telecast schedule for the first time.  The games, from the California League (www.californialeague.com) and the Pacific Coast League (www.pclbaseball.com), will be available on Channel 104 to all Comcast digital cable customers throughout Northern and Central California.  

The telecasts will begin on Thursday, April 7th at 7:00 p.m. when the Fresno Grizzlies host the Las Vegas 51s (see complete schedule below).  All of the Comcast Hometown Network games will originate LIVE from either from Chukchansi Park (home of the Fresno Grizzlies), San Jose Municipal Stadium (home of the San Jose Giants http://sjgiants.com/) or Banner Island Ballpark (home of the Stockton Ports www.stocktonports.com).  

"Comcast Hometown Network has expanded our baseball coverage every year and we're excited in 2011 to add telecasts from the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the World Champion San Francisco Giants," said Jeff Giles, Director of Comcast Hometown Network. "The addition of Pacific Coast League games to our current California League contests means that Northern and Central California viewers will be able to watch all of the top baseball prospects on the West Coast."

Play-by-play duties for the games originating from Stockton's Banner Island Ballpark will be handled by Stockton Ports radio announcer Zack Bayrouty.  For games originating from San Jose Municipal Stadium, San Jose Giants radio announcer Joe Ritzo will handle play-by-play.  Dan Dibley of sports radio station KNBR 680-AM will provide analysis for all California League games.  

The LIVE games will be replayed several times on Comcast Hometown Network (Channel 104), and will also be available any time of the day or night via Comcast's popular ON DEMAND platform, which is free to Comcast digital customers.  To view minor league baseball games ON DEMAND, Comcast Digital Cable customers can tune to Channel 1 on their Digital Cable lineup or press the ON DEMAND button on their remote control, then click on the "Get Local" section, then click on "Comcast Hometown Network."

The California League is a Class A Advanced minor baseball league which operates throughout the state of California.  Comprised of 10 teams that are affiliated with Major League Baseball teams such as the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, the California League is divided into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.  The Southern Division features five teams from the sprawling metropolitan areas of Southern California, and the Northern Division features four teams in California's growing Central Valley as well the San Jose Giants in the Bay Area.

The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Triple-A minor baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. The PCL consists of the American Conference (featuring the Albuquerque Isotopes, Iowa Cubs, Memphis Redbirds, Nashville Sounds, New Orleans Zephyrs, Oklahoma City RedHawks, Omaha Storm Chasers, and the Round Rock Express) and the Pacific Conference (featuring the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Fresno Grizzlies, Las Vegas 51s, Reno Aces, Sacramento River Cats, Salt Lake Bees, Tacoma Rainiers and the Tucson Padres).

Following is Comcast Hometown Network's tentative 2011 California League baseball telecast schedule:

SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

About Comcast Hometown Network

Comcast Hometown Network (CHN) is a regional cable network produced by Comcast and available in the San Francisco Bay Area and Central California on Digital Channel 104.  Available to almost 2 million homes in Northern and Central California as a part of Comcast's commitment to the communities that it serves, Comcast Hometown Network is a 24/7 channel that includes original regional programming, Comcast Hometown Sports (CHS), and unique local content that you can't get anywhere else.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services.  Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal.  Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers.  Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

Comcast's California Region, based in Livermore, California, serves more than 2.3 million customers in Northern and Central California.  Comcast employs more than 7,000 local residents across the region.

SOURCE Comcast