# List of World Series broadcasters
**List of World Series broadcasters** records the announcers who have called the [World Series](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-series) on radio and television. The first broadcast came on October 5, 1921, when Tommy Cowan of WJZ Radio in [Newark, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/newark-new-jersey), re-created the Giants–Yankees game from phoned-in reports.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) The 1923 Series aired on WJZ and WEAF, with WEAF relaying coverage to WMAF and WCAP; NBC did not yet exist. By October 1926, coverage was scheduled on stations in 22 cities, and the first coast-to-coast World Series broadcast came in 1928.[2](https://apnews.com/article/1aece2f5376e7268b22b760297b147d5) • [9](https://sabr.org/journal/article/live-from-yankee-stadium-a-brief-history-of-the-yankees-on-radio/) For 2026, the games air on FOX, FOX One and FOX Deportes, with [ESPN Radio](https://www.edgepedia.org/espn-radio) and Univision's TUDN Radio providing radio coverage.[3](https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-broadcast-schedule-announced-for-the-2026-world-series-presented-by-capital-one)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First World Series broadcast | October 5, 1921, by Tommy Cowan on WJZ Radio in Newark, N.J., relaying phoned-in play-by-play from the Polo Grounds (Giants vs. Yankees)[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) |
| First national radio broadcast | 1923 Fall Classic on NBC, with Graham McNamee and Ford Frick among the announcers[2](https://apnews.com/article/1aece2f5376e7268b22b760297b147d5) |
| Rights history | NBC exclusive national TV contract from 1966; from 1976, NBC in even years and ABC in odd years[8](https://www.sportsbroadcastjournal.com/with-44000-sets-in-u-s-the-first-world-series-telecast-was-72-years-ago-today-historical-highlights-since/) |
| 2026 outlets | FOX, FOX One and FOX Deportes (Spanish TV); ESPN Radio and Univision's TUDN Radio for audio[3](https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-broadcast-schedule-announced-for-the-2026-world-series-presented-by-capital-one) |
## Radio beginnings, 1921–1930s
The first World Series broadcast was a studio re-creation. On October 5, 1921, Tommy Cowan stood at a microphone at WJZ Radio in Newark, New Jersey, with a telephone at his ear while a newspaperman at the [Polo Grounds](https://www.edgepedia.org/polo-grounds) described the Giants–Yankees game to him over the phone; Cowan then reported what he was told to his listeners.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) WJZ had gone on the air only four days earlier, and its management wanted the distinction of being the first station to broadcast a World Series game.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) Because Cowan depended on someone at the ballpark to feed him information, he was in effect the first broadcaster to "re-create" a game, a practice that remained common until World War II.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) Red Barber, accepting the first Ford C. Frick Award in 1978, deadpanned that the broadcast "was so successful, there was no World Series broadcast the next year."[4](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic)
**A national audience arrived in 1923.** That fall, Graham McNamee and Ford Frick were among the announcers who called the Giants–Yankees Series on NBC, the first World Series carried to a national radio audience.[2](https://apnews.com/article/1aece2f5376e7268b22b760297b147d5) McNamee, hired by radio station WEAF in May 1923 after someone heard him speak during a break from jury duty, was dispatched to that October's Series just five months after breaking into the business, and went on to work 12 World Series; the Hall of Fame credits him as broadcasting's first color commentator.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game)
Early team owners were skeptical of radio, fearing fans would stay home and listen rather than buy tickets.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) In 1932 the major league clubs came within one or two votes of banning radio broadcasting entirely, and the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers signed a five-year anti-broadcasting pact covering 1934 to 1938.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) Larry MacPhail broke ranks in Brooklyn in 1938, and by 1939 all 16 major league clubs were on radio.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game)
## The television era
An earlier step toward exclusivity came in 1966, when the national television contract was made exclusive to NBC and bundled the World Series with a national game of the week.[5](https://www.tobymiller.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/101906_Res-Cult_2013-Outline_FINAL-copy.DR_.pdf)
## The Fox era and current arrangements
Fox has held World Series television rights for most of the past quarter century. [Joe Buck](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-buck), hired by FOX Sports in 1994, called his first World Series in 1996 at age 27, the youngest World Series voice since 25-year-old [Vin Scully](https://www.edgepedia.org/vin-scully) in 1953, and called the Series again in 1998 and every year from 2000 through 2021, when he left the network.[6](https://baseballhall.org/discover/awards/ford-c-frick/joe-buck) His FOX partners included [Tim McCarver](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-mccarver) and Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz.[6](https://baseballhall.org/discover/awards/ford-c-frick/joe-buck)
For the 2026 World Series, all games air on FOX, FOX One and FOX Deportes, with ESPN Radio providing live national radio coverage, Univision's TUDN Radio carrying Spanish-language radio, and [Univision](https://www.edgepedia.org/univision) airing Game 1; MLB rightsholders distribute the Series in 16 languages to fans in more than 200 countries and territories.[3](https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-broadcast-schedule-announced-for-the-2026-world-series-presented-by-capital-one)
## Notable announcers and calls
Seven men have broadcast eight or more World Series as play-by-play or color commentators. [Bob Costas](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-costas) called games on NBC from 1982 to 1989 and again from 1994 to 2000, served as one of the announcers for the 1995 World Series and the main play-by-play voice in 1997 and 1999, and received the Ford C. Frick Award in 2018.[7](https://apnews.com/article/1ce422d7c087c3fc162f4a535fa1f7f0)
The Series has produced some of the most quoted calls in American sport. Vin Scully, calling [Kirk Gibson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirk-gibson)'s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series for television, paused more than a minute before saying, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!"; [Jack Buck](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-buck)'s radio call of the same swing ended "I don't believe what I just saw!"[4](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic) Jack Buck also delivered drama across two Series: his call as [Kirby Puckett](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirby-puckett)'s homer won Game 6 for Minnesota in 1991 was "We'll see you tomorrow night!", and a day later, as Gene Larkin's single won Game 7, "The Twins are gonna win the World Series! The Twins have won it!"[4](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic) His son Joe Buck echoed his father's Game 6 call when David Freese's 2011 walk-off homer for St. Louis forced a Game 7: "We will see you tomorrow night!"[4](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic) Tom Cheek's call of Joe Carter's Series-winning homer for Toronto in 1993, "Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!", remains a fan favorite.[4](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic)
The Frick Award, the highest honor a baseball announcer can receive, marks the broadcasting lineage the list records: Red Barber and [Mel Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-allen) were its first two recipients in 1978, and in 2026 Joe Buck joined his father Jack Buck as the first father and son to both win it.[1](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game) • [6](https://baseballhall.org/discover/awards/ford-c-frick/joe-buck)
## References
1. [Voices of the Game, National Baseball Hall of Fame](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/voices-of-the-game)
2. [With the future of AM unclear, a look back at the powerful role radio plays in baseball history, AP News (2023)](https://apnews.com/article/1aece2f5376e7268b22b760297b147d5)
3. [Broadcast schedule announced for the 2026 World Series presented by Capital One, MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-broadcast-schedule-announced-for-the-2026-world-series-presented-by-capital-one)
4. [Memories from the Mic, National Baseball Hall of Fame](https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/memories-from-the-mic)
5. [Scherer & Rowe, "The Broadcast Television Era" (2013)](https://www.tobymiller.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/101906_Res-Cult_2013-Outline_FINAL-copy.DR_.pdf)
6. [2026 Ford C. Frick Award winner Joe Buck, National Baseball Hall of Fame](https://baseballhall.org/discover/awards/ford-c-frick/joe-buck)
7. [Bob Costas retiring from baseball play-by-play after 42 years, AP News (2024)](https://apnews.com/article/1ce422d7c087c3fc162f4a535fa1f7f0)
8. [With 44,000 sets in U.S., the first World Series telecast was 72 years ago today; See timeline: 1947-2019, Sports Broadcast Journal](https://www.sportsbroadcastjournal.com/with-44000-sets-in-u-s-the-first-world-series-telecast-was-72-years-ago-today-historical-highlights-since/)
9. [Live From Yankee Stadium a Brief History of the Yankees on Radio, sabr.org](https://sabr.org/journal/article/live-from-yankee-stadium-a-brief-history-of-the-yankees-on-radio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Sports announcers and team broadcasters › MLB team broadcaster lists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license