Baseball Says Cable Bid Falls Short

NEW YORK (AP) _ It appears Major League Baseball's ``Extra Innings'' package will be exclusively on DirecTV unless a cable television consortium can sweeten its deal. <br/><br/>In Demand said

Thursday, March 22nd 2007, 9:48 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ It appears Major League Baseball's ``Extra Innings'' package will be exclusively on DirecTV unless a cable television consortium can sweeten its deal.

In Demand said Wednesday that it would offer the ``Extra Innings'' package after matching DirecTV's deal with MLB. In Demand said it was agreeing to the terms and that its partners would carry The Baseball Channel when it launches in 2009 to at least the same number of subscribers who will get the channel on DirecTV.

But baseball COO Bob DuPuy says In Demand's offer falls short of nearly all of the material conditions set forth in DirecTV's offer to MLB on March 9th.

DirecTV secured exclusivity to the package for $700 million recently with the provision that others could match the offer.

In Demand has until March 31st to satisfy baseball's demands. In Demand is owned by affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner, Comcast and Cox cable systems.