2016 Broadcaster Rankings (TV): Complete Table and Notes
May 24, 2016
Over the course of last week, the author published the results of this site’s television broadcaster rankings — itself the product of reader crowdsourcing and an update to a similar exercise that was performed here roughly four years ago.
Click the relevant links to read about the 31st- and 32nd-ranked broadcasts, Nos. 30 – 21, Nos. 20 – 11, and Nos. 10 – 1.
The full sortable table appears below. But first, three notes:
- Teams are ranked in descending order of Overall rating. Overall ratings are not merely averages of Charisma and Analysis.
- Ratings aren’t intended to represent the objective quality or skill of the relevant announcers, but rather to provide a clue as to which broadcast teams are likely to appeal most (or least) to the readers of this site.
- Due to an error made by the author, Toronto’s broadcast team was originally ranked 31st overall. They now rank 25th in the amended version.
The radio companion to these rankings will appear at FanGraphs beginning on Monday, June 6.
2016 Broadcaster Rankings (Television)
| Team | Charisma | Analysis | Overall | |
| 1 | Los Angeles NL (Home) | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.8 |
| 2 | San Francisco | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| 3 | New York NL | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.7 |
| 4 | Chicago NL | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| 5 | Baltimore | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.9 |
| 6 | Milwaukee | 3.9 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
| 7 | Tampa Bay | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| 8 | Oakland | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| 9 | Los Angeles AL | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 10 | San Diego | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| 11 | Boston | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| 12 | Detroit | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| 13 | Kansas City | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| 14 | Los Angeles NL (Away) | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
| 16 | Houston | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| 17 | Seattle | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| 18 | Arizona | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
| 19 | Chicago AL (Home) | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| 20 | Texas | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
| 21 | New York AL | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| 22 | Miami | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| 23 | Minnesota | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| 24 | St. Louis | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.7 |
| 25 | Toronto* | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| 26 | Cleveland | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| 27 | Washington | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| 28 | Colorado | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| 29 | Cincinnati | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| 30 | Atlanta | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| 31 | Philadelphia | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| 32 | Chicago AL (Away) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
*Analysis and Overall scores accidentally transposed in earlier post. Move from 31st to 25th as a result.
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Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Oakland and Anaheim seem incredibly high on this list. I suppose the bar nationwide is really low.
Thought the same thing about KC and MN. I haven’t watched/listened to all of them, but if Hudler is on an above average crew, the industry is in SAD shape.
The industry is in sad shape. The only model which develops talent is the solo model, without a net. The buddy system covers for a lack of talent and guarantees you won’t develop any.
I’ve never thought about it that way before (i.e., talent is best developed solo) and it makes a ton of sense.
There is also much malcontent for Steve Physioc (who coincidentally was the Angels former broadcaster alongside Hudler). Physioc just seems to not good at speaking. He oftens makes errors in regards to stats, situations, etc… Sometimes it is just simple things like saying “the Royals last triple was in 1990” when instead he means the Royals last cycle was in 1990.
However sometimes the error is much more egregious. For instance, there was a 1-run game and the tying run at 2B. A Royals batter hit a sharp liner down the third baseline. The ball was foul and the umpire declared it foul immediately. However Physioc (who was doing the radio broadcast) yelled “fair ball!” then a moment or two later said no it’s a foul ball actually. If you were listening to the radio you would have been excited at first.
However usually it’s just sentences that don’t make sense, logic that doesn’t make sense, and goofs in stats/play-by-play…or you know, the basics of a broadcaster’s job.