Comcast Hometown Network to Televise 30 Live Minor League Baseball Games from the Pacific Coast League and the California League

LIVERMORE, Calif., April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Hometown Network (http://comcasthometown.com), Comcast's regional cable network covering Northern and Central California, today announced that it will televise 30 LIVE minor league baseball games from the California League (www.californialeague.com) and the Pacific Coast League (www.pclbaseball.com) in 2012.  The telecasts will begin on Thursday, April 12th at 7:00 p.m. when the San Jose Giants host the Bakersfield Blaze (see complete schedule below).

All of the Comcast Hometown Network games will originate LIVE from either Chukchansi Park (home of the Fresno Grizzlies www.fresnogrizzlies.com) or San Jose Municipal Stadium (home of the San Jose Giants http://sjgiants.com/).  The telecasts will be available on Channel 104 to all Comcast digital cable customers.

"Comcast Hometown Network is elated to once again provide our baseball coverage throughout Northern and Central California," said Jeff Giles, General Manager of Comcast Hometown Network. "With excellent contests from both the Pacific Coast League and the California League, Comcast Hometown Network viewers can keep tabs on all of the top baseball prospects in the West."

Play-by-play duties for the games originating from San Jose Municipal Stadium will be handled by San Jose Giants radio announcer Joe Ritzo.  For games at Chukchansi Park, Fresno Grizzlies radio announcer Doug Greenwald will do play-by-play.  Dan Dibley of sports radio station 95.7 FM The Game, and veteran minor league baseball announcer and MLB Network reporter Joe Castellano will provide analysis for the majority of Comcast Hometown Network's baseball games.  Trisha Cummings from MTV's The Real World: Sydney will serve as a sideline reporter from Fresno Grizzlies games, and Gianna Franco of sports radio station 95.7 FM The Game will handle sideline reporting at San Jose Giants games.

The LIVE games will be replayed 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 2012 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 and unique local content that you can't get anywhere else.  CHN televises key high school football and basketball matchups, San Jose SaberCats games from the Arena Football League, Stockton Thunder ECHL hockey contests, and Western Athletic Conference (WAC) football and basketball games.  Comcast Hometown Network is different from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet California.

About Comcast Cable
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:CMCSA) (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.

SOURCE Comcast Hometown Network