As he mulled switching jobs from radio to TV, Cory Provus was concerned with accessibility.
Whereas in the radio booth, the Minnesota Twins veteran play-by-play man could be heard by any fan with an internet connection, a switch to television brought with it the distinct possibility he’d be shut out of the homes of more than 3 million fans because of Major League Baseball’s blackout rules.
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But as he further explored the process in the wake of Dick Bremer’s late October departure from the TV booth after 40 seasons, Provus discovered the Twins’ broadcast plans for the upcoming season, one that calls for the team to triple its audience. Though the team’s new TV broadcast deal isn’t yet complete, Provus was satisfied enough with what he learned — including the elimination of blackouts — to accept the new role.
On Friday, the Twins announced Provus would take over as the team’s TV play-by-play man along with the hiring of longtime backup Kris Atteberry as the team’s main radio broadcaster.
“Blackouts are gone,” Provus said. “Come 2024, Twins baseball is going to be more accessible. It’s not going to solve every problem. I’m not naive to say it’s going to solve every issue, but one big issue has been in this modern era for fans to see baseball, is to watch Twins baseball, and that to me is awesome. … That to me was very, very exciting and helped kind of drive me in this direction.”
Which way the Twins headed after moving on from Bremer comes as no surprise.
A three-time Minnesota sportscaster of the year, Provus was viewed as the favorite to land the TV job since the Twins announced Oct. 31 that Bremer would no longer call games. Previously a play-by-play radio announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2009 to 2011 after two seasons as a pregame host for the Chicago Cubs, Provus has been wildly popular with Twins fans since joining the team 12 seasons ago.
We are pleased to announce our new lead television and radio broadcast talent for the 2024 season, @CoryProvus and Kris Atteberry!
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) December 1, 2023
Provus joined the organization in late 2011 after longtime radio legend John Gordon announced his retirement following 25 seasons in the booth. At the time, Atteberry, hired by the Twins in 2006, was in consideration for the radio role.
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Though he was disappointed to not get the job, Atteberry called Provus and quickly learned he liked the team’s new voice.
“There are so many guys you work with, they are either the best in the world or they are just egomaniacs and there is no room for you and they are threatened,” Atteberry said. “There was none of that with Cory. That was an important call. I thought, you know what, let’s stick around. This is going to be fun.”
Though he waited another 12 seasons, Atteberry, who before joining the Twins spent eight seasons as a minor-league play-by-play announcer, including five with the St. Paul Saints, at long last received a call he dreamed about for years. Atteberry, 51, has spent 17 seasons as the team’s pregame and postgame host while calling anywhere from 10 to 20 games per season as Provus’ backup.
“In this industry, you never really know how it’s going to go,” Atteberry said. “When they told me, I was, I guess, relieved first. And then a little overwhelmed. Let’s be honest, I’ve been calling big-league games for 17 years not as the lead guy. There is a difference. I’ve called a billion games in my life. But to be the lead guy, that’s what everybody wants. That’s what I’ve wanted to be since I was a 6-year-old kid. To actually feel like I accomplished that, that was a pretty cool feeling.”
As was the case with Provus, Atteberry will share play-calling duties with Twins radio analyst Dan Gladden. The schedule also calls for Provus to broadcast six Twins radio games this season. Though multiple sources said Provus and others would be part of a postseason radio broadcast booth, Provus said his involvement would be minimal, that the booth belongs to Atteberry.
“I am so happy for Kris,” Provus said. “He’s earned it. He deserves it. He’s one of the smartest people I’ve interacted with in my life. He is so well read, so well spoken and his knowledge of the Twins is right up there with anybody I’ve encountered. He is a great, great guy, a great husband, awesome father. I see him around the ballpark with his daughter a lot. He’s going to do a great job, and he’s a great, great teammate. He and Danny will be tremendous together.”
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Provus intends to spend the winter studying how to make the transition to TV, a medium that requires far less description than radio. He received a brief, six-game audition early in the 2023 season when Bremer missed the opening homestand with COVID-19.
Though he’ll continue to announce college basketball games, including one at Rutgers this weekend, Provus said he’d no longer broadcast college football because of the crossover with baseball. Previously, Provus took weekends off in September to travel and call college football games.
“(Switching to TV is) going to be an adjustment,” Provus said. “There’s no doubt about that. I’ll have to just remind myself. I’ll lean on producers and directors in my crew. To this day, there are times when I’m doing a football game or a basketball game and I’ll have the producer in my ear saying, ‘Hey, get off your board, get off your spotting board,’ that I make for every game, and ‘watch the game.’ Those cues, I welcome. If that’s popping up during a telecast, I welcome the input to make us all sound and look better.”
Where the Twins broadcast winds up is still a work in progress. Provus mentioned several possibilities, including a potential return to Bally Sports North. MLB and the Twins operating the broadcast is another option. In either scenario, significantly more Twins fans would be able to stream the team’s broadcast, a potential reach increase of more than 3 million households. Team officials estimated the Twins reached only 1.3 million households across the five states included in Twins territory last season, a figure that would increase to 4.37 million homes by next season.
In the long run, a larger audience reach is expected to help the Twins, who failed to draw 2 million fans this season despite winning the division for the third time in five seasons. But as it pertains to 2024, the team must immediately determine how to deal with a potentially significant loss in revenue. The team’s last broadcast rights deal with Bally Sports North and its bankrupt partner, Diamond Sports Group, paid the Twins $55 million last season.
Regardless of where games are broadcast, the Twins feel they have the right voices in place.
“Cory and Kris have been integral parts of the soundtrack of spring, summer and fall across Twins territory for many years and we are thrilled to continue these relationships as they step into their new roles,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said in a news release. “The bonds they forge across our organization translate into a storytelling ability that is uniquely theirs. I am supremely confident that both will continue the Twins’ legacy of broadcast excellence.”
(Photo of Target Field: Jeffrey Becker / USA Today)
