Bob Costas, a 19-time Emmy Award winner and NBC broadcaster, has signed a multi-year contract to join the upstart MLB Network, CNBC has learned, though he will remain at NBC Sports.
The MLB network, which debuted on Jan. 1 as the largest launch in cable history at 50 million homes, will announce the news later today.
Costas will host original programming on the channel and will serve as play-by-play commentator for a select group of regular season games broadcast by the network, which is owned by the league.
"Bob's love for baseball is well documented and very sincere," said his agent Sandy Montag of IMG. "When this opportunity came up, it made a lot of sense. The network's distribution out of the box is strong, the management is strong and the place looks great."