Courtesy Miami Herald

(June 5, 2009) With news that Comcast (South Florida's dominant cable provider) will move NFL Network and NBA TV from its sports tier to its more widely distributed digital classic tier in the next few months -- joining MLB Network -- it now is a good time to assess the three league-owned channels:

• MLB Network's first five months have been exceptional, marked by savvy decisions on talent; a creativity and thoroughness in its approach (loved the 60-minute spring training previews for each team), and a commitment to pack oodles of statistics into studio shows, without overwhelming viewers. And MLB Network already can be seen in more homes (52 million) than the 5 ½-year-old NFL Network (45 million) and 9 ½-year-old NBA TV (15 million).

The studios are roomy and visibly striking, complete with a mini-baseball field for analysts to offer tips. League leaders are displayed on a wall, over the commentators' shoulders.

Viewers are switched seamlessly from game to game every night except Thursdays (when one game airs in its entirety) and Sundays (when ESPN usually has the only prime-time game). And producers strike the right balance between live look-ins, highlights packages and analysis.

You would have to be a Supreme Seamhead to tune in for five consecutive hours, but the program moves briskly, and it's a great watch in shorter intervals. The studio analysts, as a group, are as skilled -- and in some cases better -- than ESPN's cast.

Several MLB Network analysts -- including Al Leiter, Harold Reynolds and Joe Magrane -- had previous network gigs. One suggestion: Put an ''information man'' on set more often, as ESPN often does with Peter Gammons, Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian.

Studio hosts Matt Vasgersian, Greg Amsinger and Victor Rojas deftly navigate viewers between cut-ins. But Vasgersian, in his perpetual search for puns, demonstrates poor judgment at times, such as the instance when a player was injured and Vasgersian joked that a member of the Rockies' emergency medical staff resembles Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. (Vasgersian apologized.)

MLB Network's best asset remains Bob Costas, who is handling play-by-play on select games and contributing on interviews, documentaries and news-breaking coverage. Programming has achieved the right mix between new and nostalgic. (Replays of classic games never grow old.)

• NFL Network suffered two significant recent losses: Cris Collinsworth quit the late-season package to replace retiring John Madden on NBC. And ace information man Adam Schefter was yanked off the air because of a contract dispute and will move to ESPN later this summer.

Schefter's departure leaves a big void that NFL Network hopes to fill with several TV and former newspaper reporters. Collinsworth hasn't been replaced. Peter King reported that the favorite is ESPN's Matt Millen.

NFL Network does a lot well: Its draft coverage was credible and comprehensive. There's no Emmitt Smith-type lightweight among the studio analysts ( Marshall Faulk, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Warren Sapp, etc). Rich Eisen aptly anchors the nightly NFL Total Access studio show, though like Vasgersian, sometimes swings and misses with puns.

But more live programming is needed during training camp, and even mini-camps. During August at least, why not devote a nightly segment to news from each division? And why not do a 60-minute preview on every team, as MLB Network does?

Offseason replays of 2008 games are fine in moderation, but there's too much of that now. The ``top 10''-themed programs are a nifty change of pace. (During the next few days, shows will focus on the top 10 opening days, cornerback tandems and single-season performers.)

• If you crave highlights in large volume and have an hour to spare, NBA TV's nightly wrap-up offers more than ESPN's NBA Fastbreak. NBA TV -- which airs all the playoff postgame news conferences -- smartly will use TNT's Charles Barkley & Co. for pregame and postgame shows for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Finals.

The network delivers about five live games a week and even allowed viewers to vote for the Tuesday game last season. But in some ways, NBA TV falls way short of its MLB and NFL counterparts. The no-frills studio set needs a face-lift. Host Ahmad Rashad was a step slow on highlights and lacked energy. Gary Payton and Chris Webber delivered several amusing exchanges, though Payton -- regrettably -- attended the Emmitt Smith School of Diction.

Eric Snow and Steve Smith are serviceable but lack Kenny Smith's charisma, and NBA TV does Snow and Smith no favors by often having them work as the sole analyst on a 60-minute studio show. And the offseason studio programming is embarrassingly deficient.

At the very least, shouldn't there be a short weeknight summer studio show with news on trades, free agency and summer-league developments? And how about better coverage leading up to the draft?