The season started despite the expiration of MLB's previous collective bargaining agreement at the end of 1993.
[32] ABC was scheduled to televise six[33] regular season games on Saturdays[34] or Mondays[35] in prime time.
NBC[36][37] would then pick up where ABC left off by televising six more regular season Friday night[38][39][40] games.
The networks had exclusive rights for the twelve regular season dates, in that no regional or national cable service (such as ESPN or superstations like Chicago's WGN-TV[42] or Atlanta's WTBS) or over-the-air[43] broadcaster was allowed[44] to telecast a Major League Baseball game on those dates.
Baseball Night in America[45] (which premiered[46] on July 16, 1994) usually aired up to fourteen games[47] based on the viewers' region (affiliates chose games of local interest to carry) as opposed to a traditional coast-to-coast format.