Tampa Rays to have 57 games available in HD for 2008 season

A total of 144 regular season Tampa Bay Rays games will be
televised regionally in 2008. The Rays TV Network and ION Television will
televise 67 games, including 20 home games in 720p High Definition (HD), while
FSN Florida will broadcast 75 games, 37 of which are available in HD. Two
additional games between the Rays and Florida Marlins will be seen in the
Tampa-St. Petersburg area on Sun Sports as part of the Marlins’ regional TV
schedule.

This season Jacksonville WPXC-TV 21 joins Tampa WXPX-TV 66
and Orlando WOPX-TV 56 in carrying all 67 games televised by the Rays TV
Network. The coverage in
Jacksonville
represents an increase of 42 games from 2007. The Rays TV Network also consists
of affiliates in Gainesville-Ocala, Tallahassee,
Pensacola and
Panama City, each carrying a portion of the
67-game slate.

The 57 games produced in HD is a club all-time high. 20 HD
games on the Rays TV Network represent an increase from six last season. The
142 regular season games televised on the Rays TV Network and FSN Florida
equals the club all-time high. FSN Florida will also televise two spring
training games: March 16 vs. Detroit, and March
28 vs. Cincinnati, the final game ever held at
Progress Energy Park,
home of Al Lang Field.

The Rays TV Network will broadcast the season opener March
31 at Baltimore and the April 8 home opener vs.
Seattle. The home opener
will also be the first of 20 games on the Rays TV Network telecast in 720p High
Definition.

All 36 games against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox
will be televised. The entire three-game series vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, held
at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.,
will air April 22-24.

Calling the action for Rays games for the 11th consecutive
season is the broadcasting tandem of Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane. Working
together since the Rays inaugural 1998 season, Staats and Magrane have been the
club’s only television announcers. Staats, a 32-year veteran of television and
radio, will again handle the play-by-play duties. Magrane, who played in the
major leagues for 10 years, returns as color analyst.

FSN Florida’s television series “Inside the Rays,”
hosted by Todd Kalas, returns this year with nine all-new episodes. Kalas,
entering his 11th season with the Rays and 15th in the major leagues, will
serve as the pregame host and in-game reporter for all telecasts. The
“Tampa Bay Rays Preseason Special” premieres March 17, and special
features are included in the “Rays on Deck” pregame shows prior to
each telecast.