Baseball Will Try Yet Another TV Remedy : Postseason: Playoff coverage to change and reports indicate Fox, CBS and ESPN will carry the sport, not ABC and NBC.

Baseball has already promised that this is the first and last year of regionalized playoff coverage, and now it appears Fox and CBS, along with ESPN, will be televising the sport next year instead of NBC and ABC.

USA Today reported Tuesday that Fox and CBS have agreed to a four-year contract to start next year, in which they will pay at least a combined $880 million, or about $110 million a year apiece.

The deal also could put the Saturday game of the week back on the air, this time on Fox.

That report probably is premature, although the numbers fall within the $110-120 million annual range that baseball’s TV negotiator, Barry Frank of International Management Group (IMG), had been seeking, sources said.

In a prepared statement, CBS sports President David Kenin said, “Contrary to a published report in USA Today, CBS has made no deal to broadcast major league baseball. We are pleased to have the opportunity to be involved with baseball again. As of now, no formal negotiations have begun with major league baseball or its representatives.”

Fox Sports said simply that it would not comment on ongoing negotiations, and ABC, still figured as a possibility by some, has steadfastly refused to comment throughout the talks.

USA Today reported that all that remains to be done are details of the two network contracts and specifics of a cable deal involving ESPN televising six playoff games a year, presumably in the wild-card round. Turner Sports has also said it would be interested in postseason baseball.

Any new deal probably will put postseason games on cable for the first time.

In the current setup, Los Angeles viewers have yet to see a game involving the Atlanta Braves, who will be the National League representative in the World Series.

And L.A. is a National League city.

Anyway, the format that has infuriated fans across America is being trashed in favor of a more traditional one.

According to USA Today, Fox would broadcast 18-26 regular-season Saturday afternoon games, plus half the league championship series and World Series, with CBS doing 12-13 regular-season prime-time games and the rest of the league championship series and World Series.

CBS last had baseball in 1993, the final year of a four-year, $1.1-billion deal with baseball that accounted for about $500 million in losses for CBS.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.