superstation, TBS could not have the rights to a national telecast that competed with network coverage of the NLCS, which was carried that year by ABC. After the 1983 season, Major League Baseball no longer permitted local television stations to produce their own League Championship Series broadcasts (a point made moot by the fact that the games were already available over-the-air). In 1997, TBS began to collect subscriber fees directly from cable providers, effectively resulting in the national feed operating under the conventions of a conventional basic cable network, though it still technically was designated as a superstation. In exchange, TBS began to lease advertising slots to providers to carry local commercial inserts; as a result, the TBS superstation feed began to televise fewer regular season Atlanta Braves games to a national audience. 2000s 2003 In 2003, the Braves telecasts on TBS underwent significant changes for the first time in many years. Don Sutton and Joe Simpson assumed duties as lead commentators, while longtime play-by-play announcers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren had their roles on the broadcasts reduced. The telecasts were also rebranded from Braves Baseball on TBS to Major League Baseball on TBS (before reverting to the previous title the following year). These changes reflected an increase in the network's rights fee payments to Major League Baseball. In turn, national sponsors could fulfill their advertising commitments by purchasing ads on TBS, in addition to ESPN or Fox. The move was strongly criticized by Braves fans, Atlanta area media outlets and team manager Bobby Cox. Over 90% of Braves fans who voted in an online poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper preferred the team of Caray and Van Wieren to the more neutral broadcasts. The move backfired, and ratings for the TBS broadcasts declined sharply. After that year's All-Star break, TBS brought back Caray and Van Wieren to work with the two analysts. Braves TBS Xtra Beginning in 2004, some TBS telecasts (mostly those airing on Fridays or Saturdays) became more enhanced. The network branded its interactive telecasts as Braves TBS Xtra, which Braves broadcaster Skip Caray would refer to simply as "one of those super duper telecasts". Enhancements featured in the broadcasts included a catcher cam, Xtra Motion showing the type of pitch and its movement, and the leadOff Line. Often, a guest analyst would join the main announcers in the broadcast booth; telecasts also featured inside