Showtime Announces Premiere Date for S.F. Giants Series

Showtime and MLB Productions’ upcoming documentary series following the World Series champion San Francisco Giants has a premiere date.

The Franchise: A Season With the San Francisco Giants, will launch Wednesday, July 13 (time TBD), but Showtime will air a 30-minute sneak preview on April 13 at 9:30 p.m. to coincide with the start of the new baseball season.

The Franchise follows the Giants’ players, coaches and team personnel as they begin the task of defending their World Series title.

The project was announced in mid-January at the Television Critics Assn. press tour. The cameras will follow the club for eight months with film crews embedded during the first half of the season. Filming has already begun in the Giants' spring training location in Scottsdale, Ariz. 

David Nevins, president of entertainment at Showtime, had hopes that the docuseries would premiere with an hourlong episode around Opening Day in early April, with regular episodes broadcast during the second half of the season.

“It’s been a long haul putting this show together,” said Nevins at TCA, adding that he hoped The Franchise will find an audience broader than just baseball fans. Nevins also mentioned at the time that the team and the league will have some veto power over the content.

“Ideally it’s the beginning of a franchise with a different team every year," he said.