For baseball fans counting the hours until Monday's traditional opening day, XM Satellite Radio is offering a way to get through the weekend.

The satellite radio network is launching XM's Play Ball!, a temporary channel that will air for 48 hours, starting tomorrow at midnight and running through Sunday.

It's hosted by Lou Brutus, senior program director for active rock on XM and a longtime baseball fan.

The channel will feature baseball-themed music, vintage audio from historic games, and comedy sketches, including Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First?"

Brutus has rounded up more than 400 songs about baseball, such as John Fogerty's "Centerfield," Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" and others.

Nonsubscribers can listen online by signing up for a free trial at http://listen.xmradio.com.

WQED Multimedia's Studio A, which was home to "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," will now be called the Fred Rogers Studio in honor of Fred Rogers' life and work in children's television, WQED board members decided yesterday. The station will open the studio in August for a series of open houses for those who want a look behind the scenes of the long-running PBS series.

"When he retired, he said, 'I miss my playmates at the studio the most,'" the late host's wife, Joanne Rogers, who was on hand for the announcement, told board members. "It was work, and it was hard, but he played there."

Board members heard details about "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," which is headed to Pittsburgh next month to spotlight the city and surrounding areas in advance of the upcoming presidential primary. "NewsHour" will broadcast live from WQED's studios on April 21-23.

In its financial report, the station reported a net loss of $59,000 for the fiscal first quarter that ended Jan. 31, but WQED President and Chief Executive Officer George Miles Jr., said the station is currently running around $200,000 ahead of budget and is projecting to break even by the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

WYEP-FM (91.3) will end its "New Music March" series by broadcasting several concerts recorded at the South by Southwest Music Festival, which was held in Austin earlier this month.

The concerts will air on Monday. The lineup: R.E.M. (8 p.m.), Vampire Weekend (9 p.m.), My Morning Jacket (10 p.m.), Yeasayer (11 p.m.) and Bon Iver (11.30 p.m.).