The Baseball Network's regionalized coverage on Monday drew
a 7.2 rating, a 13% drop from a year ago. Through three regular-
season games on ABC, TBN is averaging a 6.5, down 14% from '94
(Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY, 7/26).
COSTAS KEEPS UP THE HEAT: Bob Costas continued his barrage
against the present leadership of baseball. Costas called TBN a
"horrible idea. ... It just shows you the game you would
ordinarily see anyway in a silly hodgepodge that does nothing to
promote baseball as a national sport." Costas said that owners
over-reacted when they dropped the "Game of the Week," noting
that at the time they had the "second-most-powerful television
vehicle in all of sports, unless you count the Olympics."
Costas: "They bastardized their entire regular season and
playoff format in an effort to create another round of playoffs
that most of the country won't even see. They sold their souls
to television. It's obvious that all sports are willing to
prostitute themselves to television, but baseball turned out to
be a cheap prostitute" (Milton Kent, Baltimore SUN, 7/26).
