NBC will begin its coverage of the '97 World Series on
Saturday at 7:30pm with Game One to begin at 8:05. NBC's
Bob Costas will handle play-by-play, with Joe Morgan and Bob
Uecker providing analysis. In N.Y., Steve Zipay writes that
viewers can "expect a steady, more traditional telecast: no
above-home plate camera angles or catcher-cams, no mikes on
managers and coaches, and definitely no full-time, on-screen
box with the score, inning and count" (NEWSDAY, 10/17). In
Philadelphia, Bill Fleischman writes that NBC "plans to
limit its use of bells and whistles" for its World Series
coverage, and will not use the score box. NBC Producer
David Neal: "We've been very consistent at NBC Sports that
the score box is not for us, regardless of the sport. ... In
my view, having the box in there constantly clutters the
screen" (PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 10/17). NBC will use 23 cameras,
five more than its NLCS coverage (MIAMI HERALD, 10/17).
ANY GUESSES? NEWSDAY's Zipay adds that "insiders" say
that NBC's ratings for the Indians-Marlins "likely will be
even lower" than last year's 17.4 six-game average for Fox's
Yankees-Braves series (NEWSDAY, 10/17). But USA TODAY's
Rudy Martzke writes the series "should average" an 18 rating
if it reaches six games. NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol:
"If we get compelling games like the Indians-Orioles series,
we'll get compelling ratings" (USA TODAY, 10/17).
OTHER: Based on its four primetime games, Fox's
telecasts of the Indians-Orioles ALCS produced a 9.1/15
final rating, up 8% over NBC's five-game ALCS in '96. NBC's
four primetime Marlins-Braves NLCS games earned a 9.9/18, up
11% over Fox's seven-game NLCS in '96 (NEWSDAY, 10/17).
WORLD (SERIES) WIDE WEB: MLB, MSNBC and NBC Sports
continue to present mlbworldseries.com, the official Web
site of the World Series (MSNBC). Total Sports has created
www.totalworldseries.com, where fans can access any
information they choose during the game, including a Pitch
Chart; Play By Play; Stat-Packed Line-Ups; Player Profiles;
World Series History; and Umpire Analysis (Total Sports).
