Thursday's Game Five of the World Series earned a
preliminary overnight rating of 18.5/30 (THE DAILY).
AFTER FOUR: In N.Y., Michael Starr reports that Game
Four earned a final national rating of 15.5/26, making the
four game average a 14.3/24, the "lowest" in Series history.
But Starr notes that "despite its low World Series numbers,"
NBC won Wednesday's primetime slot (N.Y. POST, 10/24).
FREE SPACE: An NBC source told Starr that there's
"[w]orse news for NBC," as the network "will be forced" to
provide World Series advertisers with make-goods if the
Series "fails to meet" NBC guaranteed rating to advertisers,
which was a 16 for the Series. BJK&E Media ad buyer Steve
Sternberg: "The fact that (this year's) series numbers are
down means that advertisers are going to start to look at
(the World Series) differently. It doesn't bode well" (N.Y.
POST, 10/24). Jon Mandel of Grey Advertising, noting that
Game One (11.3 rating) finished as the 20th most watched
program last week: "As an advertiser, the World Series has
just become another program" (USA TODAY, 10/24). In L.A.,
Larry Stewart writes that low ratings "aren't the only thing
plaguing the World Series," as a source told him that 32% of
the commercial spots for Games Five, Six and Seven "remained
unsold Thursday morning" (L.A. TIMES, 10/24).
OH, CANADA! In Toronto, Rob Longley writes that TSN's
coverage of the World Series has been stronger than
expected. TSN "had a viewership" of 490,000 for Game One,
with 100,000 additional viewers for Game Two. TSN Program
Dir Phil King: "It's been all doom and gloom in the U.S.,
but not here" (Rob Longley, TORONTO SUN, 10/24).
