On the final scheduled afternoon of the MLB season,
ESPN2 offered live coverage "of what turned out to be six
games with playoff implications, home run records and
batting championships," according to Scott Hettrick of the
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Hettrick calls the day "sweet
redemption" for ESPN, after MLB pulled its September Sunday
games off ESPN2 after being transferred there in favor of
ESPN's NFL action (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/28). In Hartford,
Jeff Goldberg wonders if MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and
President & COO Paul Beeston are "still down on ESPN2?,"
which "proved it was plenty good enough Sunday afternoon."
In what was "perhaps the wildest and most dramatic five
hours in baseball history," ESPN2 broadcast "all of the
twists and turns" (HARTFORD COURANT, 9/28). In N.Y.,
Richard Sandomir: "Somewhere on television yesterday,
football existed. But it hardly mattered." More Sandomir:
"Baseball should be thrilled with the job ESPN2 did
yesterday, even if it only has 60 million cable households."
Sandomir adds that tonight's Giants-Cubs playoff game will
compete against ABC's "MNF": "Now comes the great twist in
baseball's testy relationship with ESPN" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/28).
MLB MEDIA NOTES: In Boston, Howard Manly wrote that TV
execs "are raving about higher ratings for the regular
season and predicting even bigger increases for the playoffs
and World Series." ESPN VP/Research & Sales Development
Artie Bulgrin: "Seeing the young male come back is very
important and a good sign. But it's hard to say that the
renewed interest will mean bigger playoff ratings numbers.
It depends on precisely who gets in and who ends up in the
World Series" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/27)....SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL's Langdon Brockinton puts Fox's "asking price" for
30-second spots on its World Series broadcasts at $250,000-
$300,000 each (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/28 issue)....In
N.Y., Phil Mushnick noted the end of the season marked the
end of MLB Productions "as we know it." Mushnick called MLB
Productions "another victim of baseball's legacy of
neglect." MLBP, which produces "This Week in Baseball," is
moving in-house, with MLB "choosing which production people,
if any, stay on" (N.Y. POST, 9/27)....In Boston, Jim Baker
wrote that sources are "declining comment" on whether Barry
Diller "is still interested" in WABU-TV, but one source told
him, "The Red Sox are pivotal to any transaction," as WABU
"isn't worth anywhere near" $35M without them. The team's
WABU deal expires at season's end (BOSTON HERALD, 9/27).
