Fox earned a 16.8/26 preliminary overnight rating for
last night's coverage of Game Three of the World Series,
down 1% from the 17.0/28 NBC earned for Game Three of the
'97 Series (THE DAILY). Despite the low ratings for Games
One and Two of the World Series, Fox's Series coverage and
the NLCS helped it "win the week in all key male demos and
score its highest weeklong household ratings" since February
16 (DAILY VARIETY, 10/21). But NBC "became the first
network to sweep the top five spots" in 18-49 category
"during a World Series week -- including networks that have
broadcast the World Series -- since Nielsen began measuring
viewership" in '87 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/21).
REAX: With the Series on pace to be the lowest-rated
ever, ESPN.com's Jim Caple writes, "The bottom line is that
after a truly magical regular season, the postseason just
hasn't measured up. ... If only Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa
were appearing in the World Series and not just the
commercials" (ESPN.com, 10/21). Grey Advertising's Jon
Mandel: "So I guess it was a little premature for baseball
to say they're back. When you have these 114-victory
Yankees and Tony Gwynn's class averaging below an Indians-
Marlins matchup, baseball maybe counted its goose eggs
before they hatched" (USA TODAY, 10/21).
WILL FOX MAKE GOOD? In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers writes
that with the low ratings, Fox "is probably looking at some
'make-good' advertising, which would further reduce the
profitability, if any, of this Series." Fox wouldn't
comment on ratings guarantees to advertisers, but the all-
time Series low is 16.4, so "it is unlikely that commercial
time was sold on a projection of 12.5." Rogers: "The best
spin Fox can put on the situation is that the Series still
won both nights for the network, although that result speaks
more to the changes in the viewing landscape than the
popularity of the games" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/21).
GETTING ITS MONEY'S WORTH? Actress Lisa Nicole Carson
of Fox's "Ally McBeal" will sing the national anthem before
tonight's Game Four. In N.Y., Bill Carter notes that while
the anthem "is not automatically part of the pregame
festivities in a network's coverage," Fox will "arrange the
schedule" to get Carson's performance on the air "in front
of the big primetime audience." "Ally McBeal" scored its
highest rating ever on Monday, which Carter attributes to
World Series promos over the weekend (N.Y. TIMES, 10/21).
PICKING UP HOOPS SLACK: Fox Sports Net has "cut a deal
to televise five baseball games" from the MLB-Japan All-Star
exhibition series in November. The games, which will be
played in Japan, will be shown via tape delay in slots
previously reserved for NBA games (DAILY VARIETY, 10/21).
