Fox's coverage of Wednesday's World Series Game Four
earned a final rating of 16.6/27, giving the '98 Series a
final national average of 14.1/24, making it the lowest-
rated Series of all-time, 14% below the '89 Giants-A's
Series, which finished with a 16.4 average, after an
earthquake delayed it 12 days (THE DAILY). Series ratings
were down 2% from the first four games in '97, but were up
1% in men 18-49; 2% in men 18-34; 27% in male teens; and 32%
in all teens. Game Four drew a 35.0/48 in N.Y. and a
43.7/66 in S.D. (DAILY VARIETY, 10/23). USA TODAY's Rudy
Martzke reports that Fox will have to provide make goods on
about $15M in ads it sold for Game Five. Pilson
Communications President Neal Pilson: "It's not that Fox
loses the money (from games not played), but they have to
provide make-good ads in other sports." But despite the
Series rating, Fox Sports President David Hill said, "I
think this season was the best investment -- not in money
-- that I've ever seen in terms of bringing back excitement
into baseball and building to next year" (USA TODAY, 10/23).
READY FOR PRIMETIME: Fox's Wednesday primetime rating
of 15.9/26 for Game Four was Fox's best Wednesday night
performance since the Yankees-Braves Series Game Four in
'96, which drew a 17.8/29. It was also the best total
primetime performance since the 38.0/58 the net earned for
Super Bowl XXXI. Over 47.6 million viewers watched all or
part of Game Four, the largest audience for Fox since the
'98 Packers-49ers NFC Championship (THE DAILY).
REAX: In Boston, Howard Manly writes the ratings "may
be attributed to a number of factors, Yankee dominance being
one of the more obvious" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/23). Also in
Boston, Jim Baker notes Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner
crying during the post-game party, adding that Rupert
Murdoch "should have been bawling. ... This Series provided
no unexpected drama and, lacking an individual super-draw,
it needed more than four games to build an audience" (BOSTON
HERALD, 10/23). In St. Petersburg, Ernest Hooper: "Well, so
much for the theory that dynasties are good for sports" (ST.
PETE TIMES, 10/23). In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley calls the
Series ratings "the only fly in baseball's glass of
champagne this season" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/23).
REVIEWS: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes that Fox's Tim
McCarver "had the kind of World Series that reminded us why
he's still TV's best baseball analyst." Mushnick also notes
that Fox "stayed with the sights and sounds from the field
and around the stadium," putting "celebration ahead of
commercial considerations, which, given the financial
shellacking Fox will take because of the four-game sweep,
was extra commendable" (N.Y. POST, 10/23). In Houston,
David Barron called Fox analyst Bob Brenly "a bust-out star"
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/23). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes
that the Fox broadcast team was "consistent ... combining
insight -- with a dash of humor -- as well as some well-
placed criticism." But Raissman writes that the network
"was not judicious in their use of" technology, including
catcher-cam and "Super Shot." Raissman: "It came too fast
and much too furiously" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/23).
