Fox' coverage of last night's Yankees-Mets World Series
Game Three produced a 15.3/24 preliminary overnight Nielsen
rating, down 14% from a 17.7/28 a year ago for Braves-
Yankees on NBC. Fox stated that while the combined 12.0/21
average rating for the first two games this year was down
18% from '99, Fox has drawn an increase in men aged 18-34
over the last two World Series, scoring an average rating of
8.1 in the demo for Games One and Two, up 6% from the first
two games in '99 and 12% from '98. Average total
viewership in Fox' first two games was down 12%, from 40.7
million viewers this year versus 46.5 million a year ago.
Fox' 11.7/21 two-game primetime rating gave the net its
first back-to-back nightly primetime ratings victory since
its coverage of Games Three and Four of the '98 World Series
(Fox). Fox Sports Dir of Communications Dan Bell, on this
Series' ratings: "The numbers were in the 16.0s in the first
hour of Game 2 Sunday, but the Yankees opened up that big
lead [3-0 after two innings], and it dropped off before
picking up again near the end. We know the interest is
there, but it comes down to how good the games are each
night and how long the series goes" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
10/25). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes that the ratings
for Games One and Two were "below expectations" at Fox. Fox
Sports TV Group Chair David Hill: "I don't believe the
ratings reflect the real number of people watching Saturday
and Sunday nights. But the good thing is, advertisers know
that, too." More Hill, on Fox' dissatisfaction that Nielsen
"adequately measures sports viewing": "The national rating
looks as if nobody outside the metered markets is watching.
It's mathematically impossible" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/25). Hill,
on whether he was "nervous about another" Yankees' sweep:
"Yes, of course. Rolaids becomes a source of nutrition.
And what's frustrating is that there's nothing you can do
about it" (Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY, 10/25). Fox Sports
President & Exec Producer Ed Goren: "A lot of people ... are
sports fans, then they become involved in the business. You
lose that innocence when it becomes a business. You become
a Nielsen (ratings) fan" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/25).
SHOULDERING THE BURDEN: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke
wonders why Hill was "laughing" before last night's game,
given the net's World Series ratings. Hill: "We are
existing in a fragmentized environment. There are hundreds
of channels. I believe baseball is on solid ground in a
very shaky swamp." Mediacom's Jon Mandel, on Fox' six-year,
$2.5B MLB TV rights deal, which begins next year: "Six years
from now, the entertainment primetime ratings might be a 2
rating, so Fox's baseball deal would look good." Pilson
Communications President Neal Pilson, on Fox' TV deal with
MLB: "I would still have made the deal Fox did." Hill, on
whether he "anticipates a profit on baseball": "Our own
station in New York [WNYW] is selling commercials at
$300,000 per 30-second spot during games, plus providing
shoulder (pre- and postgame) programming. This goes beyond
the network" (USA TODAY, 10/25). The N.Y. Post's Michael
Shain, on the Subway Series: "These are not terrific
ratings. The first and second games are going to rank as
number eight and number fourteen for the week. They're
doing everything they can do to make this Series look good.
... The local Fox station is charging as much for spots as
the network was charging for the [NLCS] playoff series.
It's good for the local stations and it's all the same
pockets" ("Biz Buzz," CNNfn, 10/24). BROADCASTING & CABLE's
Richard Tedesco writes that the Subway Series is a "grand
slam" for WNYW, "to the tune of a whopping" $30-35M in ad
revenues. Those figures are based on sales of 15-18 30-
second spots per game in the first four games of the Series
at $300,000 per spot. Tedesco's sources report that WNYW is
selling spots for its half-hour pregame and 20-minute
postgame shows at $25,000 per 30-seconds, "more than double
normal rates" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 10/23). In N.Y., Dirk
Johnson writes that the highest World Series rating outside
N.Y. has come from Hartford, which posted a 21.9 for Game
One (N.Y. TIMES, 10/25).
NIGHT OWLS: On this morning's WinStar Radio Network,
Keith Olbermann said, "Generation after generation is
growing up without being able to watch the magic of the
World Series on TV. We in the tube business won't do
anything about this, baseball will have to, or it will face
declining attendance and overall ratings indefinitely
(WinStar Radio Network, 10/25). In N.Y., Mike Lupica writes
that when Mets LF Benny Agbayani broke a 2-2 tie with his
eventual game-winning hit in the eighth inning last night,
"it was near midnight at Shea because of an insane 8:37
start time mandated by the geniuses at Fox Sports" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 10/25). In Houston, Fran Blinebury writes that
the "ugliest thing" about the World Series is what MLB
owners "have allowed to happen to their showcase event."
The Series has "become a bloated, misshapen mockery of the
game it should celebrate. Because the games are to lo-o-o-
o-ng" (HOU. CHRONICLE, 10/24). BROADCASTING & CABLE Editor
Harry Jessell suggests broadcasting "one game of next year's
World Series during a weekday. Maybe, just maybe, the
novelty will get people other than fans of the participating
teams excited about the World Series again" (B&C, 10/23).
EVERYBODY WANTS A PIECE OF PIAZZA? In N.Y., Bob
Raissman writes that Meredith Vieira, co-host of ABC's "The
View," "approached" Mets C Mike Piazza before last night's
game and asked, "Who has the biggest wood on the Mets?"
Piazza, "rolling his eyes": "That's a loaded question."
Raissman adds that three "infuriated" female journalists
"confronted" Vieira after the exchange, saying that "they
had worked hard to establish their credibility as sports
reporters and believed she was making a mockery of what they
do for a living." Vieira told the female journalists: "It
was all in good fun. I'm not here as a journalist" (N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, 10/25)....CBS SportsLine's Scott Miller, noting
that Piazza is writing a guest column for the N.Y. Post,
writes that the banner headline across the cover of
yesterday's edition read "Beep Show." The topic of Piazza's
column was a reaction to Yankees P Roger Clemens throwing a
part of Piazza's broken bat in the vicinity of Piazza Sunday
night. In discussing Clemens, the "words 'bleep' or
'bleeping' appeared in the Piazza column a total of 16
times." Piazza, in the column: "Sorry about the bleeps.
The more I write, the more emotional I get" (CBS SportsLine,
10/25). The WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE's David Sweet
wrote that Yankees.com and Mets.com, the teams' official
sites, "were tame" when it came to reporting on the Clemens-
Piazza incident. A 12-paragraph game story on Yankees.com
"fail[ed] to mention the incident" and "neglected to
identify Mr. Clemens at all." But Mets.com "noted, with a
dash of hyperbole: 'Clemens picked up the (bat) fragment and
fired it at Piazza'" (WSJ.com, 10/24).
FROM THE BULLPEN: CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS' Emily DeNitto
writes that the N.Y. Times is adding five pages in the
sports section on World Series game days and "even a couple
on travel days." Newsday "pulled off a 60-page preview last
Friday and will carry at least 24 pages of special editorial
and ads after each game" (CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS, 10/23).
