Last night's deciding Game Five of the Yankees-Mets
World Series produced a 15.7/25 for Fox. The previous two
World Series resulted in four-game sweeps by the Yankees.
This rating ensures this World Series will become the
lowest-rated Series in history. Wednesday's Game Four
averaged a 12.5/21, down 30% from last year's 17.8/29 for
Braves-Yankees, down 25% from '98's 16.6/27 for Yankees-
Padres, the last time the event was shown on Fox, and down
19% from a 15.5/26 in '97 for Marlins-Indians. For the
night, Fox drew an 11.9/20, giving the net its third
primetime ratings victory since the Series began. Fox'
four-game average stands at 12.2/21, down 24% from a 16.0/26
a year ago and down 13% from a 14.1/24 in '98, the
previously lowest-rated World Series in history. N.Y.'s
WNYW scored a 41.5/57 for Game Four (Fox). Pilson
Communications President Neal Pilson, on the ratings: "It's
unfortunate because the games have been very exciting. But
once you get outside the top markets, people just aren't
watching the World Series." In Houston, David Barron cites
a Thursday Bloomberg News report as indicating that Fox
"promised advertisers a 16.0 average for the Series and thus
faces the necessity of make-goods for its best advertisers."
Fox Sports Dir of Media Relations Dan Bell said that the net
"has not begun talks with the advertisers concerning make-
goods" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/27). TN Media VP/Broadcast
Research Stacey Lynn Koerner, on the Series' ratings: "It's
pretty far below average. Usually Game 3 and Game 4 pick up
significantly. We're not really seeing that this year. I
think everybody's disappointed. But it's not the only event
where this is happening -- we just went through this with
the Olympics. We need to find better ways of making these
events special again." The AP's Howard Fendrich: "Of the
markets ranked Nos. 2-15, 10 are seeing double digit
percentage losses from the last World Series." L.A., for
example is down 14% and Chicago 21%. Fox Sports VP/Media
Relations Lou D'Ermilio: "To the best of my knowledge, ...
make-goods have not been discussed" (AP, 10/27).
DEMO-NSTRATION OF WEIGHT: INSIDE.com's Tom Bierbaum
wrote that Fox "is doing a better job of limiting its losses
among young-male and young-adult audiences than it is among
total viewers." Bierbaum: "That means Fox has found an
important silver lining amid all the record-low World Series
numbers, since young-adult and young-male audiences are what
advertisers look for when they buy time on major sporting
events, and Fox is doing nearly as well in these categories
as NBC did last year" (INSIDE.com, 10/26). On Long Island,
Steve Zipay notes that among adults aged 18-49, Fox posted a
7.1 national rating, "marking the fourth night of the last
five that Fox" ranked No. 1 in that demo (NEWSDAY, 10/27).
SPIN-OLA'S TAKE: West Palm Beach-based WFLX-Fox GM John
Spinola, on the Series' ratings: "I don't think it's a
ratings flop. For WFLX, it has been a tremendous success.
We were No. 5 (in Series audience) among 49 national metered
[markets]. But in other places, it might not be seen as
such a wonderful event" (P.B. POST, 10/27). But in Boston,
Jim Baker writes that "long, tension-packed games can no
longer be cited as a factor" for low ratings -- "not when
the end of Game 4 (which rated a 12.9) outrated the start by
75 percent. The national turnoff should be tied to shrugs
beyond New York" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/27). In Chicago, Ed
Sherman cites Fox execs as contending that "its audience is
picking up at the end of the games, but it seems apparent
that people aren't coming in at the front end. Viewers
don't have the endurance to stay with the marathon games and
don't want to be bleary-eyed because of finishes after 11
p.m." Sherman: "You would think ratings would send baseball
a message, but don't count on it" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/27).
DRIVING WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED: Fox Sports President &
Exec Producer Ed Goren: "Everyone agrees that quickening the
pace of the game would be good. But this is something that
has to be dealt with by [MLB Commissioner Bud Selig] and his
staff" (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 10/27). In N.Y., Phil
Mushnick wonders if Selig "would want you or me, after a
day's work then a long and active night/early morning at the
ballpark, to drive his family down the highway at, say, 2:15
a.m." Mushnick: "Is baseball so bereft of common decency
that it now, by design, would place children in automobile
driven by the sleep-deprived? A preposterous notion, yet
that's exactly what baseball has done" (N.Y. POST, 10/27).
NEWSDAY's Zipay notes Fox and FSN's six-year, $2.5B TV
rights deal to air MLB games beginning next season,
including postseason exclusivity, and suggests, "Why not
carve a spot on cable for a second showing or a shortened
version of the game? After all, nothing's moving the games
out of prime time, and what programming is there on Fox
Sports Net in that time slot that couldn't be bumped?" Fox'
Goren: "We'd certainly be willing to consider it if baseball
would allow it." Zipay cites sources as saying that Fox
execs "had discussed the possibility, but aren't sure if
their new" contract "would permit it" (NEWSDAY, 10/27).
MC-CARVING OUT A NAME FOR HIMSELF: In Baltimore, Milton
Kent writes that Fox analyst Tim McCarver "has come to be
the darling of many critics and fans, as he clearly knows
the game and articulates that knowledge well. It has also
been easy to see why, for so many, McCarver is like the guy
you invite over for a Trivial Pursuit party and five minutes
into the game, you wish you hadn't" (Baltimore SUN, 10/27).
In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes that McCarver's
"distinctive talent" is his "first-guessing" analysis of
games. McCarver also has talent for "suggesting what should
happen even if it doesn't -- and being proved right."
Meanwhile, Sandomir adds that winning the Series "will only
make the Yankees more valuable and give them more leverage"
to create a new RSN to carry its games "or to sell the
rights" to MSG. The Yankees "plan to present a new offer"
to MSG next week, replacing a previous offer "valued at
anywhere from" $1.4-2.5B over ten years (N.Y. TIMES, 10/27).
SKEWED VIEW? In Boston, Jeff Horrigan wrote that "many
reporters were aghast" by "The View"'s Meredith Vieira
asking Mets C Mike Piazza before Game Three Tuesday, "Who
has the biggest wood on the Mets?" (see THE DAILY, 10/25),
including Orange County Register Angels beat writer Cheryl
Rosenberg and N.Y. Daily News columnist Lisa Olson.
Rosenberg: "The fact that she said she's not a journalist is
astounding. It just floors me. Barbara Walters is on The
View, too. Is she not a journalist?" Horrigan noted that
MLB execs have "vowed to look into such conduct" (BOSTON
HERALD, 10/26). In N.Y., Mitchell Fink adds that MLB
officials "are furious" over Vieira's conduct, and when MLB
officials "heard about her remarks, the word quickly came
down that she would not be receiving credentials again any
time soon" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/27).
