Fox' coverage of the five-game Mets-Yankees World Series
earned a 12.4/21 final national Nielsen rating, the lowest
World Series rating ever, down 12% from the previous low of
the '98 Yankees' sweep of the Padres, which drew a 14.1/24.
Last Thursday's deciding Game Five averaged a 13.1/21. N.Y.
Fox affil WNYW was the highest-rated market, with a 42.8/61
for Game Five (Fox). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joe Flint
writes that the average audience for the Series was 18.1
million, down 24% from last season for Yankees-Braves (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 10/30). The CP reported that Headline Sports
averaged 170,000 viewers per game in Canada, "sharing the
same low ratings Fox had." In comparison, TSN's coverage of
last year's Series drew an average of 639,000 per game.
Headline Sports President John Levy noted that the net is in
the first year of a four-year TV rights deal with MLB and
said, "We were more interested in the growth during the
Series. From that standpoint we were pleased." Last
Saturday's "HNIC" games on CBC, which went head-to-head with
Game One, drew 955,000 viewers for Maple Leafs-Flames and
500,000 for Canucks-Coyotes (CP, 10/28).
SLOW OUT OF THE BOX: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir wrote
that Game Five "started slowly," with a 7.5 rating from the
first pitch at 8:21pm ET to 8:30, but peaked with a 16.0 from
11:30 to midnight (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28). In Boston, Jim Baker
noted Fox' rating peaked in the game's last half hour, "which
shows long games were not a problem." Baker also wrote that
Fox' ratings were down for the Series "despite great games
and impressive productions." Fox Sports VP/Media Relations
Lou D'Ermilio: "The World Series is still the second highest-
rated pro championship behind the Super Bowl, and it outrated
the NBA Finals (on NBC) by 7%" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/28). Fox
Sports President & Exec Producer Ed Goren: "Our research
people are going to have to take a look and see if they can
come up with some explanations. I'm guessing maybe there's
something wrong with the national Nielsen sampling. This has
been a difficult year for a lot of us." D'Ermilio, on the
net offering make-goods: "We're in pretty good shape, given
extra innings in Game 1 and ads we've run during pitching
changes. For the few advertisers that we still need to
address, we will make it up to them in prime time. Our sales
people consider it to be not a major issue." The AP's Howard
Fendrich wrote that Fox' "silver lining" is that it "did
well" among males aged 18-34, a demo "advertisers seek." For
its 2001 World Series ad sales, Fox "won't have a strong 2000
rating to use as a basis." Schulman/Advanswers President
Paul Schulman: "The only financial hit really may come a year
from now. People will be expecting more in the area of a
12.5 again" (AP, 10/28).
YOU SPIN ME RIGHT 'ROUND, BABY: In Richmond, Jerry
Lindquist: "Spin, baby, spin. Fox is still in the rinse
cycle after putting on this post-Series happy face" (RICHMOND
TIMES-DISPATCH, 10/30). In Albany, Pete Dougherty: "What
does all this mean? Call it the biggest ratings cover-up
since, well, last month's Olympics on NBC. ... The Fox people
did their job, but in truth the Subway Series was the
Submarine Series. ... 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' appears
to be more popular than 'Everyone's A Millionaire'" (Albany
TIMES UNION, 10/29). DAILY VARIETY's Rick Kissell: "If
there's one encouraging sign for Fox, it's that it limited
year-to-year losses among men 18-34 (its strongest demo
overall) to just 2% (8.3 vs. 8.5 in 1999). Its biggest
losses came in women 25-54" (DAILY VARIETY, 10/30). Fox Dir
of Media Relations Dan Bell, on Fox' six-year MLB TV
contract: "We're in this for the long haul, and despite the
lowest-rated World Series ever, it was still a solid number
for us. The promotional platform of the Series had a
tremendous impact on some of our fall shows and helped us win
three out of five nights in prime time" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 10/28). In DC, Lisa de Moraes noted that NBC,
which aired "Cursed," "ER," "Friends" and "Will & Grace," had
a 4.3-million-viewer margin over Fox' Game Five, the "largest
over a World Series Game for any network, at least since
Nielsen began using people-meters in 1987. It's also the
first time that the deciding game of a World Series has been
beaten by another network" since ABC's broadcast of the '89
"earthquake-interrupted" A's-Giants Series "got whomped" by
NBC (WASHINGTON POST, 10/28). CNNfn's Beverly Schuch: "The
Subway Series has ground to a halt and for Fox the results
are about as lackluster as the Series" (CNNfn, 10/27).
BUCK UP? In L.A., Mike Penner writes that Fox MLB
announcer Joe Buck, analyst Tim McCarver and pregame hosts
and reporters Keith Olbermann and Steve Lyons "had a credible
five-game run through" the Series, and the telecasts were
"fundamentally sound" (L.A. TIMES, 10/30). In St. Louis, Dan
Caesar wrote that Buck's contract "is running out, and he is
not sure if he wants to return." Buck has hired a publicist
"to try to see what other options might be available outside
of sports, and to that end has been booked to host the Nov. 8
edition of the 'Talk Soup' show on cable's E! entertainment
network" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/28).
SUFFER-AGE: N.Y. Daily News columnist Mitchell Fink said
MLB was "furious" with "The View"'s Meredith Vieira after she
asked controversial questions to Mets players before Game
Three. MLB felt the questions, "in retrospect, were really
inappropriate. [MLB] made it very clear they were not going
to give her another credential for the Series. [Female
sportscasters] felt that she was making a mockery over their
profession and setting back the cause for women covering
sports" ("Inside Edition," 10/27). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick
writes that Vieira and "The View" not only "did dirt to every
legitimate female sports journalist, they confirmed the worst
and ugliest suspicions among ballplayers and team
administrators who have tried to ban legit female reporters
from working locker rooms and clubhouses" (N.Y. POST, 10/30).
