ABC's "MNF" earned a 12.5/19 preliminary overnight
Nielsen rating for last night's Packers-Panthers game, down
17% from last year's 15.0/24 for Vikings-Bucs. "MNF" was
delayed approximately three minutes last night as ABC News
carried VP Al Gore's national address on Election 2000 (THE
DAILY). Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley writes, "All
['MNF' analyst Dan] Fouts has been doing is getting more
comfortable as the season has gone along. ... There is no
question that he brings more to the huddle than Boomer
Esiason" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 11/28).
EYE OF THE STORM: In San Diego, Jay Posner reports that
CBS on Monday "apologized to any Chargers fans disappointed
that they missed the end of Sunday's 17-16 victory over the
Chiefs due to the network's coverage of the presidential
vote certification" in FL. The network left with 96 seconds
remaining in the game. A network rep said, "There's nobody
at CBS Sports that's not a sports fan." Near the end of the
game, the rating for the game on KFMB-CBS had climbed to a
25.6/49 (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/28). KFMB Sports
Producer Coby Ginsberg said that the station "received
hundreds of calls of protest," but "had no choice but to
show the news report" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/27).
LOCK 'EM DOWN: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes that
while ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" remains the "best" NFL
studio show, CBS' "NFL Today" "struggles for an identity."
The move outdoors "has not helped ratings or made [analyst]
Jerry Glanville tolerable." Glanville "distorts the
chemistry the program needs" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/28).
