ESPN Averages 892,000 Viewers For First Six "30 For 30" Docs

ESPN averaged a 0.8 cable rating and 892,000 viewers for the first six of its "30 for 30" documentaries, all of which aired on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm ET. The top-drawing film was "Without Bias" on November 3, which earned a 1.0 cable rating and 1.2 million viewers. By comparison, ESPN's 90-minute premiere of Spike Lee's documentary "Kobe Doin' Work" in May earned a 1.1 cable rating and 1.423 million viewers at 8:00pm on a Saturday night. Also, ESPN's two-part documentary "Black Magic" averaged a 1.2 cable rating and 1.361 million viewers over a Sunday and Monday night in March '08. "Kobe" aired after a two-hour "SportsCenter" episode, while the first part of "Black Magic" debuted after ESPN's NCAA men's basketball tournament selection show. The "30 for 30" series will premiere "The U," based on the Univ. of Miami football team, following the Heisman Trophy presentation on December 12 before the series returns for an extended run this spring (THE DAILY).

DATE	DOCUMENTARY	CABLE RATING	VIEWERS (000)
10/6	"King's Ransom"	0.5	645
10/13	"The Band That Wouldn’t Die"	0.7	707
10/20	"Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?"	0.7	878
10/27	"Muhammad and Larry"	0.7	708
11/3	"Without Bias"	1.0	1,232
11/10	"The Legend of Jimmy the Greek"	1.0	1,180

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME: In Houston, David Barron noted in "The Legend of Jimmy The Greek," director Fritz Mitchell's "gimmick is using the voice of the comedian Basile, who does a passable" impersonation of Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, to channel what Snyder "might have said about his rise and fall and his ups and downs along the way." This "makes for a slightly spooky but effective treatment of a very sad story." Barron added, "This is probably my favorite thus far" (CHRON.com, 11/10). But SPORTINGNEWS.com's Chris Littmann wrote after the series "got off to a strong start and really hit a high point with 'Muhammad and Larry,' it's been diminishing returns since then." Littmann added the "most bothersome" part of "The Legend of Jimmy The Greek" was the "fake voiceover who is supposed to be telling the story from Snyder's perspective"(SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/10).