In St. Louis, Dan Caesar notes KTVI-Fox “cashed in" by televising the seven-game Cardinals-Rangers World Series. KTVI GM Spencer Koch estimates that the station's revenue during the Series "was 70 percent above what it would have been without the games given that the station also had a lot of local coverage wrapping around the network feed.” Koch: “A lot of overtime went into producing all that. But it was money well spent, it was like seven Super Bowls spread over 12 days.'' Caesar notes the ratings “far exceeded Koch's projections.” Nielsen ratings showed 89% of area homes with a TV in use "tuned in when the final out was made” last Friday night. KMOX-AM carried the series locally on radio, and KMOX Marketing Manager John Sheehan said, “Playoff baseball brings advertisers in that wouldn't otherwise advertise in St. Louis and I think the entire radio community saw a lift” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 11/4).
KEEPING SOME SECRETS: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Reed Albergotti notes every play during an NFL game “is filmed from multiple angles” but despite the $4B "or so the NFL makes every year by selling its broadcast rights, there's some footage the league keeps hidden.” If you ask the league “to see the footage that was taken from on high to show the entire field and what all 22 players did on every play, the response will be emphatic.” NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy wrote in an e-mail, “NO ONE gets that." Earlier this month, the NFL “quietly asked fans, through a survey site, whether they would pay up to $100 to watch an online feed of the All 22,” the name given to the pulled-back, wide angle view of the field. NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said that the league "wasn't actually serious about releasing the footage" and that the survey "was meant only to gauge fan interest" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/4).
BATTLE OF THE VOICES: In N.Y. Bob Raissman writes CBS' top NFL announcer team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call Sunday's Jets-Bills game at 1:00pm ET, while Fox' top team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman “appear in the 4:15 p.m. act, calling Giants-Patriots on Fox.” Raissman writes both No. 1 teams "would like to be known as the best in a cutthroat business.” Sunday there will be “even more scrutiny -- more opportunity to compare and contrast Nantz/Simms with Buck/Aikman." Everything they say "will be intensified, and even “innocuous throwaway lines can spark controversy” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/4).
CONSTANT CONTACT: BLOODHORSE's Ron Mitchell reported policies at this year’s Breeders’ Cup "will still allow pre-race television interviews with jockeys immediately prior to the start of a World Championship race.” Kentucky Horse Racing Authority Chief Steward John Veitch said that it was agreed upon Wednesday “that jockeys could be interviewed by broadcasters on horseback during the two-minute window leading up to post time” (BLOODHORSE.com, 11/3).
