MLB Playoff games are averaging 3.447 million viewers through the LDS, down 4% from 3.598 million viewers through the LDS in ’13. Last year saw 20 games across TBS and MLB Network through the LDS and included two Game 5s and two Game 4s. This season has seen 16 games across TBS, ESPN, FS1 and MLB Network and has included two sweeps and two Game 4s. Looking at the 14 LDS games in '14 compared to the similar number of games in ’13, the viewership was actually up 7%, despite smaller markets this season in Baltimore and K.C. TBS won the night across all of cable TV on all three nights the net had an ALDS game. FS1, in its first season airing MLB postseason games, twice set new viewership records for the cable net with its NLDS coverage. Currently, five of FS1’s top 10 most-viewed programs are NLDS games. The series-clinching Giants-Nationals Game 4 on Tuesday night set FS1’s all-time record with 3.921 million viewers. MLB Network also earned its two most-viewed telecasts on record with its NLDS games (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
TV GUIDE: The S.F. CHRONICLE notes the “good news for baseball fans is that none” of the Giants-Cardinals NLCS games will be carried on MLB Network. The “bad news is that fans still have to get used to finding” FS1. Fox, “not wanting to compete against NFL coverage on Sundays or preempt its prime-time schedule during the week, has opted to put Games 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7” on FS1 (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/9). VARIETY’s Rick Kissell noted October has been “the biggest month yet” for FS1 viewership (VARIETY.com, 10/8). N.Y. Daily News' Bob Raissman said, "I had to hire a private detective to find the early round games in the series on television. Five different networks playing hide-and-seek with baseball. Now baseball wants to grow their games. No, I think they want to grow the networks who are their partners" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 10/8).
NEW LOOK: FOXSPORTS.com’s Ken Rosenthal wrote the Royals-Orioles ALCS is “a dream matchup for those who want fresh faces, fresh stories, fresh cities.” However, TBS and MLB execs likely are “nervous, fearing ratings will be low.” Fox, Turner and ESPN are paying a combined $12.4B over eight years for MLB’s national broadcast rights, and the “best way to recoup that money -- if it is even possible -- is to appeal to the widest audience.” The "truth is, ratings for national broadcasts are an uphill battle anyway." Baseball audiences "are local audiences, and local ratings for the most part are soaring.” Rosenthal: “Trust me, this series will be good television. ... If you’re a baseball fan, turn on your TV” (FOXSPORTS.com, 10/6).
WHAT TO EXPECT: AD AGE's Anthony Crupi cited media buyers as saying that 30-second spots during the World Series are "pricing at around $520,000 a pop, up slightly versus last year.” Fox “does not disclose its ad rates, but confirmed that it has increased ad rates by mid-single digit percentages.” Fox Sports Exec VP/Sales Neil Mulcahy said that “demand is consistent with historical levels” and that the NLCS and World Series are “85% sold out.” Crupi noted fans can “expect to see a lot of familiar brands this October, as GM's Chevrolet marque is returning as the pre- and post-game sponsor, while Taco Bell is back as the presenter of the starting lineups.” Official MLB sponsors Bank of America, MasterCard and T-Mobile “will also appear in the World Series.” The “best-case scenario for Fox” is a Giants-Orioles World Series, “given the size of the markets represented and the not inconsiderable human-interest angle.” An all-Missouri Cardinals-Royals matchup “could prove to be of limited interest” (ADAGE.com, 10/8).
