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Giants' 7-1 Win Results In Lowest Overnight Rating Ever For World Series Opener

Fox posted an 8.0 overnight rating for last night's Giants-Royals World Series Game 1, the lowest overnight mark ever for the opening game of the Fall Classic. It is down nearly 15% from last year's Red Sox-Cardinals World Series Game 1 overnight, which earned a 9.4. The rating was hurt by a non-competitive game being played in one of MLB's smallest markets (K.C.). The game peaked at a 9.4 between 9:00-9:30pm ET during the bottom of the third inning. Postseason games typically see their biggest bump after 11:00pm, but the game bottomed out with a 6.3 rating from 11:30-11:45pm. Despite the drop, the game is on target to bring Fox its biggest primetime rating since "American Idol" in February. Locally, the game had a 48.2 overnight in K.C. and a 29.3 in the S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market (John Ourand, Staff Writer). The Chicago Tribune's Ed Sherman wrote on his Twitter feed, "Hard to imagine a worse Game 1 for Fox. A million pitches and KC feel-good story not so good tonight."

YEAR
MATCHUP
NIGHT
RATING
'14
Giants-Royals
Tues.
8.0
'13
Red Sox-Cardinals
Wed.
9.4
'12
Giants-Tigers
Wed.
8.8
'11
Cardinals-Rangers
Wed.
9.6
'10
Giants-Rangers
Wed.
10.4
'09
Yankees-Phillies
Wed.
13.8
'08
Phillies-Rays
Wed.
10.3
'07
Red Sox-Rockies
Wed.
11.8
'06
Cardinals-Tigers
Sat.
8.6

LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BIG PAPI: Red Sox DH David Ortiz served as a pre- and postgame analyst for Fox last night and he said before the game, "I've never done this before. I wanted to try it out and see how I like it." In Boston, Peter Abraham reports in preparation, Ortiz "sought the advice" of former teammate Pedro Martinez, a "standout studio analyst with TBS the last two seasons." Ortiz: "He’s part of the reason I wanted to do this. He gave me a few ideas. I’ll talk about what I know and be myself.” Ortiz will "remain with Fox through Game 2," and there is a "chance he could return for Games 6 and 7 if the Series goes that far" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/22). The Springfield Republican's Jason Mastrodonato wrote on Twitter, "David Ortiz has camera presence, solid insight on postgame show. Pedro and Papi would be an awesome tandem."

LET IT BREATHE: Syndicated columnist Norman Chad wrote on his Twitter feed, "Fox baseball guys are good, with one caveat: THEY NEVER SHUT UP. Harold Reynolds could do a one-man show off-Broadway on relay throws." The N.Y. Daily News' Bob Raissman wrote, "Hope Verducci/Reynolds are getting paid by the word tonight." The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal: "I'm usually not this frustrated by the #Fox crew until Game 4 or 5. Hello, Mute Button!" But Newsweek's John Walters wrote Verducci is the "rare outstanding writer who was born to be on television."

TALKIN' BASEBALL: SNY's Jonas Schwartz said the World Series "is more of a regional than national event these days." The N.Y. Daily News' John Harper said, "The playoffs have been great. The games have been great. If you like baseball, I don't know why you wouldn't watch it. I know it is more of a regional game than say football, for sure. But if you're into the Mets and the Yankees, I'm not sure why you wouldn't watch it." He acknowledged that World Series games "end too late, that's definitely a problem on the East Coast." SNY's Sal Licata added the games go "into the wee hours of the morning here." The N.Y. Daily News' Andy Martino wondered if MLB could "just be a little bit flexible with that schedule," because the playoffs were "dark over a weekend after people were talking about it" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 10/21).

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