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Giants-Royals Finale Down From Last World Series Game 7, But Gives Fox Primetime Win

Fox drew a 15.2 overnight rating for the Giants' 3-2 win over the Royals in Game 7 of the World Series, down 8% from a 16.2 overnight in '11 for Cardinals-Rangers Game 7, which aired on a Friday night. The game led Fox to an easy win among all nets in primetime and projects to be the net's best non-NFL rating since Cardinals-Rangers Game 7. The game earned a 58.3 local rating in K.C., marking the best figure on record for any MLB game in the market. Game 7 last night also earned a 38.8 local rating in the S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market, which is the best for any MLB telecast in the Bay Area since Angels-Giants World Series Game 7 in '02. Fox' telecast peaked at a 19.9 rating from 11:15-11:30pm ET. Fox averaged a 9.1 overnight rating for the seven-game series this year, down from a 10.1 overnight for the six-game Red Sox-Cardinals series last year, but up from the record-low 8.8 overnight for the Giants' sweep of the Tigers in '12 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

BUCKING THE TREND
: Sporting News' Ryan Fagan reports on his Twitter feed the local morning shows in K.C. today were "making fun of Joe Buck and how much they thought he loved Bumgarner" during last night's broadcast. However, Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm wrote following Game 7, "Anyone who knocks Joe Buck for praising Bumgarner doesn't appreciate greatness." Meanwhile, Toronto-based Sportsnet 590's Greg Brady wrote, "Joe Buck's having a fantastic, fantastic call tonight." NFL Network's Rich Eisen: "Nice tip of cap by @buck to Harry Caray applying his HR call to the double play call there."

OTHER BOOTH REVIEWS: ESPN Radio 710 L.A.'s Steve Mason wrote on Twitter, "No agenda. Harold Reynolds is a helluva baseball analyst." But SI's Richard Deitsch sarcastically wrote, "One cool thing about Harold Reynolds is that he doesn't talk a lot during a broadcast." Media columnist Bruce Dowbiggin: "Harold Reynolds: 2 things that will suffer when you’re tired are your velocity and your location. What else is there? Penmanship?" The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal: "Did Harold Reynolds win some kind of raffle for this gig?" Meanwhile, Newsday's Greg Logan wrote, "Tom Verducci does a fabulous job in booth with harold Reynolds. He's on it." The MMQB's Peter King: "Tom Verducci always makes the smart point, now about pressure on mgrs." Boston.com's Eric Wilbur: "Fantastic point by Verducci. AL home field is really working against the Royals in Game 7 via Giants pitching decisions."

NEED TO MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR VIEWERS
: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said the league will review its TV deal with Fox, which put most NLCS games on FS1. In an interview yesterday with Sirius XM's Chris Russo, Selig said he had not heard a lot of complaints about games being on the channel, which is in 85 million homes compared to the broadcast network's reach of 116 million homes. But he did say it is "something we're going to have to review." Selig said, "I really like Fox. They've been a great partner. And I know there was some concern, although, frankly, it was interesting. I hear -- a lot of mail, a lot of phone calls from people on a lot of subjects -- I didn't get a lot on that subject" (John Ourand, Staff Writer). Selig added, "That is something, in the off-season, we have to really re-evaluate and talk about. I’m very sensitive to all those things. We’ve had a wonderful and very productive relationship with Fox, but as someone raised in the retail business, I know that it’s part of our job to make things as easy and uncomplicated as possible" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/30).

LOW-HANGING FRUIT: In Boston, Michael Silverman writes people expressing concern "about weak TV ratings for this and recent World Series is kind of like venting about your kids spending too much time with their faces and thumbs glued to their gadgets." Silverman: "That’s old news. Life and civilization will go on." The sport is at $8B-plus "and counting" in revenues and teams' local TV packages "continue to be a big deal and revenue source." The 162-game schedule "provides a live programming bonanza for cable companies hungry for that rare commodity." It is "too easy to dwell on the fact" that K.C. and S.F. "are hardly big markets" like Boston, N.Y., L.A. or Chicago when it comes to cities Fox would have preferred. Silverman: "It’s not the market, it’s not the stars, it’s not the games and it’s not really a matter of start times on the East Coast or the pace of game, either. It’s the times we live in" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/30).

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