TBS drew a 5.9 overnight rating for the Mets' NLCS-clinching win over the Cubs last night in primetime, up 90% from a 3.1 overnight for the net's coverage of ALCS Royals-Orioles Game 4 in '14, which also aired on a Wednesday night. TBS in '13 earned a 4.4 overnight for Game 4 of the Cardinals-Dodgers NLCS on a Tuesday night. Mets-Cubs drew an 18.9 local rating in Chicago and an 18.8 in the N.Y. market. Last night's game peaked at a 6.5 rating between 11:30-11:45pm ET. Mets-Cubs over four games averaged a 5.8 overnight, making it the highest-rated NLCS on any network since Fox drew a 6.4 for the six-game Giants-Phillies series in '10. Meanwhile, FS1 drew a 2.0 overnight for the Blue Jays' Game 5 ALCS win over the Royals yesterday afternoon. FS1 in '14 earned a 3.5 overnight for the Giants' NLCS-clinching Game 5 win over the Cardinals, airing on a Thursday night (Josh Carpenter, Staff Writer).
YO, WHAT'S UP? In N.Y., Bob Raissman notes once the Mets "jumped out to a big lead early" in last night's game, the "only mystery left" had to do with LF Yoenis Cespedes, who left the game in the second inning with an injury. But despite having "two dugout reporters" in Sam Ryan and Matt Winer, TBS "didn’t exactly shed much light on the situation." Raissman: "How did he get the injury? Did TBS have any video evidence?" There were no replays "revealing how the injury occurred," and the two reporters "did not provide any further info until the fourth inning," when Ryan interviewed Mets manager Terry Collins. He said that Cespedes "couldn't lift" his shoulder, and he "repeated the 'sore left shoulder' line." TBS did air video of Cespedes "sitting in the dugout, clearly in pain, rubbing his shoulder." Raissman: "At least TBS cameras found Cespedes in the dugout in the ninth inning as he prepared to celebrate" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/22).
A FINE BALANCE: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein writes under the header, "TBS Coverage Not Perfect, But Most Fan Complaints Ring Hollow." Greenstein: "Many Cubs fans won't agree, but I thought the TBS broadcast of Game 4 was excellent." There were "nice little touches" and "important points, like the spot-on criticism of [Cubs CF] Dexter Fowler for not running hard on his fifth-inning popup that dropped in right field." Ryan "getting info" from Collins on Cespedes was "also good." However, there were a couple of things that were "not good." Game analyst Cal Ripken Jr. "is not offensive or annoying, but he's low energy." The most frequent complaint "has been about the K Zone," but it was "extremely accurate in Game 4." When the graphic "didn't match the called ball or strike, didn't anyone consider that the umpire might have been at fault?" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/22).
DROP THE MIC: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a Q&A with the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER talked about why the home plate area is not mic'd up and said, "Umpires wear microphones, particularly in postseason games. And occasionally we do put content from those microphones out. Culturally it has been an issue that we have had to work into slowly. But I think going forward you will see more microphone access on the field for the simple reason that fans want that kind of access." He added of whether it is the players or umps providing resistance on the matter, "Both. There's a lot of back-and-forth that goes on there. You may want to hear it, but they may not want to have it (aired). It's something that we are trying to work our way through" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/30 issue).
