FS1 drew a 4.0 overnight rating for the Yankees' 1-0 win over the Indians last night in Game 3 of the ALDS. Last year in the same time slot, TBS drew a 1.6 overnight for the Blue Jays' sweep of the Rangers. Two years ago, Blue Jays-Rangers Game 3 on FS1 drew a 1.7. The games in '16 and '15 both lacked figures as Toronto is not a Nielsen-rated market. N.Y. drew a 12.1 local rating last night, marking FS1's best figure ever in the market. Cleveland-Akron drew a 29.2 local rating -- also a high for FS1 in the market. Meanwhile, FS1 drew a 1.9 overnight for Astros-Red Sox Game 3 yesterday afternoon, up versus the net's 1.0 overnight for Dodgers-Nationals NLDS Game 2 in the same time slot last year. Two years ago in the Sunday afternoon time slot, MLB Network drew a 1.3 overnight for Royals-Astros Game 3. Boston yesterday drew a 10.0 local rating for Game 3, marking FS1's best figure ever in the market. Houston drew a 10.3 local rating, which is FS1's third-best figure ever in the market (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
FOUR BAGGERS: TBS is averaging 3.2 million viewers for its four NLDS telecasts to date (two on Friday, two on Saturday). That figure is up 15% from 2.78 million viewers last year, when the net carried the first four games of the two ALDS on Thursday and Friday. Last year, FS1 and MLB Net carried the first four NLDS games, averaging 3.1 million viewers. Meanwhile, MLB Network averaged 2.7 million viewers for its two LDS telecasts this year, marking the net's second best postseason figure since it began airing playoff games six years ago. The high remains 2.84 million viewers last year. MLB Net also likely had its best total-day audience on record on Friday, fueled by the 13-inning Yankees-Indians Game 2. That matchup, which ran from 5:00-10:18pm ET, averaged 3.2 million viewers. N.Y. drew an 8.2 local rating for the game, while Cleveland-Akron drew a 15.5. Both were local ratings records for MLB Network in the respective markets. MLB digital platforms also had a strong day Friday. The At Bat app set single-day records with 12.1 million starts and 94 million minutes consumed (Karp).
ROTATING VOICES: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote during Thursday's Red Sox-Astros ALDS Game 1 on MLB Network with Bob Costas and Jim Kaat on the call, fans heard "intelligent, informed commentary, not a word of it forced." In fact, several pitches "went unspoken" as fans were "credited with being able to discern the obvious with comment, let alone full examination" (N.Y. POST, 10/8). Also in N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote there is "no shortage of mouths clamoring for the halcyon days when national networks added a local voice from each of the participating teams to their playoff or World Series broadcast booth." While it "sounds like a good idea, it ignores the reality of the business." MLB's network partners have such a "big financial stake in the games, they want their own talent to work the booth." Maintaining this consistency is the "only way they can keep fans identifying with a specific telecast." With the entire playoffs airing on multiple networks, viewers "can get confused." Rotating local voices into a national booth would "only add to that confusion" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/8). The N.Y. POST's Mushnick wrote Fox adding Keith Hernandez to its postseason studio team would "make sense only if Fox wanted someone who, as heard on Mets telecasts the past few seasons, has gone from promising observer to a bored soul who doesn't seem to want to be there." He thus "often masks his inattention and indifference with ill-informed, broad-brushed cliches" (N.Y. POST, 10/8).
NO REGARD FOR FANS: BOSTON SPORTS JOURNAL's Greg Bedard writes it is "categorically absurd" that MLB did not determine the start time of Astros-Red Sox ALDS Game 4 until nearly 11:00pm ET last night, when the Yankees' win over the Indians "assured that the Bronx would host the prime-time game." Bedard: "Where is the concern for the fans?" There is "kind of a huge difference" between a 1:00pm and 7:00pm start. Could fans "imagine the NFL pulling something like this?" Bedard: "I get the whole TV aspect, but the fans and the turnstiles are keeping baseball alive, not TV" (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 10/9).
REMAINING UNCHANGED: In Cincinnati, Craig Fehrman profiled Reds radio play-by-play announcer Marty Brennaman, who for the last 44 years has "done it pretty much the same way." The franchise has "now passed more years with Marty on the radio than years without him." Fehrman: "And he's still the team's biggest nightly interpreter." Given Brennaman's "longevity and ubiquity, he's arguably the franchise's most famous employee." Despite dialing back his schedule to 135 games in recent years, Brennaman has mainly "stayed exactly the same." Most fans "revere him as an old-fashioned presence on an old-fashioned technology." A few have "grown to dislike him because he won't embrace baseball's modern methods." But both camps "miss something important about Marty: His familiarity has become radical." Fehrman: "His being there has become key" (CINCINNATI MAGAZINE, 10/'17 issue).
