TBS Has Best Week Ever Boosted By MLB Playoffs

MLB Playoffs Help TBS To Best Ratings Week In Network's History

MANIC MONDAY: ESPN's "MNF" earned a 10.0 cable rating for Cowboys-Bills this week, down 2.9% from a 10.3 for the comparable Ravens-Broncos game in Week Five last year.  The 9.639 million HHs for Monday's game marks the most for any show on cable this year, surpassing the 9.433 million HHs for the debut airing of “High School Musical 2” on Disney Channel.  ESPN also averaged about 13.0 million total viewers, second only to the 17.2 for “HSM2.”  Cowboys-Bills led all broadcast and cable nets in primetime among men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, as well as adults 18-34 and 18-49 (ESPN).  Monday’s game earned a 5.7/15 among adults 18-49 and 13.03 million viewers. TBS earned a 2.9/8 in the demo and 9.23 million total viewers for Indians-Yankees Game Four Monday  (DAILY VARIETY, 10/10).  The following presents the viewership for "MNF" and Indians-Yankees Game Four compared to the top programs on each of the major broadcast nets from Monday night.

CONFLICTS IN CANADA: In Toronto, William Houston reports viewers in the Rogers Sportsnet West region, which includes Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, could not watch Indians-Yankees Monday because the net “was committed to airing" Oilers-Red Wings. Viewers of both Sportsnet West and Pacific (British Columbia) will miss the first 90 minutes of Game Two of the Rockies-D’Backs NLCS because of a Canucks-Oilers game. Sharks-Canucks will preempt D’Backs-Rockies Game Four on Sportsnet Pacific, while just 90 minutes of Rockies-D’Backs Game Six would be seen before the net switched to Kings-Canucks. Game Three of the Red Sox-Indians ALCS will be bumped from Sportsnet Ontario for Maple Leafs-Sabres, but fans can switch to Fox, which is available in Canada. PeachTree TV replaced the TBS feed that had been available in the country (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/10).

MAYBE THERE IS CRYING IN BASEBALL: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports WCBS’ Suzyn Waldman was “unapologetic ... for choking up and sobbing briefly in her report Monday” about the Yankees being eliminated from the playoffs, which could may have been manager Joe Torre’s last game. Waldman said, “That’s who I am. ... I am emotional. I’m a conduit between the players and the fans, and everyone was crying.” Sandomir writes Waldman “can get away with reacting in a way that a male counterpart might be ridiculed for. ... She is an empathetic personality – her clubhouse demeanor is as much reporter as mother-confessor” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/10).

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