TBS' Division Series Ratings Down 25% From Last Season

TBS' Average Cable Rating For '08 Division Series Down 25% From Last Season

STILL SOME BASEBALL FANS: In L.A., Steve Springer writes that Angels-Red Sox ALDS Game Four Monday night drew a 9.3 HH rating in the L.A. market, while ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" drew a 13.8 and Vikings-Saints on ESPN's "MNF" attracted a 5.8 rating. Springer notes the Red Sox in Boston "are the drawing card," with the game having a 24.7 HH rating compared to an 11.0 for "DWTS" and a 2.5 for "MNF" (L.A. TIMES, 10/8). 

FANS FAVOR FOOTBALL: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes conventional thinking "would suggest that a division series game starring one team in a market might get a higher rating than a Week 5 football game starring a second local team," but that assumption "would be wrong." Sunday's Phillies-Brewers NLDS Game Four competed head-to-head with Falcons-Packers and drew a 12.7 HH rating in the Milwaukee market, "less than half of football's 28.7." Phillies-Brewers earned a 13.2 HH rating in Philadelphia, up against Redskins-Eagles, which earned a 22.7. The results "were the same" in Chicago, as Rays-White Sox ALDS Game Three earned a 9.6 HH rating, compared to a 21.9 mark for Bears-Lions. LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media President Lee Berke said that the "once-a-week frequency of NFL games was a major and continuing advantage." Berke: "In a best-of-five playoff series, you can have five games. So if you're a fan of the Eagles and Phillies, you might say, the Eagles are only once a week, so I'll watch the Eagles, then flip, or tune in later to the Phillies" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/8). In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley reports 53% of TV sets in the Milwaukee market during the Brewers and Packers games "were tuned to the football game, compared with 23% for the baseball game" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/8).

QUITE FRANKLY: SPORTINGNEWS.com's Chris Mottram wrote of the frequency of ads for comedian Frank Caliendo's upcoming season of TBS' "Frank TV"  during MLB playoff telecasts, "What is TBS thinking with this bombardment strategy? They annoy us with the same, tired clips of Caliendo to the point where we can't take it anymore, then expect us to tune in for the full program when it premieres?" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 10/7). In New York, Jeff Wilkin wrote, "It’s not that Frank doesn’t have any talent ... it’s just that the constant, incessant reminders to tune in the comedian’s second season of 'Frank TV' kind of makes you want to punish the guy by purposely not watching" (DAILYGAZETTE.com, 10/7).

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