Fox Sees Small Ratings Bump, But All-Star Second Lowest Ever

	Game Gives Fox A Tuesday Win

Fox' broadcast of the MLB All-Star Game Tuesday night from 8:41-11:28pm ET earned an 11.0/19 final Nielsen rating, marking a 9% increase from the 10.1/18 NBC got for last year's All-Star Game. Fox estimates that 31.6 million Americans watched at least part of this year's game. The rating peaked from 10:00-10:30pm — the time slot that included the tribute to Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn — with a 12.0/20, and fell to a 9.4/17 during the telecast's last half-hour. Fox also posted a 10% gain in the male 18-34 demo (6.8 vs. 6.2), a 12% gain in males 18-49 (7.6 vs. 6.8) and a 25% gain in males 25-54 (8.4 vs. 6.7). Seattle, the game's host city, led the ratings for all markets with a 38.1/64. Cleveland was the second highest-rated market with a 20.7/33 (Fox). Atlanta, the host of last year's All-Star Game, was second in '00 with a 19.8/31 (THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes the 11.0/19 final rating "halted a 24% 2-year slide in All-Star Game audiences and reversed a downward trend in 7 of the last 10 years" (USA TODAY, 7/12). On Long Island, Steve Zipay writes the 9% increase is "only an uptick, but in an era of declining network sports ratings, Fox and baseball will take it" (NEWSDAY, 7/12). But DAILY VARIETY's Michael Schneider writes the '01 results "were the game's second-worst numbers ever." But the game "gave Fox a solid Tuesday win in all major measurements — its first for the night among households and total viewers since" the '99 All-Star Game (DAILY VARIETY, 7/12). INSIDE.com's Tom Bierbaum noted Fox "coaxed the first household increases for any major sports all-star telecast this year," including the NFL, NHL and NBA events. But the 2000 game had to face a much hotter 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' and lost many of that season's biggest stars (including Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza and Barry Bonds) to injury" (INSIDE.com, 7/12). Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson: "It's tough to pinpoint an exact reason for the increase, but there has been a lot of attention on baseball this year. There are a lot of good stories" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/12). MLB Commissioner Bud Selig: "Americans are coming back to the national pastime. I'm very encouraged by the TV ratings" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/12).

TWO DIFFERING OPINIONS ON ALL-ACCESS: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir: "What Fox did best was have its play-by-play announcer, Joe Buck, speak occasionally to the wired-up managers, Bobby Valentine and Joe Torre. Did they break the cone of silence by revealing financing plans of the Mets' and Yankees' new stadiums? No, but they were playful and informative" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/12). But in Columbus, Jim Massie writes on Fox interviewing the managers from the dugouts, "When is television ever going to learn that less can be more? When is it going to understand that the game should supersede the broadcast?" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 7/12).

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