NBC's coverage of Game Four of the World Series between
the Marlins and Indians earned a preliminary overnight
rating of 15.9/25 (THE DAILY). The national rating for Game
Three was a 15.6/23, which "makes it the second-lowest
rating" for a primetime Game Three World Series broadcast in
MLB history, according to Josef Adalian of the N.Y. POST.
But Game Three did help NBC "easily win every" half-hour in
primetime Tuesday (N.Y. POST, 10/23). Only Game Three of
the Blue Jays-Phillies '93 Series, with a 15.2/28, ranked
lower than Tuesday's matchup (WASHINGTON POST, 10/23).
LOCALLY: In Ft. Lauderdale, David Beard writes that
Game Three "was one of the most watched programs in the
history" of South FL TV, earning a 41.5/63 (SUN-SENTINEL,
10/23). In NE Ohio, WKYC-NBC earned a 49.6 rating for Game
Three (R.D. Heldenfels, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 10/23).
NOTES: With Cuban-born Livan Hernandez starting tonight
for the Marlins, the game will be broadcast to Cuba via U.S.
Government-run Radio and TV Marti (SUN-SENTINEL, 10/23).
...Total Sports said its www.totalworldseries.com received
over 2 million hits during Game Three (Total Sports).
FINAL NUMBERS: CABLE WORLD's Alan Breznick reviewed
MLB's '97 season with its national cable TV partners. For
the season, ESPN, FX and Fox Sports Net (FSN) "all reported
more younger male viewers than expected." ESPN, with 84
games, averaged a 1.5 final rating, down 6% from its 1.6 in
'96. In its first year of MLB coverage, FX and FSN
"averaged a combined 0.6 for their twice-weekly prime-time
games." FX ran games on Mondays, while FSN televised
Thursday night games (CABLE WORLD, 10/20 issue).