Looking forward to tonight’s latest 30 for 30: This is What They Want (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET).
The trailer.
And a clip from his match with Patrick McEnroe.
Forget hey day of 70s, 80s; Erosion of World Series ratings is a recent trend
My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University focuses on the World Series ratings. Even a compelling series featuring two of baseball’s marquee teams is far behind the ratings for their last meeting in 2004, a Boston sweep over St. Louis. And the decline isn’t just limited to that year.
Follow the trend.
From the column.
*******
Usually the way-back machine is brought out whenever there’s a discussion on World Series ratings.
Last week, Keith Olbermann turned the clock back to 1971. In a commentary, he noted 37 million households out of a possible 61 million tuned in to watch Pittsburgh beat Baltimore in Game 7 of the 1971 World Series. That translates to roughly 50 million viewers.
World Series ratings since 2004 (Baseball Almanac)
Of course, the World Series never will see those kind of ratings again. Olbermann noted that if Fox can average an estimated 25.3 million viewers per game (17 million households tuned in) like it did in 2004 for the Boston-St. Louis Series, “Rupert Murdoch will kiss me on the mouth.”
Sorry if I ruined your day with that visual.
Actually, 2004, not 1971, is the better benchmark to assess the erosion in World Series ratings. Back in the early ’70s, there only were three networks. Viewers had fewer choices. It was World Series or “Love American Style.” So naturally, baseball’s ratings would be higher.
OK, if that’s the argument, why has there been such a decline in the ratings since 2004?
Last year, San Francisco’ sweep of Detroit averaged 12.7 million viewers per game, the lowest ever for a World Series. That’s nearly half of Boston’s sweep in 2004.
Through four games this year, a World Series featuring two of baseball’s most storied and appealing franchises has averaged an 8.4 rating at 14 million viewers per game. The overall number should trend higher with a definite Game 6 and a possible Game 7 on the agenda.
However, barring a major upset, it won’t come close to 2004′s numbers.
Unlike the heyday of the 70s, MLB and Fox can’t roll out the argument that the TV landscape was different nine years ago. It wasn’t, since the cable smorgasbord had been in place for years. In other words, the 2004 World Series still registered despite healthy competition from HBO, CNN, ESPN, etc.
In fact, the World Series was considered to be such a ratings powerhouse in 2004, the NFL didn’t even schedule a Sunday night game against it back then.
OK, you say that Red Sox team captivated the country after rallying from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees en route to winning its first World Series title in 86 years? Well, the following year, the White Sox, my team but hardly America’s team, pulled in an average of 17.16 million viewers per night for its sweep of Houston.
Murdoch might not kiss Olbermann if the 2013 series averaged 17.16 million viewers, but he probably would shake his hand.
Since then, only one World Series, the Yankees’ six-game victory over Philadelphia in 2009 (19.4 million viewers), has exceeded 2005. The 2011 World Series, which saw St. Louis win in seven games, averaged 16 million viewers per game. You would expect a higher number since it went the distance.
Consider this: Prior to 2004, the previous nine World Series dating back to 1995 averaged a 15.16 rating (22 million viewers per game). While the presence of the Yankees in six of those World Series definitely helped pull in viewers, it shows ratings in the 15-18 range were considered more of the standard back then in what also was a cable era.
So what caused the erosion in the ratings? There’s enough material to write a book.
In short, a couple of factors come into play. This year marks only the third time in the last 10 World Series it will reach a sixth game. There have been four sweeps and three five-game series. The lone seven-game series was in 2011.
The Series has failed to build on the drama from one year to another, and there’s been a residual effect in a decline in interest.
“We had Boston in 2007 and they won in four straight (over Colorado),” said Fox’s Joe Buck before this year’s World Series. “The ratings went down. You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.”
There are other reasons, to be sure. However, to me, the mind-numbing pace of games continues to be a big factor in the tune-out. Viewers just don’t have the patience to stay with 5-4 games that last three hours, 54 minutes, as was the case for Game 3. There are so many long pauses and breaks it gives viewers ample reason to reach for the remotes to check out HBO, CNN, AMC, ESPN, etc. You could watch an entire episode of “Homeland” and maybe only miss two innings, if that.
There’s also the issue of the late starting times. Thanks to the endless games, they usually end around midnight on the East coast, past a lot of people’s bedtimes.
Everyone has their theories. However, one thing is clear: You don’t have to go back to the 70s to proclaim that the World Series ain’t what it used to be. It is a recent trend too.
Early turn back the clock: Rare sub 3-hour World Series game
Feel better this morning, baseball fans. Of course, you do.
You got an extra hour of sleep.
Technically, you are supposed to “Fall Back” Sunday morning. The World Series, though, turned back the clocks last night to 1966.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, Game 5 was completed in 2 hours, 52 minutes.
It was the first sub 3-hour game in a World Series since Game 3 of the 2010 World Series: a 4-2 victory for Texas over San Francisco. Many thanks from the team at Sherman Report monitoring baseball’s broken stopwatch.
Wasn’t it nice to watch a game that moved at a decent pace? Good solid pitching by Jon Lester and Adam Wainwright and more hits from David “Mr. 700” Ortiz. My favorite part of this series are the relievers on both teams. Terrific young arms.
Lo and behold, the game actually ended around 11 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. for me in the Central time zone. The early finish even sparked some confusion for baseball fans.
And this from Chicago Cubs TV play-by-play man Len Kasper.
Ah yes, nothing can top the precious gift of time. Appreciate it while you can, baseball fans.
It probably will be three years before we see another sub-three hour World Series game.
Tiger talks about Chamblee: Turns up heat on Golf Channel; Says Chamblee didn’t apologize
I didn’t think Brandel Chamblee’s tweets last week were going to end of the cheating allegation flap with Tiger Woods.
Sure enough, an angry Woods implied there’s much more to come while speaking today in China, where he had an exhibition match with Rory McIlroy. And he definitely is going to drag the Golf Channel into the saga, even though Chamblee’s column, which alleges he “was a cavalier” with golf’s rules, appeared on Golf.com.
Here’s Woods in an Associated Press story:
“All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward,” Woods said before his exhibition match with Rory McIlroy at Mission Hills. “But then, I don’t know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that’s up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing, as he didn’t really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation.
“So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do.”
Golf Channel has not commented on the flap. Chamblee is an analyst, but he wrote his column about Woods as a contributor to another publication. Chamblee has said he was not asked to apologize by anyone.
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, was so incensed by the column that he issued a statement to ESPN.com that raised the possibility of legal action. Steinberg shared his client’s views.
“I’m all done talking about it, and it’s now in the hands of the Golf Channel,” Steinberg said. “That’s Tiger’s view and that’s mine, and all we want to do is move forward. And whether the Golf Channel moves forward as well, then we’ll have to wait and see.”
So the ball’s in your court, or on your green, Golf Channel.
Golf Channel won’t fire Chamblee. He’s the best analyst it has.
However, I do think the Woods’ camp wants a strong on-air apology from Chamblee at a minimum. They might even insist he wear a dunce cap.
As I said, this story isn’t going away.
Overnight ratings: Compelling Series game barely beats one-sided NFL game
Commissioner Bud Selig should send a thank you to the Minnesota Vikings for being so terrible.
In overnight ratings of major markets, Game 3 pulled a 10.5 rating on Fox. Meanwhile, the Green Bay-Minnesota game did a 10.3 on NBC. Full ratings will be out later today.
Fox got lucky, or NBC was unlucky, when the Packers pulled away in the second half, seemingly toying with the hapless Vikings. Really, what did football fans do to merit getting two helpings of Minnesota in primetime in six days?
If the NFL game was good, it likely beats baseball. The Denver-Indianapolis game on Oct. 20 pulled a 17.3 overnight rating.
Selig also should thank the NFL schedule-maker for not placing that game up against the World Series.
More to come.
Revenge of fan shot: Fox botches game-ending pick-off
For years, Fox Sports has been criticized for its quick-cut players/fan reaction shots between pitches.Sunday night, the technique came back to bite the network.
As a result, a St. Louis woman holding a rebird hat (puppet?) will forever be a part of one of the most unusual endings ever to a World Series game.
Fox lingered a bit too long on the woman. All of the sudden, Joe Buck yelled out and there was a quick shot of Mike Napoli applying the tag to Kolten Wong from a terrible camera angle. Viewers never saw Koji Uehara turn and make the throw for the dramatic pick-off.
It wasn’t until the replays were shown that we had any perspective of what happened.
The reality is that all the networks show player/manager/fan reaction shots between pitches. So what happened to Fox Sports last could have happened to any of them.
However, the fact that Fox insists on doing so many of them, to the distraction of many viewers including this one, warrants a more intense finger-pointing after what happened last night.
If a similar situation occurs in Game 5, the Fox cameras should just stay with the pitcher. You never know when he will turn and throw to first to end the game.
One rant too many: Dino Costa out at SiriusXM
It always amazes me how sports talk radio guys blow great gigs because they can’t control their mouths.
Dino Costa is the latest casualty. He went on one rant too many in complaining about his bosses at SiriusXM.
Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News reports:
When SXM “Sportszone” program director Tim Sabean pulled Costa off the air Wednesday, Dino’s days were numbered. He was yanked for being himself, going on an entertaining riff (it wasn’t the first time) about how his bosses wanted to change him, turn him into someone only capable of robotic sports recitations with no depth or imagination.
Whoever threw Costa off SXM’s Ship of Fools never understood they had a singularly unique personality, a yakker who built and maintained a cult following and more. Instead of building on that foundation, they tore down the house, burned it, then celebrated their own stupidity.
Costa said he is “more than proud” of what he accomplished in his five years at SXM, and what he delivered to an audience looking for a “radical departure” in sports talk.
“I have zero regrets,” Costa said. “Hopefully the next time SXM runs into a talent such as myself they’ll know how to go about promoting that talent and maximizing the skills of a guy like me.”
So where does Costa go from here? There might be some opportunities with NBC and CBS launching radio networks.
But after what SiriusXM experienced, will they want to put up with Dino?
MLB video tribute: Tim McCarver through the years in the booth
MLB put out a tribute that provides some perspective on the depth and scope of McCarver’s broadcast career. Take note of how he called Luis Gonzalez’s hit in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.
Flashback: NBC’s open to ’72 World Series; Day games and fast games
Yes, it was quite different back then. Longest game in the 7-game series was 2:50; shortest was 2:06.
Also, that World Series averaged a 27.6 and 56 share.
Baseball card: Tim McCarver, NL MVP runner-up in 1967
In honor of Tim McCarver calling his last World Series, it should be noted that he was a pretty good player in his day. He was one of those rare four-decade players. He made his Major League debut with St. Louis in 1959 at the age of 17. He retired as a Phillie in 1980.
McCarver’s best year was 1967, when he hit .295 with 14 homers and 69 RBIs. He also only struck out 32 times in 540 plate appearances. And he handled that great Cardinals pitching staff that featured Bob Gibson and a young Steve Carlton.
The showing placed McCarver second in the MVP voting behind Orlando Cepeda. The great year then was capped off when the Cardinals and Gibson beat the Red Sox in Game 7 to win the World Series.