FOX Chooses Ratings Over Meaningful Baseball
Friday, September 26, 2008
Stuff like this just pisses me off. FOX has decided to replace the Mets-Marlins game, which has huge Playoff implications, with the possibly meaningless Yankees-Red Sox game. The main game for the network will be the Cubs and Brewers, but most of the East Coast (25% of the country in total) will be getting the Yanks and Sox. Via NY Daily News....
Looking at the final Saturday of the regular season as a chance to max out on its baseball ratings, Fox is playing it strictly by the book. It's betting a traditional rivalry - even though the game means nothing - will get a bigger rating than a contest, featuring a New York team, with huge playoff implications.While I understand that the Sox-Yankees rivalry normally gets good ratings throughout the season, and that Boston could be playing for the division, but there's no way that it would beat out a Mets game with their trip to the Playoffs on the line. If the Rays clinch the AL East tonight, the Red Sox are probably going to just bench their starters, and 25% of the country will be stuck with a dreadful game. I just don't understand the move. And I, like most of the country, want to let Mets' schadenfreude wash over me this weekend.
Also, bringing the Cubs, the biggest ratings magnets in baseball, into 30% of the country offers further proof the Foxies are playing chalk here.
In the final weekend of the regular season, Fox ain't taking a chance by betting on what it considers a ratings longshot. Before the regular season, Fox guarantees a certain average rating to advertisers for its baseball package. Not delivering on that "guarantee" is terrible for Fox's bottom line.
Oh well. At least TBS picked up the slack so we can enjoy the misery on Sunday. Here's the announcing schedule if you're interested....
SATURDAY:
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers - Josh Lewin and Mark Grace (FOX, 3:55pm, 63%)
Markets Include: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Greenville, Houston, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tulsa
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox - Dick Stockton and Jerry Remy (FOX, 3:55pm, 25%)
Markets Include: Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Tampa, West Palm Beach
Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies - Tom McCarthy, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 3:55pm, 7%)
Markets Include: Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington
Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins - Chris Rose and Bert Blyleven (FOX, 3:55pm, 4%)
Markets Include: Kansas City, Minneapolis
SUNDAY:
TBS MLB on Deck - Ernie Johnson, Cal Ripken and Dennis Eckersley (TBS, 12:30pm)
Florida Marlins at New York Mets - Chip Caray and Harold Reynolds (TBS, 1pm)
MLB 2008: An Epic Season (ESPN, 8:30pm)
Mets not Fox-y enough for national broadcast (NY Daily News)
23 Comments:
Lisa: Dad, do you know what Schadenfreude is?
Homer: No, I do not know what shaden-frawde is.
[sarcasm] Please tell me, because I'm dying to know.
Lisa: It's a German term for `shameful joy', taking pleasure in the suffering
of others.
Homer: Oh, come on Lisa. I'm just glad to see him fall flat on his butt!
[getting mad]
He's usually all happy and comfortable, and surrounded by loved ones,
and it makes me feel... What's the opposite of that shameful joy
thing of yours?
Lisa: [nastily] Sour grapes.
Homer: Boy, those Germans have a word for everything!
That does stink and I've said this before on this site, once again Phils-Nats viewers are stuck watching former mets broadcaster tom mccarthy, who i can't stand. He's just in it for the cash.
Also, I'm sure Mark Grace isn't biased at all doing that Cubs game.
The weather forecast suggests it'll be wetter than a cucumber in a women's prison on Saturday. Maybe the game will be rained out. The baseball gods must be appeased. Maybe we can sacrifice McCarver.
Hey, I'm in the 7%. Go Nats!
100% chance of rain in queens this wkend, so thus the reason u get red sox vs yanks, instead of mets n marlins
to anon at 2pm:
Met fans don't even like Tim. He's just that horrible.
Personally, I would just turn on one of the 10 football games that are on at 4 pm.
Rain is also forecast for Boston. Should there be a rainout Fox will likely send Nationals-Phillies to areas expecting the Red Sox.
Fox isn't the first to pull this crap on viewers. In 1983 NBC aired a meaningless Raiders game instead of a winner-in-loser-out Patriots-Seahawks game.
I don't undersnad waht fox is doing here. They should be showing the Mets vs Marlins instrad of yankees vs Red sox. Yankees are out of it, Red sox are already in, and they are probaly going to paly backups anyway. So why even show that game , it deons't make that mcuh sense.
As an out-of-market Phils fan, I'm actually excited I wont be able to watch McCarthy/McCarver.
Money talks, bullshit walks, fans balk.
This should be interesting for us viewers in Philly. It will be a talkfest throwdown between McCarthy and McCarver, as both of them don't know how to keep their mouths shut. I feel bad for Ken Rosenthal who has to try to keep order between these two. I think we should nominate the game for an honorary Pammy Award. I don't know if I should go the radio route or watch the game on tv for the trainwreck.
So where was the outrage last week when ABC/ESPN shoved the craptastic ND-Mich State game down people's throats when Boise State-Oregon was being played at the same time and wasnt even available on the GamePlan package ?
I am so glad I am not an out of market Mets fan. Chip Caray? Lord help us!
I'm one of the 63% that gets Cubs-Brewers. But I'll be watching college football instead.
It's always about Ratings. You should already know that.
@jg: ESPN didn't select Boise State-Oregon for an ABC telecast.
The Mets/Marlins game was pushed to a 1PM start due to the impending bad weather. It wasn't a FOX decision but MLB decision.
FOX doesn't have the 1PM timeslot with their affiliates so they have to keep the 3:55 start.
Blame mother nature, not FOX or MLB.
I hate FOX sports, but luckily I get the Brewers game here in SF. Since I've moved from WI I've had to listen to the games online, even though I have the "watch" package of mlb.tv because FOX sucks! (but listening isn't bad either)
Yanks-Red Sox canceled due to rain, so they're showing Nats-Phils in NYC and Cubs-Brewers in the rest of the areas that were supposed to get NYY-BOS..
Marlins-Mets was always scheduled for a 1:10 ET start. Yankees-Red Sox was originally a night game.
Somebody also explain when it was decided that assault-rock should be the backdrop for a baseball game? And why it has to be injected into every pause in the game? Do they think we are all so addicted to violent video games that it's the only way to hold our interest?
I never feel angry and hateful enough to listen to that stuff, let alone be forced to listen to it if I want to watch a Fox baseball game.
tim mcarver at a nationals game? never thought i'd see that!