Oct

18

Fixing Baseball’s Ratings

October 18, 2007 | by Keith | Categories Television | Comments Off

Much has been made on many websites, newspaper articles, and blogs about the sagging television ratings for the baseball playoffs, particularly on TBS.  There are plenty of reasons for the decline; from less than compelling match-ups to greater viewer choices.

I think the solution to solving these ratings slides is to go back to what worked in the past.  And it has a lot to do with the time these games start.

I remember in the late ’80′s and early 90′s when the LCS matchups were held on the same day, the first game was played in the afternoon and the other at night.  Those starting times would flip so one league was not given prime time for each game of the series.  What a novel idea!  Baseball in the afternoon! 

Baseball has, in my opinion, an east coast dominated fan base.  Then why start games at 10:00pm?  You lose a good portion of the country that value sleep and their health over baseball.  Two of the four NLCS games were telecast after 10:00pm on the east coast.  Those games tanked in the ratings. 

Here is what TBS and Fox should do next season.  When both LCS are played on the same day, one should be played in the afternoon and the other in the evening.   One game would start at 3:00pm ET and the other at 7:oopm ET.  Both games are done by the 11:00pm local news.  The schedules can be altered in a way that Game 7 of both LCS can be played with a 7:00pm start time.  No game should start after 7:00pm on the east coast.  The Super Bowl starts at 6:30pm and its ratings soar.  Why can’t baseball do the same?

The deal here is simple…if people are awake, at work, wherever, during the day, they will make a point to view the game.  TBS also needs to copy the practice employed in the past by ESPN by allowing a local affiliate in the teams’ markets to air the telecast for those who do not subscribe to cable TV.

The networks feel that they need to place these games at night for the sake of getting the largest audience possible.  10:00pm starts make that point moot.  More people would be able to enjoy the games if they ended when most people go to sleep.  The ratings really can’t get much worse.  It’s worth a try.


Comments

Comments are closed.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind







      All Sports Rumors & News >

  • SMJ Stuff


    Come visit our store on CafePress!

  • Users