Fox may be out-Foxed by grim ratings--NY Daily News

"Network executives always feel numb when looking down the barrel of a ratings disaster. Baseball's 2006 postseason could turn out to be just that.

Already, the Foxies have come up short in the division series, with only 14 of a possible 20 games being played. The first round was not nearly compelling enough to build viewer momentum going into the LCS. Nor did the ratings produce the desired gaga effect.

• No one will be surprised if Detroit sweeps Oakland in an ALCS already underperforming in the ratings compared to the 2005 White Sox-Angels LCS. And while the NLCS likely will pull big ratings here and in St. Louis, it won't attract enough viewers nationwide to produce a ratings bonanza for Fox.

If the World Series ratings end up in the toilet, Bud (Nutty Professor) Selig should be thankful MLB reached agreement on a new seven-year deal with Fox in July, when there was still one year left on its current national TV contract.

• Considering what Fox is looking at now, in terms of ratings prospects for the rest of this postseason, one wonders why Fox was in a hurry to extend its deal with MLB.

Could it be Rupert Murdoch & Co. consulted fortune-tellers who guaranteed ratings magnets like the Red Sox, Cubs and Yankees will go deep into the playoffs the next seven years?

• It is totally confounding how MLB could seduce any network into agreeing to a contract extension before the current deal expires. The only league this makes sense in is the NFL, where the possibility always exists that a nonincumbent network will try bidding on a TV package.

This is definitely not the case with baseball. Right now there is still one LCS package on the market. Want to buy it? Why wouldn't Fox have waited until ratings for the 2006 playoffs were in before cutting a new deal?

If the ratings are down, so would be the value of MLB's TV package. This would mean Fox would pay less for it. Unless, of course, Fox sees MLB as a charity worthy of donating millions to.

While waiting until MLB's current TV contract expired before negotiating a new one seems logical, it is not in the best interests of network executives. These suits, whether they work for Fox or other networks, are inherently conflicted. They won't have jobs if they don't get these deals done. This is why network executives pursue loss-leader deals like baseball.

• Furthermore, if Fox ever were to lose baseball, the viewing public would be deprived of watching JOE BUCK do play-by-play on two sports. Sadly, viewers would only be able to see him call one sport - and host a pregame show. This would shake the very foundation of the TV sports world.

• Even more catastrophic would be the elimination of Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy on Fox's baseball pregame show. Yeah, maybe we should all be thankful Fox signed up with MLB one year before it had to.

In an effort to give thanks, solutions must be offered to prevent the Foxies from experiencing a ratings malaise. If the suits are depending on those Tommy Lasorda commercials to entice eyeballs to the tube, they are sadly mistaken.

Perhaps it hasn't dawned on the clever folks who created and approved this advertising campaign, but Lasorda last managed the Dodgers 10 years ago. The demographic Fox is looking to attract, the young ones who spend money and drive ratings, has no idea who he is. They only see Lasorda as a blowhard wrapped in a tuxedo.

• (Raissman's advice: ed.)

Fox should use its own multiple media platforms, like Fox News Channel and Fox Sports Net, to promote the postseason. How about some baseball panel discussions or interviews with Tim McCarver and other Fox analysts?

Selig & Co. would lend a hand.

But they're too busy cashing Fox's rights fee checks."

Column by Bob Raissman, NY Daily News, Oct. 13, 2006

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