Low ratings? Report: Fox not promoting the World Series as it could

By not promoting the World Series as much as it has in the past,...Fox has not fully leveraged any of its other television properties (Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Net, etc.) to promote the World Series. The Foxies have promoted their upcoming BCS coverage more than their postseason baseball package.

So maybe, just maybe, in January, when the Foxies air these college bowl games, they will use them to promote baseball. (When it's too late).

• (And on the wisdom of Fox renewing it's deal with MLB:)

When Mr. Selig talks about how "popular" the game is, he may not be taking the TV ratings into account because he's feeling giddy about MLB's bank account. Here's why. In July, three months before baseball's postseason began and before baseball's TV deal expired,

• Selig & Co. cashed in on a new seven-year TV contract with Fox worth about $2.1 billion. Now, Selig can look forward to counting the new-deal dough even if the 2006 World Series hits an all-time low.

Considering baseball's 2006 postseason ratings on Fox are down across the board, perhaps the Foxies should have waited until after the World Series to complete a deal, when they might have had a chance to purchase MLB's TV package at a cheaper price.

• As stated here before, it is totally confounding how MLB could seduce any network into agreeing to a contract extension before the current deal expired. The only league this makes sense for is the NFL, for which the possibility always exists that a nonincumbent network will try to bid on a TV package.

From Bob Raissman's NY Daily News column, 10/27/06

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