World Series "tainted by television"

[DSUrocks07]

Article from the Philly Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081028_Phil_Sheridan__Tainted_by_television.html


In October, the game went on. And Major League Baseball should be ashamed for allowing its most important game of the year to deteriorate into an embarrassing mess because of slavish obedience to its pimp, the Fox Television Network.

8pm EST start times...
playing in horrible weather...
changing rules on the fly...


All for the love of money


And Selig wonders why everyone thinks MLB is a joke...xnonono2x

[Marcus Garvey]

Here's what bugs me the most about MLB's slobering over TV's knob:

TV Ratings are in the toilet for post-season and the All-Star game. Yet, they do all these things for TV. They may as well go back to playing all day games again. While most people would be unable to watch the games on account of work, they would no longer be actively pissing off fans.

[JoltinJoe]

I agree.

Only the Yankees and Red Sox manage to consistently bring in anywhere near 20,000,000 viewers in recent years.

It is ridiculous to have the championship games decided at 1:30 in the morning local time.

If you're going to start the game for evening TV, start the games no later than 7 ET and 4 PT.

[Poly Pigskin]

I agree.

Only the Yankees and Red Sox manage to consistently bring in anywhere near 20,000,000 viewers in recent years.

It is ridiculous to have the championship games decided at 1:30 in the morning local time.

If you're going to start the game for evening TV, start the games no later than 7 ET and 4 PT.

There's no way you can start it that early if you have a west coast team playing. I think they should be a little more flexible depending on the teams involved though. It's not like there are a ton of people on the west coast rushing home to watch this series, just like I'm sure no one in the east was losing any sleep to watch SF vs Anaheim awhile back.

[BlueHen86]

There's no way you can start it that early if you have a west coast team playing. I think they should be a little more flexible depending on the teams involved though. It's not like there are a ton of people on the west coast rushing home to watch this series, just like I'm sure no one in the east was losing any sleep to watch SF vs Anaheim awhile back.
I agree. If there are two east coast teams involved weekday games should start around 7:30 EST. I doubt if California is really that upset if the miss the first few innings of the Phillies - Rays.

If there are two west coast teams the games should start as late as reasonably possible.

The World Series needs to go back to the two weekend format and weekend games should start between 4 & 7 EST.

[Big Dawg]

Yeah starting a game at 8:30 is just too late. This is one the issues with the NBA Finals as well.

[JayJ79]

earlier start times would make alot of sense.

And perhaps they should have suspended the game at an earlier point.
But I'm glad they didn't end up calling the game (as in declaring a winner before 8.5 innings were played).

[I Bleed Purple]

What I don't get is that TV dictates that the games last 3+hours that starting earlier than the start of prime time will still get all the prime time hours in whatever huge percentage the East and Central time zones has.

[Cleets]

The Games should be played as they were during the season... (Period)

Sunday: 1:00
Weekday: 7:05 Eastern

Easy... Fan or Not... get over it (done)

[I Bleed Purple]

The Games should be played as they were during the season... (Period)

Sunday: 1:00
Weekday: 7:05 Eastern

Easy... Fan or Not... get over it (done)

Well, I'm okay for night baseball on Sunday so that you don't compete with the NFL.

[Cleets]

Well, I'm okay for night baseball on Sunday so that you don't compete with the NFL.

That's what bugs me about MLB...
The absolute fear of (any and all other) TV sports competition

The sport is as it has been for over 100 years... just play your games and do your thing
I wish MLB would simply act like a 125 year old sport and just "do it's thing"
instead it panders and cowers - It's so sad really

Be grand and hold your head high - be what you are - forgive nothing
(Yet MLB cringes at the heels of almost every sport) like starving children...



xnonono2x

[gmoney55]

Yeah starting a game at 8:30 is just too late. This is one the issues with the NBA Finals as well.

True, but at least the NBA you know you won't get any delays and the games are always under 3 hours.

[LacesOut]

I'm not a baseball fan to begin with, but a daytime weekend game just might draw my interest. Even if it was on a Sunday, competing with my NFL interest.

I'm just not enough of a baseball fan to care about games that start so late in the night and go on and on and on.

[813Jag]

The only time I see having to stagger game times would be on Sundays especially in Philly with the stadia being so close together. 7:30 start times work, it's gotta suck to be a young (12 and under) baseball fan. You don't get a chance to see games to the finish.

[93henfan]

The only time I see having to stagger game times would be on Sundays especially in Philly with the stadia being so close together. 7:30 start times work, it's gotta suck to be a young (12 and under) baseball fan. You don't get a chance to see games to the finish.

Agreed. I was 9 years old when the Phils won their one and only World Series. I missed game one because it was too late. I remeber my dad waking me up, telling me Bake McBride hit a homer and the Phillies won. I don't exactly recall which games were which after that, but I do remember watching a day game at KC in the series and loving it.

Baseball really needs to get back to weekend day games in the Series, if for no other reason than to cultivate the next generation of fans.

[813Jag]

Agreed. I was 9 years old when the Phils won their one and only World Series. I missed game one because it was too late. I remeber my dad waking me up, telling me Bake McBride hit a homer and the Phillies won. I don't exactly recall which games were which after that, but I do remember watching a day game at KC in the series and loving it.

Baseball really needs to get back to weekend day games in the Series, if for no other reason than to cultivate the next generation of fans.
I agree, kids need to fall in love with baseball again.

[Marcus Garvey]

That's what bugs me about MLB...
The absolute fear of (any and all other) TV sports competition

The sport is as it has been for over 100 years... just play your games and do your thing
I wish MLB would simply act like a 125 year old sport and just "do it's thing"
instead it panders and cowers - It's so sad really

Be grand and hold your head high - be what you are - forgive nothing
(Yet MLB cringes at the heels of almost every sport) like starving children...



xnonono2x

Agreed. By playing 2nd fiddle to other sports on TV, MLB in effect, perpetuates the image that they're a lame sport.

When I'm emporer:
- Bud Selig shall be shot, but not until he's sufficiently tortured first (I'll make him watch 72 straight hours of the WNBA)

[LacesOut]

I don't exactly recall which games were which after that, but I do remember watching a day game at KC in the series and loving it.

I was 8 when the Phils won the WS. And I too have a (slight) childhood memory of watching a day game in that series. Kinda weird!

[Marcus Garvey]

I'm pretty sure the Phillies played a day game at home in '83. I recall some kids skipping school to go to the game.

[bluehenbillk]

Tainted by TV? I'm shocked no one has brought up the 30 minute Obama infomercial that'll run 8-8:30 tonight with 1st pitch at 8:37. At least that'll save us all from a Kevin Kennedy pregame blather.

[appfan2008]

who does the scheduling anyway? im sure it is tv but really so many more people would watch if it was on at 7pm instead of 8pm...

[BlueHen86]

I'm pretty sure the Phillies played a day game at home in '83. I recall some kids skipping school to go to the game.
I think games 4 and 5 were day games, but they were on a Saturday and Sunday respectively.

[GannonFan]

I agree.

Only the Yankees and Red Sox manage to consistently bring in anywhere near 20,000,000 viewers in recent years.

It is ridiculous to have the championship games decided at 1:30 in the morning local time.

If you're going to start the game for evening TV, start the games no later than 7 ET and 4 PT.

The only thing, though, is that the Sox and Yanks don't even draw those numbers. The Red Sox only drew over 20M in the clinching game last year, the other 3 games were well below that. In fact, the Sox saw a 30% dropoff in viewership from the '04 title versus their title last year. It was a one-year love affair with the Sox and once they put the Babe Curse away they were just another team. The Yankees, if they made it back to the World Series, would see a similar dropoff versus their last ratings in '03 (where only 3 of the 6 games broke the 20M mark) and were down significantly from the TV numbers in the 90's - there's no reason to think the general trend of declining World Series ratings would exclude those two teams, since even those two teams saw rating declines in recent outings. The Cubs would probably see a huge number if they made the WS, but you figure that would only be until they win one, and then you'd see a similar dropoff as the Red Sox had.

[bluehenbillk]

yea what GF said.