AllAboutThe'O'
7/11/2006, 07:11 PM
FOX keeps World Series and All-Star Game but will show just one of the LCS starting next year. TBS also jumps into the mix with Sunday afternoon games and the divisional playoffs:
By Danielle Sessa
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Major League Baseball reached a seven-year extension with News Corp.’s Fox network to broadcast regular-season and playoff games, and agreed to a contract with Time Warner Inc.’s Turner Sports to show Sunday afternoon games and the entire first-round of the postseason on cable.
Fox, which is completing the last year of a six-year, $2.4 billion deal, will show 26 games on Saturday afternoons, up from 18 this year. Turner Broadcasting System also signed a seven- year deal to broadcast 26 Sunday games, giving baseball a national audience on both weekend days.
Baseball, Fox and TBS announced the agreements at a press conference at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the location for tonight’s All-Star Game. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“Baseball’s ratings and attendance have been solid,” said former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson, who now is an industry consultant. “This is the best deal for baseball over the next seven years.”
Baseball is increasing its exposure on television as networks are relying more on sports programming to draw viewers to live events and promote their primetime shows. The sport set an attendance record last season and may set another one this year, Commissioner Bud Selig said at the press conference. Ratings on Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, which has a separate contract, are up 20 percent this year even as the network added more games.
Fox’s Contract
Fox, which is broadcasting tonight’s All-Star Game, will continue to show the midseason matchup of the sport’s best players and the World Series. It will drop one league championship series, alternating between showing the American and National League series for the length of the contract starting with the American League in 2007.
The best-of-seven World Series will start on the first Tuesday after the conclusion of the league championship series. Game 2 will be the next day, followed by games on Friday and Saturday, and if necessary Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The World Series now begins on a Saturday.
Changing the World Series format should help improve ratings because fewer people watch television on Saturdays, said Fox Sports President Ed Goren.
League Championship Series
Baseball hasn’t sold rights for the remaining league championship series yet, and Turner might consider bidding on it, David Levy, president of Turner Sports, said in an interview. The network is still in talks with baseball, he said.
Selig said there are a “significant” number of people who are interested in acquiring the remaining playoff package. The first round of the playoffs, which are currently shared by Fox and ESPN, will be shown on Turner’s TBS under the new contract. Turner’s TNT channel will also carry games if needed.
“This is a landmark deal for Turner,” Levy said in an interview. “The postseason was a big component of this deal happening. You have big markets, high ratings and high visibility.”
Baseball on ESPN is watched in an average 1.2 percent of the 110 U.S. households with televisions, up from 1 percent last year, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc. ESPN signed an eight-year, $2.4 billion deal with baseball last year, a 75 percent increase over its previous agreement. ESPN added a Monday night telecast in addition to existing shows including Sunday and Wednesday evenings.
Ratings on Fox’s Saturday telecasts are unchanged from a year ago, drawing 2.4 percent of the households, Nielsen said.
“A product that remains flat is a good product,” said Tony Vinciquerra, president of Fox Networks Group, who negotiated the deal with baseball. “In an environment where there are 200 channels for viewers to choose from, we think flat’s a good thing.”
No Complaints
Pilson said he doubts that increasing the number of nationally televised baseball games will saturate the market and hurt ratings.
“I’ve never had a complaint from any fan that there is too much sports on TV,” he said.
The addition of a Sunday afternoon game before ESPN’s Sunday evening broadcast will drive more interest in baseball, MLB President Bob DuPuy said.
While last year’s World Series and All-Star Game on Fox produced record low ratings, the network sold 30-second commercials for tonight’s game for a record average of $375,000, 7 percent higher than last year, network spokesman Lou D’Ermilio said last week.
By Danielle Sessa
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Major League Baseball reached a seven-year extension with News Corp.’s Fox network to broadcast regular-season and playoff games, and agreed to a contract with Time Warner Inc.’s Turner Sports to show Sunday afternoon games and the entire first-round of the postseason on cable.
Fox, which is completing the last year of a six-year, $2.4 billion deal, will show 26 games on Saturday afternoons, up from 18 this year. Turner Broadcasting System also signed a seven- year deal to broadcast 26 Sunday games, giving baseball a national audience on both weekend days.
Baseball, Fox and TBS announced the agreements at a press conference at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the location for tonight’s All-Star Game. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“Baseball’s ratings and attendance have been solid,” said former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson, who now is an industry consultant. “This is the best deal for baseball over the next seven years.”
Baseball is increasing its exposure on television as networks are relying more on sports programming to draw viewers to live events and promote their primetime shows. The sport set an attendance record last season and may set another one this year, Commissioner Bud Selig said at the press conference. Ratings on Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, which has a separate contract, are up 20 percent this year even as the network added more games.
Fox’s Contract
Fox, which is broadcasting tonight’s All-Star Game, will continue to show the midseason matchup of the sport’s best players and the World Series. It will drop one league championship series, alternating between showing the American and National League series for the length of the contract starting with the American League in 2007.
The best-of-seven World Series will start on the first Tuesday after the conclusion of the league championship series. Game 2 will be the next day, followed by games on Friday and Saturday, and if necessary Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The World Series now begins on a Saturday.
Changing the World Series format should help improve ratings because fewer people watch television on Saturdays, said Fox Sports President Ed Goren.
League Championship Series
Baseball hasn’t sold rights for the remaining league championship series yet, and Turner might consider bidding on it, David Levy, president of Turner Sports, said in an interview. The network is still in talks with baseball, he said.
Selig said there are a “significant” number of people who are interested in acquiring the remaining playoff package. The first round of the playoffs, which are currently shared by Fox and ESPN, will be shown on Turner’s TBS under the new contract. Turner’s TNT channel will also carry games if needed.
“This is a landmark deal for Turner,” Levy said in an interview. “The postseason was a big component of this deal happening. You have big markets, high ratings and high visibility.”
Baseball on ESPN is watched in an average 1.2 percent of the 110 U.S. households with televisions, up from 1 percent last year, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc. ESPN signed an eight-year, $2.4 billion deal with baseball last year, a 75 percent increase over its previous agreement. ESPN added a Monday night telecast in addition to existing shows including Sunday and Wednesday evenings.
Ratings on Fox’s Saturday telecasts are unchanged from a year ago, drawing 2.4 percent of the households, Nielsen said.
“A product that remains flat is a good product,” said Tony Vinciquerra, president of Fox Networks Group, who negotiated the deal with baseball. “In an environment where there are 200 channels for viewers to choose from, we think flat’s a good thing.”
No Complaints
Pilson said he doubts that increasing the number of nationally televised baseball games will saturate the market and hurt ratings.
“I’ve never had a complaint from any fan that there is too much sports on TV,” he said.
The addition of a Sunday afternoon game before ESPN’s Sunday evening broadcast will drive more interest in baseball, MLB President Bob DuPuy said.
While last year’s World Series and All-Star Game on Fox produced record low ratings, the network sold 30-second commercials for tonight’s game for a record average of $375,000, 7 percent higher than last year, network spokesman Lou D’Ermilio said last week.