Update: with the Yankees three game sweep of the Twins, it’s now three out of four LDS series that have been three game sweeps.
First, the Los Angeles Dodgers swept St. Louis in three games and now the Los Angeles Angels have swept the Boston Red Sox in three games. It is not only better for baseball fans to see series go as long as they can, it is much better for the network airing them too.
The markets don’t matter nearly as much as the length of the series. Since TBS carries the NLCS this year, they’re actually better off to have the Los Angeles Dodgers advance as that’s the much bigger market (according to the Nielsen local DMAs, Los Angeles is more than 4.5 times the size of the St. Louis Market).
That the Red Sox, a much bigger national draw than the Angels, lost is actually more unfortunate for FOX which will carry the ALCS. Though a Yankees vs. Red Sox match up would’ve featured two east coast teams, from a ratings perspective, its the best match up FOX can can hope for.
But a Yankees vs. Angels match up that goes 7 games would ultimately be much, much better than a Yankees vs. Red Sox match up that only went four or five games.
The Yankees are up two games to none in their best of five series with the Twins, and a win tonight would mean that 75% of the LDS games ended in three game sweeps. That’s bad news for TBS.
So far, the only series guaranteed a game four is the Rockies vs. Phillies. Unfortunately for TBS, that’s probably the match up they would’ve least-cared if it ended in a sweep. But at this point another game is another game and TBS will certainly take it.
TBS is no doubt rooting for an NLCS featuring the Dodgers vs. Phillies. That would be the exact same match up as last year for the NLCS. But last year the NLCS was on FOX and that series lasted only 5 games as Philly won the best of seven series four games to one. TBS had the ALCS last year which went all seven games as Tampa Bay defeated the Red Sox. This year FOX will have the ALCS.
It shouldn’t be long before the Division Series become best-of-7, and the entire World Series is shoved into November sweeps.
I’m rooting for a Dodgers/Angels World Series, because I like it when teams that share a city have to compete. But I bet Fox would hate that.
GO ROCKIES!
Um, yeah. Yankees/Mets in 2000 was by far the worst-rated WS up to that point. On the flip side, Dodgers/Yankees would have a chance at being one of the higher-rated series to happen in a while.
GO YANKEES!!!
GO DODGERS!!!
GO ANGELS!!!
After you take your well-deserved time off for having swept of course.
DODGERS VS YANKEES
Go Yankees !!!!!!! Was at the game on Friday great game ..
Angels vs Yanks will get 10 mil min each game.maybe 20 mil for a game 7
Oh, the Red Sox were swept?? So sorry. Not. They had a string of 8 victories over the Yankees to start the season and decided that changes had to be made… Unbearable to watch what came next, so I stopped.
Whoever broadcasts the WS between will hit gold if it’s between the Dodgers and Yankees, what with the peripheral mini-dramas. To many people it still smells like a intra-city series.
This full time computer strikezone view is a nice enhancement (on the wide picture of HD only).
However, the telecast is produced to ignore the feature. The camera angle will often switch away as soon as the pitch is complete. You have a fraction of a second to see where the ball went, as it only shows during the center field camera view.
Bad form, indeed.
I, for one, am ready to get up, open the window, and scream: “I’m mad as (forum filter) and I’m not going to take it any more!” I recommend other HD TBS viewers do the same.
Overall, the announcers are less than inspiring. I’m looking forward to an end of beisbol on TBS. The broadcast production leaves a less than post season feel, but rather, one of a network desperate for ratings in a crowded marketplace.
P.S. There are some bad umpires out there.
Yeah, the pic on my comment could tell you who I am rooting for.
Yankees sweep tonight as well. Wonder if they are taking a financial hit with these sweeps since they shelled out alot of $$$$ for the postseason coverage.
Don J, how the rights fees are structured is a good question that I cannot answer. Does TBS (or Fox) have a base fee that is increased if the series goes into games above the minimum? I have no idea.
Great for the Yankees!!! Terrible for TBS!!
Go YANKEES!!
darn i was hoping for a crappy Twins-Rockies World Series. I hate large market teams, the whole sense of entitlement gets to me.
That’s great! Glad they all swept in three! Maybe TBS won’t bid next year. Their announcers and whole program is lousy! Bring back FOX or better yet give it back to the local affiliates! Would rather hear more knowledgeable broadcast and analyze!
TBS is splitting the bill on postseason coverage with FOX. I believe the cotract with MLB runs through 2013 and is worth $3 billion.
The weird thing about TBS is Dick Stockton who has been calling the Cards/Dodgers series works with FOX Sports for both MLB and NFL. Chip Carey use to work as the FOX Sports MLB studio host.
Damn Yankees!
Very sad Red Sox fan here.
At what point did Major League Baseball (MLB) become associated with the Latter Day Saints (LDS) ????
Anyone know what time the games are going to start in the ALCS?
Yanks-Phils.
Yanks in 6.
I hate the Red Sox so much, that I wish they could have lost MORE painfully.
The Angels will beat the Yankees
The only way that any post season is gonna make much of an impact on the Nielsen ratings in this day and age is if they get a series with the Cubs and just about any other team. I still don’t think that a NLCS has beat the almost 17 million that the Cubs v. Marlins series got in 2003.
I can guarantee that FOX execs probably wanted to kill Aaron Boone and Steve Bartman for contributing to the demise of a possible Cubs/Red Sox World Series. At the time both were known for their long time drought without a WS and both teams helped to contribute to strong league championships series in the ratings.
I know its fun to speculate now, but I don’t think predicting that it would have been the highest rated World Series of all time on television. 44 million is a lot of viewers with all the channels on television these days but if anything could have done it, the Cubs/Red Sox were the best chance they have ever had to do it.
After winning in ‘04 and ‘07 the appeal of the Red Sox would probably not be as high as it was in 2003.
Dodgers vs Yankees will be the highest rated World Series of all time on television!