October 2, 2008

Valuable Diamond: TBS Expects Baseball Success to Continue

The Brewers-Phillies on Wed afternoon threw out the MLB postseason's 1st pitch on TBS, and the net hopes that 4 divisional series and 1 league championship series will help it continue the clutch playoff hitting it displayed last year. With 4 games within cable's top 50 '07 telecasts (led by a 7.0/6.70mln), plus notable gains versus '06 in 1st-round viewership across ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox, that success has already paid dividends in '08. "I'm pretty excited... we've really built on that momentum," said Turner Sports pres David Levy, adding that related ad sales are tracking "way ahead of last year." Tues night's 1-game playoff game on TBS earned a 3.4 overnight rating even with a 1-0 score, he said, and served as "incredible promotion" for the net's postseason slate. Increased viewership this year, of course, will likely equate to improved '09 ad sales. Levy, while quick to note that numerous '07 series were truncated by sweeps, loves his appealing lineup that features 2 L.A. teams, 2 Chicago teams and the Red Sox. "We have great stories to tell with good brands," said Levy. And while the absence of the Yankees and Mets is conspicuous, Levy's narrative remains compelling when reflecting on cable's overall baseball chapter. ESPN's Home Run Derby coverage in Jul delivered a 6.5/6.22mln, good for 10th on cable's 3Q telecast list, and CSN's White Sox coverage was up 69% YOY and its Phillies coverage grew 3% to complete 6 straight seasons of ratings growth. Also, SNY delivered the highest-rated regular season game ever in Mets history on a RSN (821K total viewers); YES enjoyed the highest-rated and most-watched Jul ever for baseball on a NY RSN and set ratings/viewership records for a Yankees pre-game show (558K total viewers); and ratings for FSN FL's Rays games were up approx 93%. Not all teams and/or nets achieved growth this season, of course, but Levy's not worried. "An advantage we have is the large reach across all of our entertainment nets" for cross-promotion, he said. Plus, this is the playoffs, and baseball's part of a dominating genre. "What's more dramatic than sports?," said Levy.