Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Must Flee TV

With the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals, two events that also tanked in the ratings, at least you had teams compete for a championship. But the Chicago White Sox aren't even close to doing that this year - and games on Comcast SportsNet are averaging a 1.6 Nielsen rating - down 40 percent from last year (last item). It's embarrassing when your team is being outdrawn by ratings dud National Bingo Night. One could wonder if Ozzie would be better off as a bingo caller on a lousy game show?

The Chicago Cubs meanwhile, has drawn better ratings on the channel with a 3.1 Nielsen rating, including a season high 5.0 rating on Monday night, outdrawing most network and cable shows in prime time, including NBC's idiotic reality programs. The Cubs are hot lately, winning six in a row.

However, like the White Sox, the Cubs have also experienced erosion in the ratings - the Cubs' are down 10 percent. Much like other sporting events this spring and summer (and television in general), ratings are down due to DVR use, fragmentation of the audience, the Internet (YouTube), video games, and competition from other programs that draw young males (IFL, UFC, TNA, etc.)

As for the White Sox, if the losing continues, one could wonder if the games on CSN will be soon outrated by Build a Better Burger on the Food Network and reruns of Mama's Family on ION. If that happens, look for the White Sox to exchange their uniforms for ones with the Blackhawks logo.

No comments: