Least Watched World Series Ever.

[Lumbergh]

Gimme a break, maybe if we go back to nbc baseball with Bob Costas i'll give a damn about the chisox and stros.

How can the network broadcasting a game make someone care more about the teams playing within a series?

Either you're a fan of a team, and don't care what network is showing the game, or you're a fan of a certain network's coverage, and would watch the network regardless of the teams involved.

If there's a link between the two, it's weak at best ...

Because, it's not all the crap fox does with beating promos to death. I remember when nbc did it all, and bob costas was the head man. It was true baseball, no crap like fox does and the times were more do-able for fans. FOX has got me sick to death with the broadcasts, i remeber watching the sox-yanks series lasr year, and it went into extra innings, and it drug into 12:30- maybe 1 a.m. I can't take that, i wanna see baseball before my eyes are groggy, not after. Bud selig would be smart to take his business elsewhere. Heck, i'd raher listen to joe morgan on radio, then hear an interview with mischa barton on how the show's going.

[JQK]

This is the part i love...

I TOLD YOU SO!!!

[FiddySicks]

Gimme a break, maybe if we go back to nbc baseball with Bob Costas i'll give a damn about the chisox and stros.

Im really hoping that was a horrible horrible, sick joke. If I ever have to watch Bob Costas broadcast a baseball game im liable to kill myself. Bob Costas has to be the worst announcer in the field today

[CS85]

Gimme a break, maybe if we go back to nbc baseball with Bob Costas i'll give a damn about the chisox and stros.

Im really hoping that was a horrible horrible, sick joke. If I ever have to watch Bob Costas broadcast a baseball game im liable to kill myself. Bob Costas has to be the worst announcer in the field today

That dubious honor still goes to Paul McGuire of ESPN Sunday Night Football. God freaking awful.

[VitaminD]

well this year's series sucked ass. I watched about 12 net minutes because i'd rather see martha stewart and some little interns run crap, then see astros- chisox... but the chisox and stros was a HUGE let down. Maybe if um...STUFF actually happened in the games i would be happy.

Please tell me you're joking.

Nothing-nothing through 7 innings in a potential clincher? An eighth inning grand slam? Walk-off HR by a guy who hit none all season? The best closer in the NL blowing a lead in the clincher?

The White Sox and Astros play the game the way it ought to be played: pitching, defense, making every one of the 27 outs count, good at-bats. Just because it wasn't chock full of wild hacking swings that result in the occasional homer, fights and explosions didn't mean it wasn't great baseball to watch. That's the beauty of baseball: the best parts of the game are often the subleties of the game.

I will agree with you 1 billion percent on Fox's coverage, though. The Simpsons, Family Guy, House and 24 aside, Fox sucketh. And letting them broadcast sports is becoming a worse and worse idea with every passing year.

[WSU151]

Gimme a break, maybe if we go back to nbc baseball with Bob Costas i'll give a damn about the chisox and stros.

Im really hoping that was a horrible horrible, sick joke. If I ever have to watch Bob Costas broadcast a baseball game im liable to kill myself. Bob Costas has to be the worst announcer in the field today

That dubious honor still goes to Paul McGuire of ESPN Sunday Night Football. God freaking awful.

Worst goes to Theismann - he'll say one thing than change his mind 30 seconds later, than utter some incomprehensible nonsense soon after. He's a complete joke in the booth.

Costas, I think, is great...if you get his humor, and realize just how smooth he calls it. Joe Buck sucks donkey.

One of the better series I've ever watched was Cincinnati-Pittsburgh in 1990, followed by a close second with Braves-Twins in 91, then Jays-Phillies comes in third. Maybe that's because that's when I followed baseball and didn't think it was a complete joke.

[marlinfan]

Is it fair to heap the blame entirely on Fox or could it be, seeing as the four lowest rated WS's have occurred in the last six years, that the nation's interest in baseball is simply on the wane?

Minor League and Major League attendance records say otherwise.

[nsentv]

Interesting. Baseball's attendance keeps going up, but their World Series ratings hit rock bottom. The NBA's attendance set records last year, but they had the second lowest rated Finals since the Nielsen's began. The NHL has very good attendance, but their ratings are abysmal.

This would seem to prove that people, if they're going to watch a sport, are more likely to watch it in person than on TV.

[The_Admiral]

I think it's just that nobody cares about the White Sox.

[Gamingboy]

It's all the teams.

Seriously folks, it is quite likely that nearly every baseball fan in America was likely watching all 4 of those games. But in order for high ratings, it also needs the regular person, the person who identifies with 1 or 2 teams, loves baseball, but doesn't follow it regularly. Last year, the ratings were good because the Red Sox were in it. The Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs can create large bandwagon followings that make people who would not normally watch the games watch.

Why does the Super Bowl always have good ratings? It's not because every Football fan in America is watching, it's also because a ton of people who don't follow the NFL will often watch to simply see the Commercials (SERIOUSLY!).

And the idea that Baseball is "Dying" or "On the wane" is ludricious. Attendance records were set in both the Majors and Minors this season, the Little League program is still one of the most successful youth organizations in the world, and the College World Series also draws record crowds nearly every year.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Is it fair to heap the blame entirely on Fox or could it be, seeing as the four lowest rated WS's have occurred in the last six years, that the nation's interest in baseball is simply on the wane?

Minor League and Major League attendance records say otherwise.

What this says to me is that there's more things to watch on TV in the last six years than there were in all the other years before World Series games were being televised.

Secondly, it says that a lot of these people that might be eyeballs to a World Series contest may not have been diverted by something else in the satellite & digital cable universe, and may have instead been behind a keyboard doing the whole internet thing (a much less likely option previous to 6 years ago).

Lastly, instead of individual eyes all watching in their individual homes, people are watching these games collectively at viewing parties or sports bars and such. It's a contribution too, but probably to a minor extent as compared to the other reasons.

[Roger Clemente]

I don't know about you, but this World Series was nail-biting. Game 1 maybe not so much, but the early innings were back and forth. Game 2 needed a walk-off to end it. So to did Game 3, although immediately after that, the Astros gave Chicago another free run. Game 3 had two major momentum shifts, with Chicago prevailing in a likely way from with a very unlikely source. Several times in Games 3, the Sox pitchers allowed Astro runners to get into scoring position with only one out (and any of these would have been the game-winning run), in several cases via an intentional walk, and every time, leaving them stranded. Game 4, Garcia and Backe pitching absolute gems through 7 innings and only 1 total run throughout the game and finally Juan Uribe with back-to-back ultramate defensive plays to clinch the Series.

I never felt more nervous ever watching a World Seiries since 1993, but probably only because I put emotional investment into a team in this Series. That's not to say none of the previous World Series weren't exciting, but the outcome mattered little to me.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[JQK]

Without the Yankees or BoSox, no one watched.

I told you all, and all i got was "People care about other teams other than NY and BOS!" and "Thank god NY and Boston aren't in it this year"

Well, that's what you get....

[otherwilds]

which is it..people only care about the Yanks and Sawks because ESPN & FOX on televise NY and Boston or vice versa. It stinks when there is good series on a weekend that does not involve either of those teams but Fox gives you NY or BOS vs KC on Saturday and ESPN does the same sunday night. sports fans are sheep that follow where ever the networks lead them.

[The_Admiral]

It's just that nobody likes the White Sox.

[VitaminD]

Why does the Super Bowl always have good ratings? It's not because every Football fan in America is watching, it's also because a ton of people who don't follow the NFL will often watch to simply see the Commercials (SERIOUSLY!).

There's more than just that. Consider:

1. The Super Bowl is also a 1-game contest that will have a declared champion immediately upon its conclusion. If the Astros had won Game 4, there'd have been a Game 5. It could've been almost a week before the champion was known. On Super Bowl Sunday, you know the champ before you go to bed.

2. The Super Bowl is held on a Sunday. This sounds intuitive, but having a 1-game battle for the title held late on a weekend makes it MUCH more conducive for social gathering, where casual fans can sit and enjoy the commercials while the real fans watch the games. What casual fan would go to a "Game 5 party" on a Tuesday night in October?

3. Football has a clock. The game will end in 60 minutes, or it goes into sudden death overtime. Baseball has no clock. Purists love this fact; casual fans loathe this fact.

4. Football makes it easier to get the attention of the casual fan. Action occurs in fits and spurts. There are regular breaks in the action. The nuances and subtleties of football don't need to be mastered to enjoy the game, but in baseball they are much more important to the drama and suspense inherent in the game.

5. It's more conducive to betting - and you can more easily get a casual fan to throw $10 or $20 down to pick boxes on the quarter-by-quarter grid than getting them to bet on the score after the given inning. And consider the lucky bastard who had the "0-0" box during Game 4 of this year's Series!

All that said, I watched all 4 games. I am neither a fan of either team, nor do I hate either team. I feel the same way about the Yanks and Red Sox. I am a baseball fan, and found the games compelling. But baseball is severely handicapped in its ability to attract the casual fan, which is why the ratings are a poor yardstick for gauging interest.

[Dilbert]

I would have watched it had it start at an earlier time than 8pm Eastern.

[The_Admiral]

Football has a clock. The game will end in 60 minutes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

yeah

i wish

[VitaminD]

Football has a clock.  The game will end in 60 minutes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

yeah

i wish

60 minutes of game time, spread generously over 3 or 4 hours, is still a game on a clock. (Sorta.)

[The_Admiral]

I like how in baseball, no comeback is impossible. The Cardinals were one strike away from losing the series, and still won the game. (Only to lose the next game. meh) Watching people run off the sidelines with 34 seconds on the clock after taking a knee is poor sportsmanship, and seems stupid. This goes for basketball. Stay off the field of play until the game is officially over. Agh.