Sunday, October 03, 1999
SPORTS ON TV-RADIO
Local stations pass on Reds postseason
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Do you know what the highest rated television event in the 1990s was in the Cincinnati market? It was the Reds' sweep of the Oakland A's in the 1990 World Series.
The four-game average was a 53.9 rating and a 73 share. Those numbers are incredibly high. Last year's Super Bowl, for example, got a 40.1 rating and a 58 share.
We bring this up only to show that Cincinnati loves to follow a good Reds team. And this year's Reds team is a very good one.
So why in the name of Nielson did all four major stations in town pass on a chance to air Reds playoffs games? Channels 5, 9, 12, 19 and 64 all decided not to simulcast the division playoff games that will be on ESPN. ESPN, Fox and NBC share the first-round games. So depending on the schedule, some Reds games may be on Fox or NBC.
Chances are, some Reds games, provided they make the playoffs, will end up on ESPN.
“In the past, (Fox and NBC) have taken the Yankees games,” ESPN spokesman Diane Lamb said. “So we've gotten National League games.”
Channel 25, the local low-powered station, picked up the games when it became apparent that high-powered stations weren't going to. Channel 25 also will pick up the Monday playoff game, if one is played; the station will not be able to air a playoff game if there's one at 1p.m. Saturday.
If Elliot Block, the Channel 25 owner/general manager, hadn't stepped up, the cable-only season would have carried into the postseason.
“That doesn't surprise me,” Channel 9 General Manager Bill Fee said. “It disrupts your programming flow, and you have to pre-empt the network.”
Pre-empt is the dirtiest word an affiliate can utter to the network.
NBC doesn't want Channel 5 bumping ER for Reds-Braves in the regular season, postseason or any season. Same goes for ABC, CBS, Fox and WB, and it doesn't have to be a show like ER.
“The landscape is changing,” Fee said. “There's so much involved in pre-empting. The network's relationship with the affiliates is very heavy-handed.”
So none of the big stations would risk ticking off its network for the ESPN games. ESPN wanted compensation for the games, and ESPN will broadcast them into the market as well. That means a local station would be exclusive in only 35 percent of the homes with cable.
“If they were going to black out their signal,” Fee said, “it would be different.”
Block contacted the baseball commissioner's office after he read that none of the other stations was interested. He wouldn't say if he paid for the rights.
Channel 25's signal is difficult to pick up in some areas. Low power is almost no power. Channel 25 transmits at 70,000 watts; Channel 64 runs at 5 million.
“You can get it inside I-275 with a good antenna,” Block said.
He means an outside, on-the-chimney antenna — rabbit ears won't do.
Block said more people are discovering his station when they buy small dishes, then add an outside antenna to get the local stations.
So little Channel 25 may draw a record number of viewers this week. Tuesday's Reds game with the Houston Astros was the highest rated show in town — cable or over-the-air — through most of its 2 hours and 15 minutes on the air.
Proving that a good Reds team draws a lot of interest, just like in 1990.
MORE UC HOOPS: The only three regular-season University of Cincinnati men's basketball games not originally scheduled for TV now will be aired.
Fox Sports Net Ohio will pick up the games from the Big Island Classic from Hilo, Hawaii.
9 ON REDS: Channel 9 will pre-empt ABC's 20/20 to air Run for the Pennant, a review of the Reds season. It airs Monday from 9 to 10 p.m.
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