Chisoxfn Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 They have to put one game on little Fox (FX) and the other is going to be on the big station. How could this possibly be a good business move. You only get to have a 3 hour game or so on your primetime network that gets big advertising bucks, plus you split your market in half and you can't get as much money for the commercials during Fox. Now if they go with a 4 start time (7 eastern) and then a late start game for the Cubs game (9 central/10 eastern) you at least get one primetime game on the East Coast, so the Yankee fans can see it. Then you get the central area which basically gets two prime time games and west coastners like myself get at least half of the first prime time game (Once you get home from work) and then a prime time game in the Cubs. Plus, you keep that viewership over a much longer period of time. I'd say near the same amount of total people will watch the Cubs/Yanks game during that 3 hour segment as would of if it were just the Yanks/Red Sox game on and then that same huge segment would watch the Cubs/Marlins game. I don't know what the hell Fox is thinking, but this type of logic explains why Fox Sports constantly struggles and now won't even really exist in Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiff Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Yeah I don't get it either. They have three big markets they should be maximizing their ratings potential, but instead they put half the games on a network not everyone gets (we don't get FX here at school). I can understand having them on the same day, they don't want the playoffs running close to november, but for christ's sake have one at 4pm eastern and let some younger fans (remember them?) on the east coast, or even in the central, watch a full game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 8, 2003 Author Share Posted October 8, 2003 Yeah I don't get it either. They have three big markets they should be maximizing their ratings potential, but instead they put half the games on a network not everyone gets (we don't get FX here at school). I can understand having them on the same day, they don't want the playoffs running close to november, but for christ's sake have one at 4pm eastern and let some younger fans (remember them?) on the east coast, or even in the central, watch a full game. Without young fans...baseball will be dead. Still 4 eastern would suck...then I wouldn't typically get to see the game. Although I'm home from work today studying for a huge freaking test I got tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Chappas Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 They have to put one game on little Fox (FX) and the other is going to be on the big station. How could this possibly be a good business move. You only get to have a 3 hour game or so on your primetime network that gets big advertising bucks, plus you split your market in half and you can't get as much money for the commercials during Fox. Now if they go with a 4 start time (7 eastern) and then a late start game for the Cubs game (9 central/10 eastern) you at least get one primetime game on the East Coast, so the Yankee fans can see it. Then you get the central area which basically gets two prime time games and west coastners like myself get at least half of the first prime time game (Once you get home from work) and then a prime time game in the Cubs. Plus, you keep that viewership over a much longer period of time. I'd say near the same amount of total people will watch the Cubs/Yanks game during that 3 hour segment as would of if it were just the Yanks/Red Sox game on and then that same huge segment would watch the Cubs/Marlins game. I don't know what the hell Fox is thinking, but this type of logic explains why Fox Sports constantly struggles and now won't even really exist in Chicago. You can't start a game at 9 Cental time especially in October as the weather could be horrendous, it will actually be beautiful again this evening. Mother nature shines on the Marlins, it was pretty cool last Friday and Saturday, freezing (literally) for south Florida this time of year. I think 6 ET (NYY) and 7:45 CT (CHI) would be nice. The problem with all of this is the commercial breaks are 5 minutes long and the game, even at quick pace takes 3 1/2 hours. I think this can kill ratings pretty quick. I got hooked on NYPD Blue and missed a huge chunk of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiff Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Without young fans...baseball will be dead. Still 4 eastern would suck...then I wouldn't typically get to see the game. Although I'm home from work today studying for a huge freaking test I got tomorrow. Ah yeah it would suck for you but you gotta make concessions. When the Red Sox were playing at 10pm EST in the division series, with games all day beforehand, I waited til afterward to do my work (1 or 2am). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be Good Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 JASON, but 3 of the teams in the LCS are from the east time zone only one is in central so to start a game in say ny at 10 wont happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that a survey showed that 80% of people who'd be interested in watching a game that started at 4pm Eastern Time would not have access to a television at that time. This must have a LOT to do with their decision. I don't really care - I generally flip back and forth to a bunch of stuff anyway and stick with whatever's most interesting. Besides, they'll show you anything important or interesting on those Game Breaks anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyKongerko Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Wrigleyville has some ordinances about game times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 8, 2003 Author Share Posted October 8, 2003 I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that a survey showed that 80% of people who'd be interested in watching a game that started at 4pm Eastern Time would not have access to a television at that time. This must have a LOT to do with their decision. I don't really care - I generally flip back and forth to a bunch of stuff anyway and stick with whatever's most interesting. Besides, they'll show you anything important or interesting on those Game Breaks anyhow. I think the best thing to do in that case would be to stagger the game time. Have a 6:30 or 7:00 Eastern time start in New York and have the game on Fox. This way people in central time also get it in primtime, while the people on the West Coast can watch the end. Then when that games ends, Fox goes into the cubs game (Which could be seen in full on FX). You have the Cubs game start at 7:30 central time, so odds are everyone can see more then one game on primetime while people have the option of watching both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Wrigleyville has some ordinances about game times. They have out clauses for post season. Example.. there will never be a regular season game there on a Friday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 The reason a 9 CT time wouldn't work is because it would probably run way, way late. Isn't there a rule that says that a game can't be played after 1:00 AM? I thought I'd heard that before. Anyways, if the Cubs-Marlins played at 9:00, and they had a game similar to last night's game(which was one of the best nights for me in a long time....and I've had some pretty damn cool things happen to me in the past couple months), it could possibly run over that 1:00 AM thing. That would not be a good thing. I just don't know how you'd resolve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Hudler Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 Jason, I am not a network TV guy so I don't claim to know what is best for them, nor do I know enough to agree/disagree with what they are doing tonight, but here is how it going to work.... The games will not be split tonight with one on Fox and one on FX. Rather, the decision as to which game is broadcast on Fox will be based on regionalization. By doing this, they are trying to ensure the greatest possible audience for the Fox broadcast, even though it will not be the same game in all areas. For instance, in Chicago and Miami (and their corresponding markets) the Cubs-Marlins game will be on Fox, while the Yankees-Red Sox will be on Fx. In the Northeast (and again, whatever other areas they determine this would be the primary game) they will show the Red Sox-Yankees game on Fox and the Cubs-Marlins on Fx. This way, everyone (or most everyone) will have the opportunity to see either game, but they will show the primary game on Fox based on geographical area. Think of it like how ABC does the 2:30 college football game each week. They regionalize 4 different games to maiximize viewership. However, in this instance, what Fox is doing can be likened to ABC putting the other 3 football games on different, less watched stations so everyone can have an opportunity to watch any of the games, but the overall numbers should be higher because of the regionalization on the major network. This is how it was all explained to me, anyway..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted October 9, 2003 Share Posted October 9, 2003 It worked out well. Since the Cubs game so totally sucked, it was good to have the other game too watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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