LOOK: Amazing Underwater Photos Of Dogs
GOP Leader: Abortion Is A 'Lifestyle Convenience'
Ratings for Saturday's national baseball broadcasts on FOX are down 9 percent against last season at this time, the continuation of a trend that's troubling to the network. Last year's World Series was the lowest rated in history, regular season games are down 23 percent since 2000 and, since they're paying $255 million a year to show baseball games, they'd like that to change. Following the long-standing axiom that there's no better way to get people excited than to bring Bud Selig into the mix, network executives will be meeting with the baseball commissioner next week to talk strategies. Hopefully, they'll come up with some new ideas because the ones they have aren't too inspiring.
According to the Wall Street Journal, plans include scheduling more baseball movies on FX and running more ads featuring Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.
Are there really people who aren't already watching baseball who would be inspired to start doing so because they learn that Buck and McCarver are involved? Perhaps, but it would almost certainly be inversely proportional to the number of people who would be watching games on FOX if it wasn't for the fact that Buck and McCarver were calling the games.
FOX says they aren't particularly concerned with the ratings for the regular season games, which only represent 10 percent of the value of the annual rights fee. The idea is to reverse the downward trend for the All-Star Game and World Series, a difficult task in the abstract. Trying to plan for a way to do it without any guarantees about the teams (and market sizes) that the baseball gods send your way seems like a losing battle no matter how you slice it.
If they get a matchup that is compelling beyond the baseball fans who will always watch these games, the ratings will improve. If they don't, the ratings will stagnate or stay the same. There's very little the network or the league can do about that in May, especially since Selig's big idea at generating excitement is making exhibition games count.
CNN Cancels Debate After Romney And Paul Pull Out
Congress Agrees On Payroll Tax Cut, Unemployment Extension
House Dems Walk Out Of Birth Control Hearing
Underwear Bomber Sentenced To Life In Prison
Santorum Backer: 'In My Days, They Used Bayer Aspirin For Contraception'
'Colbert Report' Abruptly Suspends Production For The Week
Why New England Town Wants $286,000 Police 'Tank'
WATCH: Honduras Prison Inferno Video
Iran Offers To Talk
WATCH: Fox News Host Makes Shocking Comment About Black Rep.
Lawmakers Enraged Over DHS Program To Monitor Online Comments On Government
Facebook Launches New Feature For Celebs
Pelosi Rips GOP Over Birth Control: I May Be "Moved To Explain Biology To My Colleagues"
They're Back! The Mortgages That Crashed The Economy Regain Street Cred
Rahm Vows To Push For Gay Marriage In Illinois
Santorum Talks Economy, Knocks Bush On Bailout, Aligns Himself With Reagan
WATCH: CNN Contributor Compares Sarah Palin To Snooki
Local Fishers Deliver Invasive Potomac River Menace To Legendary Manhattan Eatery
RECOVERING THE RECOVERY: A Good Sign For American Jobs
House GOP Push Ahead With Plan To Update No Child Left Behind
Steel Beams Crash 40 Stories At WTC Construction Site
The Most Expensive City In The World Is...
Deanna Fei: ASIAN MEN CAN JUMP
Jimmy Carter Casts Movement As 'Relatively Successful'
Actress In Controversial China Political Ad Apologizes
