In news that probably comes as no surprise, viewership numbers for this year's World Series are down, especially among the Coveted Demographic, as those in the teevee biz like to say.
It almost certainly isn't helping that the two teams are who they are -- if I had a nickel for every time I've heard or read some variation on Ugh. La Russa? Texas? How can you root for either of these teams? I could buy Fox Sports and fire Joe Buck.
I'll tell you what I'd also do with my new power: stop the interstitial ads. I am convinced that the casual fan, even the young one whose filters are much better developed, gets to a point where having the game itself constantly interrupted with swirling promos for other shows and inane sponsorships like "this call to the bullpen brought to you by …" is no longer tolerable, especially given a handy remote control. Two and a half or three minutes between each half-inning, not to mention between each pitching change, not to mention the billboards in the background of every single shot, ought to be plenty, even for the greediest teevee executives. And failing that, they should at least realize that you can only corrupt the product so much before other things start looking more attractive.
And really, get an announcer who doesn't hate baseball and analysts who ought not have been put out to pasture a decade ago. I guarantee you there would be a measurable increase in viewership if Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez were calling the games, and I say this as a Yankee fan.
Take that, windmill!
(h/t: KK, via email)
No comments:
Post a Comment