THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280626
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
For a network that has spent the past few weeks trumpeting its ability to be flexible, The Baseball Network has been anything but to viewers in South Hampton Roads.
So while those desiring a steady dose of the New York Mets have gotten their fix, fans who were hoping major league baseball's joint venture with ABC and NBC would provide a window to teams actually in contention for a playoff berth have been disappointed.
According to Lee Salzberger, general manager of ABC's local affiliate, WVEC-TV, the station opted to televise the Mets a month before the season started because the Norfolk Tides are the Mets' Triple-A affiliate. The Mets were first on a list of three teams WVEC provided the network, followed by the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves.
``We told the network our team of choice is the Mets,'' Salzberger said. ``We said, `Let's support the home team.' ''
That logic might have been understandable in March, but the network didn't begin televising games until July. By that time the Mets were in last place, 12 1/2 games back in the National League East.
Still, a mere five days after baseball had showcased its biggest stars in the All-Star Game, The Baseball Network debuted on ABC in this area with a game between the Mets, baseball's worst team last year, and the San Diego Padres, its worst team this year.
On Monday, a night when the top two teams in three divisions were squaring off, The Baseball Network aired the Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals, another team that has fallen out of the playoff hunt.
Cut-ins to other games, another supposed trademark of the new network's coverage, have been minimal. And because of the ABC-NBC exclusivity rights, games that typically would have been available to local viewers on cable outlets WBTS, WGN and HTS were blacked out.
That left viewers in this market with a pair of less-than-attractive options - watch two sub-.500 teams play baseball, or don't watch baseball.
Two of the three other network telecasts to this area also involved the Mets, even though TBN starts all games simultaneously and could show any game being played. The Network's next scheduled broadcast, on Aug. 6, will pit the Mets against the expansion Florida Marlins.
But the situation will change dramatically Aug. 26, when WAVY-TV, NBC's local affiliate, takes over. WAVY will broadcast a game each Friday night, strike permitting. And according to WAVY program coordinator Jane Tucker, NBC plans to take the pennant races into account in its selection of games.
``The criteria they're using is to show the most exciting game going on,'' Tucker said.
So why didn't ABC take such an approach?
``Different networks, different styles,'' Tucker said.
Still, if local viewers are upset about the menu of Mets games, they haven't made much of a fuss, Salzberger said.
``We've gotten more phone calls on O.J. Simpson interrupting the soap operas than anything else we've received in a long time,'' he said. ``But baseball's been pretty far down the list of the calls we've received.''
ABC officials contend that praise from fans has outweighed than negative responses nationwide.
``I can't say we haven't received a number of complaints, but basically it's been well-received,'' ABC's Toss Moscatelli said. ``The network considers it a great success.''
By eschewing a ``Game of the Week'' format for a regional approach that televises teams to their home markets, the network has made a good start. The ratings have climbed steadily from a 6.8 on opening night (July 16) to a 8.3 last Monday. (Each rating point represents approximately 942,000 TV households.) This represents a ``significant increase'' from the ratings CBS pulled in with its baseball telecasts last year, Moscatelli said.
But while the numbers look good, it remains unclear whether The Baseball Network represents a net gain to the baseball viewer. Boston-area fans, for example, are going to get to watch the Red Sox whether the network is on or not. And by blacking out other broadcasts, it strips viewers in markets without a major league team of the TV feed from the Braves, Orioles or some other team they may have adopted.
What has become clear, so far, is that the search for good ratings doesn't necessarily mean getting to watch good baseball. ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing by John Earle
by CNB