Media Credentials: An Inside Look at Sports Media

From Sports Media Watch

MLB Tops Sunday Night Football
In as rare an occasion as any, Major League Baseball trounced the National Football League head-to-head. Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on FOX nearly doubled the rating for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Game 7, which featured the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, averaged a 13.5/21 overnight on Sunday, the highest overnight for a Major League Baseball game in two years. The 13.5/21 marks a 9% increase from the 12.4 overnight for Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS between the Cardinals and Mets, which aired on a Thursday night.

The ALCS beat Sunday Night Football by 44%. SNF, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, averaged a 9.4 overnight on NBC, the second-lowest overnight of the season.

Indians/Red Sox averaged 18.1 million viewers, down 1% from the 18.2 million viewers for the game on the comparable night last year, Game 2 of the 2006 World Series. The 18.1 million viewers helped FOX win the night easily in that category, ahead of ABC and third-place NBC -- which drew 11.8 million viewers for Steelers/Broncos.

Game 6 of the ALCS on Saturday night averaged a 7.5 overnight rating, down 13% from the game on the comparable night last year, Game 1 of the World Series. Compared to Game 6 of the '06 NLCS, the 7.5 marked an 18% decline; keep in mind that Game 6 of the '06 NLCS aired on a Wednesday night.


Reilly and Patrick Change Places
Not since Al Michaels was traded for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit has there been such a major trade in sports media. Granted, it was not necessarily a trade. However, the move of Dan Patrick from ESPN to Sports Illustrated and of Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated to ESPN certainly seems like the sports media equivalent of a major trade deadline deal.

The day after Patrick, who left ESPN in August, announced he would begin writing for Sports Illustrated in January, news broke that Reilly -- with SI since 1985 -- would be leaving the publication once his contract expires at the end of next month. Immediately, speculation arose that Reilly would move to ESPN, and today it became official.

Reilly will join ESPN, writing the back page column for ESPN the Magazine. Reilly "will also be an essayist for SportsCenter, as well as a contributor for the network's coverage of major golf events" including recently acquired coverage of The Masters. Reilly will begin his ESPN the Magazine column in June; because ESPN the Magazine is bi-weekly, his column will be featured on ESPN.com during the weeks when the magazine is not published.

Reilly, who once hosted an edition of ESPNews while with Sports Illustrated, is enthusiastic about the change of scenery. "For a guy who loves sports, ESPN is the ultimate. ... I'm thrilled with the opportunity to speak to a whole new audience in a whole new way."