Daily Archives: April 10, 2007

The Tiger chasm defined

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sho_logo2.jpgmasters100.gifThe television numbers are in on the just-completed Masters Golf Tournament. CBS Sportsí coverage of the tournament on Easter Sunday earned an average overnight household rating/share of 9.1/21 (meaning that 9.1% of households on average were tuned in at any given moment and 21% of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into the Masters). This yearís final-round rating/share was up 1% from last yearís 9.0/19 when Phil Mickelson won his second Masters title and it was also up 25% from the last time the final round was played on Easter Sunday (7.3/18), when Mickelson won his first green jacket and first career major title in the 2004 event.
Meanwhile, the Shell Houston Open, which was played just a week ago, had a 1.7 share for its NBC telecast on Sunday compared with 2.2 share for the SHO’s May date last year on CBS. Even the BellSouth Classic — the tournament that that the SHO replaced this season on the PGA Tour calendar — was able to generate a 2.5 share on Sunday last year.
So much for the thought that the SHO’s new date a week before the Masters would increase viewership of the tournament. The Shell Houston Open has now officially entered the Tiger chasm.

Speedy treatment of heart attacks

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heart.jpegThis Gina Kolada/NY Times article examines one of the most underappreciated aspects of treating heart attack victims — the importance of speedy treatment:

Studies reveal, for example, that people have only about an hour to get their arteries open during a heart attack if they are to avoid permanent heart damage. Yet, recent surveys find, fewer than 10 percent get to a hospital that fast, sometimes because they are reluctant to acknowledge what is happening. And most who reach the hospital quickly do not receive the optimal treatment ó many American hospitals are not fully equipped to provide it . . . [. . .]
What few patients realize . . . is that a serious heart attack is as much of an emergency as being shot.
ìWe deal with it as if it is a gunshot wound to the heart,î Dr. [Elliott] Antman [director of the coronary care unit at Brigham and Womenís Hospital] said.
Cardiologists call it the golden hour, that window of time when they have a chance to save most of the heart muscle when an artery is blocked.
But that urgency, cardiologists say, has been one of the most difficult messages to get across, in part because people often deny or fail to appreciate the symptoms of a heart attack. The popular image of a heart attack is all wrong. [. . .]
[M]ost people ó often hoping it is not a heart attack, wondering if their symptoms will fade, not wanting to be alarmist ó hesitate far too long before calling for help.
ìThe single biggest delay is from the onset of symptoms and calling 911,î said Dr. Bernard Gersh, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. ìThe average time is 111 minutes, and it hasnít changed in 10 years.î

Read the entire article, which is a good overview of the early warning signs to look for in diagnosing a heart attack. Heck, even this cool customer is at elevated risk of having one.

Washington’s biggest business

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money2.jpgThe Washington Post has just concluded this 27 installment series over the past couple of months on lobbying in Washington, D.C. Although not particularly analytical in terms of evaluating the costs and benefits of lobbying, the series is well worth reading as a thorough review of the enormous growth of the business over the past generation. The following is from the final installment:

As the reach of the federal government extended into more corners of American life, opportunities for lobbyists proliferated. . . Over these three decades the amount of money spent on Washington lobbying increased from tens of millions to billions a year. The number of free-lance lobbyists offering services to paying clients has grown from scores to thousands. [Lobbyist Gerald S.J.] Cassidy was one of the first to become a millionaire by lobbying; he now has plenty of company.
The term “lobbyist” does not do full justice to the complex status of today’s most successful practitioners, who can play the roles of influence peddlers, campaign contributors and fundraisers, political advisers, restaurateurs, benefactors of local cultural and charitable institutions, country gentlemen and more. They have helped make greater Washington one of the wealthiest regions in America.

The entire series is here.