In a gathering of advertisers last Wednesday in New York City, CBS chairman Leslie Moonves explained that CBS lost the key rating title this past season to Fox among viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 because of Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera.
Mr. Moonves reasoned that the ratings race between Fox and CBS was so close that if the ratings for just one of the seven playoff games between the Yankees and the Red Sox last October were subtracted, CBS would have beaten Fox for the year. That series went to a seventh game because Riviera uncharacteristically blew several Yankee save opportunities. Thus, Mr. Moonves concluded, “Mariano Riviera cost us more money than the Yankees.”
I wonder if that will lead to a new pitching statistic: “Blown ratings race?”