THIS weekend’s Mets-Yankees “Subway Series” at Shea is more than a battle for Big Apple baseball bragging rights.
It’s also a boon for the local over-the-air TV homes of the Mets and World Champion Yankees.
But the local TV scorecard is different this year, with the Yankees in their first season on WNYW/Ch.5 and the Mets now airing on WPIX/Ch.11 – former home of the Bronx Bombers.
Still, both teams have adapted well to their new TV homes, with the first-place Yankees and feisty second-place Mets keeping execs at both stations happy.
And that’s bound to carry over this weekend, as Ch.11 airs two Mets-Yankees matchups (tonight and Sunday) with tomorrow’s game airing on Fox, Ch. 5’s parent network (see box).
“Our ratings have been outstanding,” said Ch.5 vice president/general manager Michael Wach.
The Yankees have thus far averaged a 6.0 rating (409,000 households) through 25 games on Ch.5 – a number Wach expects to get better as the season progresses.
“We’ve had a lot of daytime [Yankees] games so far … and that has lessened our overall [ratings] average somewhat,” he said. “But the bulk of our remaining games are in prime time – and the prospects are good.
“Even though we don’t have any of the games this weekend, it should be another huge number for the network,” Wach said. The Mets, meanwhile, have averaged a 4.0 rating (272,000 households) on Ch.11 through 25 games.
That’s slightly less than the Mets averaged last year on Ch.9, but tonight’s game is Ch.11’s first Mets-Yankees matchup this season.
“I think we’ve added better visibility for the Mets,” said Ch.11 vice president/station manager Betty Ellen Berlamino. “I think we’ve been able to strengthen their profile in the market.
“We promised our advertisers a 5.0 rating … and we expect to be at a 5.0 by the end of this weekend,” she said.
Both Berlamino and Wach said their advertisers salivate at the Mets-Yankees matchups – getting a huge bang for their bucks.
“For New Yorkers this is the World Series,” Berlamino said. “There seems to be more of a rivalry here … and the advertisers love it. It’s a great way to reach New Yorkers.”