Sweeps by the Dodgers, Angels and Yankees in best-of-five division series trimmed the number of playoff games Time Warner Inc.s TBS could sell to advertisers.
And with the Philadelphia Phillies eliminating the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Monday, that means TBS broadcast 13 playoff games instead of a maximum of 20.
David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports for Turner Broadcasting System, said the broadcaster still hit its revenue projections for this round of the playoffs but will miss out on the chance to pad the profits.
The network partially made up for the quick-ending series by selling ads for an unexpected season-ending tiebreaker between Detroit and Minnesota on Oct. 6. And Game 2 of the Yankees-Twins series went into extra innings, enabling TBS to air more ads.
The games drew an average of 4.7 million viewers, up 10 percent from the same round of the playoffs last year. Advertisers didnt pay more for a bigger-than-expected audience, so they got more bang for their bucks.
TBS is set to broadcast the National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Phillies starting Thursday.
Fox broadcasts the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Angels starting Friday.
As part of a multiyear deal, TBS broadcasts all the division series and one championship series, while Fox broadcasts the other championship series and the World Series.
Short hops
The Houston Astros have received permission from Boston to speak to Red Sox coaches Tim Bogar and Brad Mills about their open managerial job. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein also said the Cleveland Indians had asked for permission to speak to pitching coach John Farrell, but Farrell said he would like to stay with the Red Sox. Farrell would be allowed to interview if he wanted, Epstein said. ...
The Astros say they will interview at least 10 candidates, including interim manager Dave Clark, former Mariners and Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin, former Brewers manager Ned Yost and former Nationals manager Manny Acta. ...
The Chicago Cubs, as anticipated, filed its Chapter 11 papers as part of Tribune Co.s plan to transfer control of the team to the Ricketts family. The teams stay in bankruptcy may last only a day; a hearing is scheduled for today in a Delaware bankruptcy court.
