World Series was least-watched since '87

Giants sweep drew an average of 12.7M viewers

The numbers have been crunched, and it's not good:  This year's World Series on Fox, in which the San Francisco Giants crushed the Detroit Tigers in four games, was the least-watched Series in 25 years.

A mere 12.7 million people, on average, watched this year's Fall Classic, the fewest since Nielsen began keeping track with People Meters in 1987.

The final game of the series - Game 4 - drew 15.5 million viewers, comparing poorly to the final game of last year's Series, which was won by the St. Louis Cardinals and seen by 25.4 million.

On the plus side, despite the poor viewership, the Series did put Fox on top last week, beating out CBS.

Sinclair releases third quarter results

Revenue up 49% from same period last year

Sinclair Broadcast Group reported Thursday that net broadcast revenues from continuing operations were $226.4 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, an increase of 49% versus the prior year period result of $151.9 million. The company had operating income of $78.6 million in the quarter, as compared to $52.4 million in the prior year period. Net income was $26.2 million, versus $19.2 million a year ago. Political revenues were $27.8 million in the third quarter, versus $2.4 million in the third quarter of last year. "We are very pleased with our results for the third quarter, which were driven by increased advertising spending by the political and automotive categories, as well as higher retransmission revenues," said David Smith, Sinclair's president and CEO. "Despite increased demand for air-time by politicians and political action groups, the core business showed solid growth. On a same station basis, excluding political, net broadcast revenues grew 6.9% in the third quarter." Smith continued, "In an extraordinary, value-creation action and in anticipation of a potential increase in dividend tax rates in 2013, the board of directors decided to return approximately $81.2 million of value to our shareholders in the form of a $1 per share special cash dividend, in addition to our regular $0.15 per share quarterly dividend."

To read Sinclair's full report, click here.

Sinclair owns and/or operates the following stations in this part of the country:

• WDKA-My49, Paducah, Ky. (Operated for WDKA Acquisition Corp.)
• KBSI-Fox 23, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
• KDNL-ABC30, St. Louis, Mo.
• WZTV-Fox 17, Nashville, Tenn.
• WUXP-My30, Nashville, Tenn.
• WNAB-CW58, Nashville, Tenn. (Operated for Tennessee Broadcasting)

BRIEF: Louisville Life season premiere delayed

The new season of KET's Louisville Life, which was scheduled to premiere this Saturday, Nov. 3, has been delayed due to production issues.

No new date has been set for the premiere, but KET has promised to put the word out as soon as that decision is made.