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Major League Baseball Agrees to Fox's Request to Delay Game 6 of World Series 15 Minutes to Air Obama TV Ad

October 15, 2008 7:57 PM

In order to accommodate the half-hour TV ad Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., purchased for Wednesday, Oct. 29, Fox has requested and received permission to delay the 6th game of the World Series by 15 minutes.

The Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times report that Major League Baseball today granted Fox's request to delay the start of the game from 8:20 pm ET to 8:35 pm ET.

Fox will collect an estimated $1 million in ad revenue. CBS and NBC have also agreed to run the 30-minute campaign ad.

In September, in deference to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., NBC asked the National Football League if it could move up the game between the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants and the Washington Redskins from 8:30 pm ET to 7 pm ET. 

NBC was contractually obligated to air the game until its very end, even though it coincided with the last night of the Republican National Convention, and it wanted to make sure the game had concluded by the time McCain came to the podium to accept the Republican presidential nomination.

Nonetheless, RNC spokesman Alex Conant issued a statement assailing Obama for the move, saying, “It’s unfortunate that the World Series’ first pitch is being delayed for Obama’s political pitch. Not only is Obama putting politics before principle, he’s putting it before our national pastime.”

- jpt

October 15, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (37)

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If the GOP had a million dollars left in their till they could buy and ad as well...

Posted by: electorama.blogspot.com | Oct 15, 2008 9:32:57 PM

cynic456...HE WANTS YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE TO WATCH AND LISTEN ...IF HE DID THE AD ANY OTHER TIME LESS PEOPLE WOULD BE SITTING READY TO LISTEN.

i think its genius and lots of people will be able to hear his ideas and visionary agenda that otherwise might not.shows how money hungry fox is too...lol!STABBED IN THE BACK BY O REILLY AND FRIENDS!!

E TU BRUTE? lol...

and anyway ,cry me a river ....so you have to wait 30 mins to watch a bunch of overpaid professional drug users liars and posers and cheaters...hey wait a second ,that sounds like the republicans might be on !!

Posted by: bah | Oct 15, 2008 9:12:54 PM

Presidential.

Posted by: KenB, MI | Oct 15, 2008 9:02:46 PM

Apples and Oranges, Jake

It was the Republican National Convention and McCain was accepting his nomination. The convention time could not be changed, and equal rights in this country demanded that his acceptance be publicized. It was a shock seeing a plain stage as compared to a $6 million dollar Democratic movie set. Still, had the times been reversed It would have been equally appropriate to do the same thing for Obama.

BUT a commercial? come on, what is important about a commercial. Give me a break!! Why that time? Why make people wait? Why that day? He could have selected any other. I, one of the middle class having a rough time now, find it arrogant.

Posted by: cynic456 | Oct 15, 2008 9:01:20 PM

Short memories from Republicans, eh? This isn't Obama's fault: Fox could have ignored the ad and decided not to run it, but they wanted the money.

Posted by: matt | Oct 15, 2008 8:57:07 PM

btw ,just for a note.sorry to digress but...

"bald faced" lie or "bald faced" anything is an archie bunker type malapropism.

the correct phrase is " Bold Faced lie"

even the writers on abc and nbc/cbs etc use the phrase "bald faced" incorrectly all the time , along with "jury rigged" when the phrase actually is "jerry rigged", (that is pertaining to the use ,in ww2 by the germans ie;jerrys ,of many unofficial non standard issue types of field equipment ,particularly common with armor units/tanks/artillery such as extra gas tanks and extra armor,camouflage ,etc...the brits coined the term fighting against rommel in africa... "jerry rigging" because the germans had their standard tanks "rigged" up while on duty to be very different than stock...and much more deadly and efficient ) .you could properly say the us soldiers in iraq have been "jerry rigging" their humvees to make them better for the job .

and the term "pool shark" which was originally in usage as "pool sharp" to begin with in the late 1900s i believe but was misused/misspoken so commonly that the wrong usage became the day to day norm ,as is the case today with "bald faced" and "jury rigged". so commonly are they misused they are now part of the american lexicon ,albeit incorrect parts.

Posted by: bah | Oct 15, 2008 8:49:38 PM

And just as McCain leaning as Fox, just what are you guys at ABC trying to insinuate? I mean hearing you guys were going to air Obama was just as shocking!!! You at ABC are no better!!!!

Posted by: ROC2341 | Oct 15, 2008 8:44:51 PM

Sarah Palin ruffled some feathers in New England last week when she praised the Tampa Bay Rays—the Red Sox American League playoff opponent—at a rally in Jacksonville.

"The people in this area know a little something about turning an underdog into a victor," she said last Tuesday. "And we're counting on you to help us do that Nov. 4th."

Today:

“New Hampshire, I gotta tell ya, I am looking forward to the debate tonight right here in Red Sox nation,” Palin said here in Salem, which is about a 45 minute drive from Fenway Park.

“We’re just 20 days out from the election and it’s gonna come right down to the wire, and we’re counting on you because Red Sox fans know how to turn an underdog into a victor, and that’s exactly what you can help us do on Nov. 4!”

Posted by: Baseball Fan | Oct 15, 2008 8:44:08 PM

I live in VA. (which may finally go blue)

EVERY McCain commercial I've seen on TV has been a negative attack ad. Every single one so far.

Obama has been running a majority of positive ads. He never even mentions McCain in most of them. I have seen one negative ad so far that attacks McCain's tax plan.

From McCain, the ad that distorts an Obama quote about Afghanistan ticks me off the most. It's so obvious they chopped the quote mid-sentence to change the meaning. I looked it up and sure enough, a blatenet attempt to change the meaning of what Obama said.

The Obama/Ayres ad is stupid, but it doesn't bother me. I find the "dark, sinister" music kind of funny.

Do the Pubs think these ads will win over voters in this election? I think they're using an old playbook and this is a new game.

Posted by: Obama/Biden - the only Positive choice | Oct 15, 2008 8:35:08 PM

Republican whining is really getting tiring. These people complain about everything.

Posted by: kevin | Oct 15, 2008 8:33:55 PM

HERE'S A QUESTION FOR EVERYONE???

Anyone else notice that gas prices ALWAYS drop the month before an election?

I mean it's like clockwork. It's happened for at least the last three elections. And it's not just a nickel.

I told my wife in April that gas prices would drop substantially in October...and they have. Just like they did the month of the Congressional elections.

Don't worry though, they go back up within a month or two if history repeats itself.

Perhaps it's just my perception, but it seems the gas companies would like us to forget about high gas prices when we're voting. (And yes, I know there are other market forces involved. But it sure is a strange pattern)

Posted by: Election Fuel? | Oct 15, 2008 8:23:33 PM

"Fox needs the money. Their news division needs a complete overhaul."

*Snort*

Posted by: Ryan C | Oct 15, 2008 8:21:36 PM

“...Not only is Obama putting politics before principle, he’s putting it before our national pastime.”

This is getting tiring. It seems that the Republicans can't resist ANY opportunity to take a cheap shot. How quickly they forget how the NFL bowed to their request. They're a bunch of whining losers.

Posted by: Rick | Oct 15, 2008 8:18:17 PM

Fox needs the money. Their news division needs a complete overhaul.

Posted by: doug | Oct 15, 2008 8:17:25 PM

smart smart smart...


republicans = dont have a chance this time around

Posted by: bah | Oct 15, 2008 8:09:11 PM

lolz...

Posted by: Jimmy Dean | Oct 15, 2008 8:04:07 PM

The bald faced hypocrisy of the McCain campaign is astounding.

Posted by: Ryan C | Oct 15, 2008 8:04:00 PM

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