Junto Boys

MARIANO RIVERA BLOWS LEAD FOR CBS

But in explaining why CBS would narrowly lose an important ratings title to Fox this season - viewership among those between the ages of 18 and 49 - Mr. Moonves fixed at least partial blame on a seemingly unlikely villain: Mariano Rivera, the relief pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Mr. Moonves's logic went something like this: The race between Fox and CBS was so close that if the ratings for a major sporting event carried by Fox - such as one of the seven epic playoff games between the Yankees and the Red Sox in October - were subtracted, CBS would have beaten Fox for the year. That series went to a seventh game, at least in part, because the ordinarily infallible Mr. Riviera squandered several Yankee leads.

"Mariano Riviera cost us more money than the Yankees," Mr. Moonves said.