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 According to a report by John Ourand of the SportsBusiness Journal, the lack of pennant races, ratings for MLB’s regular season ended down for national broadcasters FOX and ESPN.
FOX saw its Saturday afternoon game ratings drop 10 percent to a 1.8 rating/2.74 million viewers. According to the SBJ, “Fox ended its regular season Oct. 2 with a 1.2/1.7 million average for a Saturday afternoon schedule that had just one game with postseason implications. That’s 48 percent off 2008’s numbers, when the last weekend of the regular season featured three games that had playoff implications for Fox, drawing a 2.3 rating.”
ESPN saw its Sunday Night Baseball ratings dip 6 percent, to a 1.6 U.S. household rating, or 2.46 million viewers. When including all of ESPN’s 66 games that aired on Mondays and Weds., as well, ratings dropped 8 percent over 66 games, to a 1.1/1.6 million viewers.
Of the national broadcasters TBS was the one lone bright spot, seeing ratings climb under a percentage point, a “0.6 U.S. household rating from a 0.5. Its viewer numbers jumped 27 percent, from 730,000 to 930,000.”
At the regional level, half the clubs saw ratings increases with biggest gainers being the Nationals (up 67 percent), Rangers (up 58 percent), Giants (up 39 percent), Braves (up 35 percent), and Rockies (up 26 percent).
Decliners were the A’s (down 53 percent, this season on CSN California), Indians (down 27 percent), Reds (down 23 percent), and Brewers (down 17 percent).
Below is a complete breakdown of each of the clubs via their respective regional sports networks:
Local MLB ratings by RSN
|
| RSN |
Team |
2009 rating (change from 2008) |
2009 HHs (change from 2008) |
| NESN |
Red Sox |
9.46 (-7.1%)
|
228,000 (-6.6%)
|
| FS Midwest |
Cardinals |
7.97 (1.0%)
|
100,000 (2.0%)
|
| CSN Philadelphia |
Phillies |
7.13 (24.0%)
|
210,000 (24.3%)
|
| FS Detroit |
Tigers |
6.89 (10.1%)
|
133,000 (9.9%)
|
| FS North |
Twins |
6.25 (-16.4%)
|
108,000 (-15.6%)
|
| FS Wisconsin |
Brewers |
6.16 (-17.1%)
|
56,000 (-15.2%)
|
| FSN Northwest |
Mariners |
5.20 (25.3%)
|
95,000 (28.4%)
|
| YES |
Yankees |
4.66 (10.7%)
|
346,000 (11.3%)
|
| CSN Chicago |
Cubs |
4.16 (-16.3%)
|
145,000 (-15.7%)
|
| FSN Rocky Mountain |
Rockies |
4.12 (25.6%)
|
63,000 (31.3%)
|
| FS Ohio |
Reds |
3.81 (-23.0%)
|
35,000 (-22.2%)
|
| Cox/SD4 |
Padres |
3.80 (-9.7%)
|
41,000 (-6.8%)
|
| SUN Sports |
Rays |
3.54 (NA)
|
65,000 (NA)
|
| FS South |
Braves |
3.52 (35.4%)
|
83,000 (38.3%)
|
| SportSouth |
Braves |
3.42 (34.6%)
|
81,000 (37.3%)
|
| FS Florida |
Marlins |
3.33 (-8.5%)
|
52,000 (-7.1%)
|
| FS Arizona |
Diamondbacks |
3.32 (-19.0%)
|
62,000 (-16.2%)
|
| CSN Bay Area |
Giants |
3.27 (39.1%)
|
81,000 (42.1%)
|
| FSN Pittsburgh |
Pirates |
3.25 (18.2%)
|
38,000 (18.8%)
|
| SunSports |
Marlins |
3.23 (-12.9%)
|
50,000 (-12.3%)
|
| FS Florida |
Rays |
3.13 (-9.8%)
|
57,000 (-8.1%)
|
| FS Kansas City |
Royals |
3.09 (8.0%)
|
29,000 (7.4%)
|
| MASN/MASN2 |
Orioles |
2.90 (9.8%)
|
32,000 (10.3%)
|
| FS Houston |
Astros |
2.90 (-5.8%)
|
61,000 (-3.2%)
|
| SportsTime Ohio |
Indians |
2.84 (-27.4%)
|
43,000 (-28.3%)
|
| SportsNet New York |
Mets |
2.69 (-17.2%)
|
200,000 (-16.7%)
|
| FS Southwest |
Rangers |
2.54 (57.8%)
|
63,000 (61.5%)
|
| CSN Chicago |
White Sox |
2.28 (8.1%)
|
80,000 (9.6%)
|
| FS Prime Ticket |
Dodgers |
2.15 (12.0%)
|
122,000 (13.0%)
|
| FS West |
Angels |
1.22 (-10.3%)
|
69,000 (-10.4%)
|
| CSN California |
A’s |
0.82 (-52.6%)
|
20,000 (-52.4%)
|
| MASN/MASN2 |
Nationals |
0.60 (66.7%)
|
14,000 (75.0%)
|
| Note: Comparable data for the Blue Jays was unavailable. |
Source: SportsBusiness Journal
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Also, is the "rating" the % of households with tv's, thus for the Red Sox, we should read that as 9.46% of 2.4+ million households, for an average of 228,000 households/broadcast?