With fewer Yankees games on the schedule, both ESPN and FOX have seen significant declines in viewership for Major League Baseball broadcasts.
FOX Saturday Baseball is averaging 2.9 million viewers through June 14, down 19% from last year. The declines are much larger in key male demographics; FOX is down 29% among men 18-49 and 27% among men 18-34.
Through June 7, FOX is averaging a 2.1 rating for ten MLB telecasts, down 16% from a 2.5 last year.
So far this season, FOX has only aired three telecasts involving the New York Yankees. By comparison, FOX had already featured the Yankees five times through the comparable date last year, including three games against the Red Sox alone.
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is seeing similar declines. Through last Sunday, ESPN is averaging 2.7 million viewers for twelve Sunday Night Baseball games, down 15% from last year. Last Sunday’s Braves/Angels game was down 62% in total viewers from the Mets/Yankees game on the comparable night last year.
Sunday Night Baseball has only featured the Yankees twice, with both appearances accounting for two of the three most watched broadcasts this season.
Ratings on TBS are not down, as there were no comparable games last year. Still, the network is drawing surprisingly low numbers for the Sunday afternoon Game of the Week. Through June 1, TBS was averaging a mere 656,000 viewers for nine MLB broadcasts. To put that in perspective, TBS Braves telecasts averaged 1.0 million viewers through May of last year.
