With the playoffs starting in less than a month, the ratings tell an ominous story for Major League Baseball.
FOX drew a 1.2 final rating for regional action last week, even with the comparable weekend in 2007. The 1.2 rating is the second-lowest of the season, ahead of a 1.1 on August 16. During the last four weeks, MLB telecasts on FOX have averaged a 1.4 rating. Keep in mind that each of the past four weeks, FOX has gone head-to-head with the Olympics on NBC (August 16 and 23) and college football (August 30, September 6).
So far this season, FOX is averaging a 2.0 rating for 23 MLB telecasts, down 13% from a 2.3 last year. FOX has drawn a rating below 2.0 nine times this season, compared to four occurrences at this point in the 2007 season. Twelve of the 23 MLB on FOX telecasts have seen declining ratings from last year, compared to eight games that have drawn higher ratings.
With only three more telecasts remaining, it is likely FOX will set a new record low average rating for regular season MLB games on broadcast.
MLB on FOX ratings since August 16.
8/16: 1.1 (Angels/Indians, White Sox/A’s or Mariners/Twins)
8/23: 1.7 (Rays/White Sox, Dodgers/Phillies or Braves/Cardinals)
8/30: 1.5 (Phillies/Cubs or Orioles/Rays)
9/6: 1.2 (Tigers/Twins or D’backs/Dodgers)
