For the fifth time in as many starts, Nationals P Stephen Strasburg will play in front of a national TV audience.
ESPN will air Monday’s Nationals/Braves game, which is expected to be Strasburg’s fifth Major League start. The game marks Strasburg’s first appearance on ESPN, following two games on MLB Network and one on TBS.
FOX added Nationals/White Sox to its schedule earlier this month, though Strasburg did not pitch in that game. The network has added Nationals/Mets on July 3, with the hope that Strasburg will pitch.
So far, games involving Strasburg have not drawn particularly big numbers. His June 8 debut drew a 0.4 U.S. rating and 588,000 viewers on MLB Network, his second start on June 13 drew a 0.5 and 777,000 on TBS, his third start June 18 drew a 0.1 and 183,000 on MLB Network, and his fourth start June 23 drew a 0.1 and 143,000 on MLB Network.
Even with the fairly small numbers, Strasburg’s debut was the most-viewed program ever on MLB Network. Additionally, his game on TBS was on par with the network’s season average.
(TV By The Numbers, Washington Post; ratings from Turner Sports, Forbes, pifeedback.com 1, 2)
