Despite featuring a battle of National League contenders — the surprising Padres and the two-time defending NL champion Phillies — Saturday’s regional MLB action on FOX stumbled to a season low.
Regional MLB action featuring Phillies/Padres drew just a 1.2 final rating and 1.683 million viewers on FOX Saturday, down 25% and 26%, respectively, from coverage featuring Mets/Cubs last year (1.6, 2.273 mil).
This marks the lowest rated, least-viewed MLB telecast of the season on FOX, surpassing the previous lows of 1.4 (four tied) and 2.008 million (coverage featuring Mets/Phillies on May 1).
Saturday’s telecast marks the 14th time in 21 telecasts that FOX has failed to draw at least a 2.0 rating for MLB coverage, the same as last year. Seven of those telecasts have drawn a 1.5 rating or lower, compared to just three last year.
MLB on FOX was the lowest rated baseball telecast on broadcast TV last weekend, falling behind all three Little League World Series games on ABC. The telecast was also outdrawn by Sunday Night Baseball on cable network ESPN (1.3, 2.001 mil).
