FOX ended regular season Major League Baseball coverage on an extremely low note over the weekend. In other news, SEC coverage suffered a decline on CBS Saturday, and the New York Yankees — of all teams — are on pace for their lowest regular season ratings in ten seasons.
- MLB Regular Season Ends With Terrible Overnight on FOX: The regular season finale of Major League Baseball on FOX, featuring Tigers/Twins in 48% of markets, earned a mere 1.1 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon — down 42% from coverage featuring Red Sox/Yankees last year (1.9) and down 58% from coverage featuring Yankees/Red Sox in 2010 (2.6). The 1.1 overnight is the lowest of the season for an MLB telecast on FOX, and could result in the lowest ever final rating for Major League Baseball on broadcast television. (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
- Tennessee/Georgia Scores Big on the Field, But Not in the Ratings: Saturday’s Tennessee/Georgia college football game drew a 2.8 overnight rating on CBS — down 13% from Auburn/South Carolina last year, which was the second game of a tripleheader (3.2), but up 17% from Tennessee/LSU in 2010 (2.4). The game was beaten head-to-head by Ohio State/Michigan State on ABC (3.6). (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
- Yankees Ratings on Pace For Ten-Season Low: Regular season New York Yankees games have averaged a 3.87 rating on YES Network this year, which according to Sports Business Journal puts the team on pace for their lowest average rating in ten seasons. The Yankees’ average is uncomfortably close to that of the New York Knicks, whose lockout-shortened regular season averaged a 3.3 on MSG Network. The Detroit Tigers lead all U.S.-based MLB teams in local TV ratings, with a 9.13 on FS Detroit. (Local MLB ratings from Sports Business Journal)
