A week after their highest rated road opener ever on FS Midwest, the St. Louis Cardinals scored their third-best home opener rating on the network. In other news, ESPN had big increases for NBA action on Wednesday night, and The Golf Channel drew one of its largest LPGA audiences in recent years.
Cardinals Score Best Home Opener in Three Years
- Monday’s Reds/Cardinals Major League Baseball game earned a 12.7 rating on Fox Sports Midwest in the St. Louis market, the network’s highest rated Cardinals home opener since 2011 and third-best all time. Last year’s home opener had an 11.8 rating. The Cardinals started the season with their highest rated road opener ever on FS Midwest (11.1). (St. Louis Business Journal)
Big Increases For NBA on ESPN Wednesday Night
- ESPN earned 2.0 million viewers for Wednesday’s Heat/Grizzlies NBA regular season game, up 64% from Nets/Celtics last year (1.2M), and up 16% from Knicks/Bucks in 2012 (1.7M). Later in the night, the Thunder/Clippers game earned 1.9 million — up 53% from Spurs/Nuggets last year (1.3M), and up 74% from Warriors/Blazers in 2012 (1.1M). (The Futon Critic)
Golf Channel Earns Second-Best LPGA Audience in Five Years
- Final round coverage of the LPGA Tour Kraft Nabisco Championship earned 670,000 viewers on The Golf Channel, up 124% from last year, and the second-most viewed LPGA telecast on the network in five years. Only the final round of last year’s Solheim Cup did better (780K). (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
