For the fourth straight week, fewer than 1.5% of U.S. TV homes watched primetime baseball on FOX.
Regional Major League Baseball action on FOX earned a 1.4 final rating and 2.2 million viewers last Saturday night, down 13% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.4M), and tied as the third-lowest rating ever for primetime MLB on broadcast TV.
The four MLB on FOX telecasts this season rank as the four lowest rated ever on primetime broadcast TV. Prior to this season, the record low was a 1.5 for coverage last May.
Compared to the fourth MLB on FOX telecast of last season — an afternoon telecast on April 27 — ratings declined 7% but viewership increased 10%.
Saturday’s coverage faced head-to-head competition from the Ivory Coast/Japan World Cup match on ESPN and Univision. While Univision figures were unavailable, the ESPN telecast drew a 2.2 and 3.7 million viewers.
(Sat. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
