FOX earned its largest MLB audience of the season on Saturday, but the numbers again trailed last year.
Regional MLB action on FOX earned 2.8 million viewers last Saturday, down 21% from last year (3.5M) but up 5% from 2012 (2.7M). Compared to the sixth telecast of last season — an afternoon window on May 18 — viewership increased by 65%.
The telecast ranks as the most-viewed of the season on FOX (six telecasts), topping the previous mark of 2.2 million, and the second-most viewed MLB window of the season on any network. Only the June 22 Rangers/Angels Sunday Night Baseball game earned a larger audience (2.9M), aided by a lead-in from USA World Cup soccer.
With that said, it also marked the sixth time in six weeks that FOX has had a decline in viewership for MLB coverage, and the fifth time that it has had a double-digit decline.
Saturday’s telecast was the first of the season on FOX to include Red Sox/Yankees. The rivals’ lone primetime appearance on the network last season had 3.3 million.
Head-to-head, MLB on FOX was outdrawn by NASCAR on TNT by 28% (3.5M to 2.8M).
(Sat. numbers from The Futon Critic)
