Ratings Roundup: Local MLB, MLB on ESPN, Atlanta Hawks

Local Major League Baseball games topped the NBA and NHL playoffs in several markets Wednesday night. In other news, ESPN had a big increase in viewership for Wednesday’s Mets/Cubs game, and the Hawks’ Game 5 win over the Wizards set a local record in Atlanta.

Major League Baseball games were the highest rated sporting event in fourteen markets Wednesday, more than doubling the day’s top NBA or NHL playoff game in Kansas City (13.0 to 1.6), Pittsburgh (8.4 to 2.5), St. Louis (8.3 to 2.9), Detroit (7.8 to 2.5), Cincinnati (6.5 to 2.3) and Seattle (6.1 to 3.0). Baseball also came out ahead in Tampa-St. Petersburg and Cleveland-Akron, both of which have active playoff teams. The Rays (4.6) topped Game 7 of the Capitals/Rangers series (4.3) in the former, while the Indians (4.7) edged Game 5 of Wizards/Hawks (4.5) in the latter. (Nielsen)

The Mets/Cubs Wednesday Night Baseball game drew 667,000 viewers on ESPN, up 58% from Cubs/White Sox last year (423K) and up 35% from Twins/Red Sox in 2013 (494K). The Cubs’ win, which was not blacked out in the local markets, earned the second-largest Wednesday night audience of the season (six telecasts). Only Cardinals/Nationals two weeks earlier earned a larger audience (683K). (via ShowBuzz Daily)

Game 5 of the Wizards/Hawks NBA playoff series drew an 11.0 rating on TNT in Atlanta Wednesday night, the market’s highest Hawks rating ever. One imagines that the available records do not go far back enough to include the Hawks’ 1980s playoff runs. Hawks games have averaged a 7.2 rating so far this postseason, up 67% from last year when the team was knocked out in the first round. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)