Despite a stinker finale, Sunday Night Baseball finished up for the season. In other news, MLB on FOX had a slight dip last weekend, and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series hit a season-low at Kentucky.
Rough Ending, But Up Season For Sunday Night Baseball
Astros-Angels had a 0.42 rating and 632,000 viewers in last weekend’s season finale of
Sunday Night Baseball, down 57% in ratings and 60% in viewership from Cardinals-Cubs last year (1.0, 1.6M) and down 57% in both measures from Pirates-Cubs in 2015 (1.0, 1.5M). It ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Sunday night game in at least five years.*
Four of the final five Sunday Night Baseball games this season declined, with each of those failing to crack the one million viewer mark. Despite the poor finish, the series averaged 1.8 million viewers across ESPN’s TV and digital platforms this season, up 8% from last year.
In other action on ESPN, last Friday’s Cubs-Brewers game scored 874,000 viewers (+142%), while Cubs-Cardinals earned 792,000 on Tuesday (+29%) and 818,000 on Wednesday (+81%). Also Wednesday, Padres-Dodgers had 564,000 viewers (+22%) and Astros-Rangers 336,000.
MLB on FOX Dips Last Weekend
Regional MLB action on FOX featuring Cubs-Brewers in 76% of markets had 1.59 million viewers last Saturday, down 3% from last year (1.64M) but up 1% from 2015 (1.57M). The 1.0 rating was down a tick from last year and ’15 (1.1). The same matchup delivered 223,000 on TBS Sunday.
NASCAR Xfinity Hits Low at Kentucky
NASCAR Xfinity Series racing from New Hampshire had a 0.48 rating and 740,000 viewers on NBCSN last Saturday, down 14% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year (0.56, 846K) and down 20% and 21% respectively from 2015 (0.60, 933K). It was the least-watched Xfinity Series race all season, the the three-least watched coming in consecutive weeks.
* Excludes a 2015 Royals-Orioles game that was bumped from ESPN to ESPN2 by a late-running tennis match.
