FOX MLB ratings hit the 2.0 mark for the first time in five years.
The telecast ranks as the highest rated and most-watched regular season MLB window on FOX since the 2013 season. It ended a streak of 61 straight windows on FOX with less than a 2.0 rating.
Regardless of network, Saturday’s telecast delivered the third-largest regular season audience since 2013. Two other Cubs-Cardinals matchups hold the top spots — Opening Night games last year (3.6M) and in 2015 (3.4M).
FOX had a stronger lead-in from the U.S. Open, which posted its best third round performance in three years. There also appears to be a broader World Cup halo that is benefitting all Fox Sports programs, with even the NASCAR Xfinity Series — which had been down all season — posting an increase on Sunday.
The same Cubs-Cardinals matchup delivered a 1.2 and 1.9 million on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, up a tick in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (1.1, 1.7M) and up 50% and 55% respectively from 2016, when coverage aired opposite Game 7 of the NBA Finals (Pirates-Cubs: 0.8, 1.2M).
It was the second straight Sunday Night Baseball game to increase, after the series started the season with ten straight declines.
Shifting to the workweek, Diamondbacks-Angels earned 390,000 on ESPN Monday (-7%) and 362,000 on the same network Tuesday (-29%). The comparable windows last year were Tigers-Mariners (418K) and Mets-Dodgers (513K).
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 6.20]
