FOX was an exception in a year of increased MLB viewership on ESPN and TBS, but still finished its campaign on a strong note last weekend.
The FOX broadcast network averaged 2.11 million viewers for regular season Major League Baseball coverage this season, down 12% from last year (2.4M). Keep in mind FOX aired more windows this season than last. As one would expect for an over-the-air network, FOX was still the most-watched MLB broadcast partner.
Last Saturday’s MLB on FOX season finale — Mets-Braves in most markets — averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.66 million viewers, the network’s most-watched regular season finale since 2010 (3.39M). The audience ranks as the third-largest of the MLB season behind Red Sox-Yankees in the heat of the Aaron Judge home run chase (3.23M) and the Cubs-Reds “Field of Dreams” game in August (3.10M).
FOX aired the five most-watched windows this season and seven of the top eight.
Mets-Braves also drew a 0.9 and 1.68 million on the season finale of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, the most-watched season finale of that package in at least a decade. The full Sunday Night Baseball season averaged 1.49 million viewers, up 1% from last year (1.47M).
TBS finished its season with 316,000 for Phillies-Astros on Tuesday night, a game that aired directly opposite Aaron Judge’s record-setting 62nd home run on MLB Network (and YES Network in New York). The network averaged 365,000 for its season-long package of Tuesday night games this season, up 24% from its late-season run of Sunday afternoon games last year (295K). That includes an average of 520,000 for games after the All-Star break, up 76% from last year’s equivalent windows.
As for the above-mentioned Aaron Judge chase, Tuesday’s Yankees-Rangers game — in which Judge set the all-time American League single season home run record — averaged 636,000 viewers on YES Network and 380,000 on MLB Network. The YES audience peaked at 933,000 viewers from 8:15-8:30 PM ET, when Judge hit the record-setting home run.
YES was averaging 371,000 viewers for MLB coverage through Tuesday, on pace to rank as its most-watched season since 2011. An updated average through the completion of the season was not immediately available.
(Nielsen estimates from network PR, ShowBuzz Daily 10.4, 10.5)
