Despite a double-digit decline — and five-year low — Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby again asserted itself as one of the top-rated sporting events of the summer.
Monday’s MLB Home Run Derby averaged a combined 3.1 rating and 6.11 million viewers across ESPN (2.7, 5.52M) and ESPN2 (0.34, 596K), down 14% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year (3.6, 6.88M) and the smallest audience for the event since 2018 (5.90M).
Despite the decline, the Derby delivered television’s largest primetime audience — on any network — in nearly a month, since Game 5 of the NBA Finals on ABC in June (13.1M). As goes without saying, it was the top program of the night and swept the key young adult demographics. (The night’s top show on broadcast television, “The Price is Right at Night” on CBS, averaged 3.67 million.)
It also outdrew all of this year’s All-Star festivities in the NBA and NHL — including the actual All-Star games — and came close to the NFL Pro Bowl Games on ESPN and ABC in January (6.28M).
In other Major League Baseball action, FOX averaged a 1.2 rating and 2.20 million for its usual regional window on Saturday night — down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.64M).
Sunday’s opening round of the MLB Draft averaged a combined 0.42 and 744,000 across ESPN (0.27, 478K) and MLB Network (0.15, 266K), down 7% and 5% respectively from a year ago (0.45, 780K). Second round coverage pulled a 0.09 and 170,000 on MLB Network later Sunday night.
As one would expect, the MLB Draft was no match for its NBA or NFL equivalents, but it did outdraw this year’s NHL Draft — which was the most-watched in the history of the event.
Going back to last week, TBS averaged a 0.23 and 448,000 for Angels-Padres on July 4 — up 35% in ratings and 68% in viewership from Rays-Red Sox last year (0.17, 267K).
(Nielsen estimates from this website 7.11, Programming Insider 7.11, Spoiler TV 7.11, network PR)
