Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby was less of a draw opposite tough competition.
Monday’s Major League Baseball Home Run Derby averaged 5.45 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, down 11% from last year and the smallest audience for the event in a decade (2014: 5.40M).
Coverage aired opposite the first night of the Republican National Convention, which averaged a combined 8.6 million viewers across the cable news networks for CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. The Derby had not previously faced a political convention, much less one in which the nominee had barely escaped assassination a mere 48 hours earlier.
The Derby still outpaced comparable skills events in other sports, including NBA All-Star Saturday Night on TNT and truTV (4.56M).
The decline for the Derby bucked the overall trend this season. Entering the All-Star break, ESPN has averaged 1.59 million for its Major League Baseball coverage — up 6% from last year — with Sunday Night Baseball at 1.62 million (+7%). The network’s final traditional game of the first half, Dodgers-Phillies last Wednesday night, averaged 1.34 million.
FOX has averaged 1.98 million viewers for its MLB coverage this season — a figure that includes Saturday’s breaking news-affected window — up 7% from last year (1.85M).
Over on TBS, Tuesday night games have averaged 330,000 — down 2% from last year but up 31% from the same point two years ago. Though game viewership is down slightly, the network’s pre and postgame shows are both up 14%.
In other MLB action, Sunday’s first round of the MLB Draft averaged 863,000 viewers across ESPN and MLB Network — up 16% from last year and the second-largest audience for the event.
