Despite competition from the NBA and NHL, the latest edition of ‘Baseball Night in America’ hit a season-high on FOX.
Regional Major League Baseball action featuring Yankees/Tigers in 63% of markets drew a 2.8 overnight rating on FOX Saturday night, even from primetime action featuring Cardinals/Rockies in week nine last year (2.8), and up 65% from afternoon coverage featuring Rays/Rangers in week nine of the 2010 season (1.7).
The 2.8 overnight is the highest of the season for an MLB telecast on FOX, topping the previous high of 2.7 for afternoon regional action on April 14 (Angels/Yankees) and April 21 (Yankees/Red Sox).
The network’s previous two primetime windows this season drew overnights of 2.4 and 2.3. Of note, those telecasts did not feature the Yankees.
Saturday’s telecast earned at least one PR victory, topping Game 2 of the Kings/Devils Stanley Cup Final on NBC head-to-head (2.2).
CORRECTION: 6/5: Citing Sports Business Daily, a previous edition of this article reported that Saturday’s telecast drew a 2.6 overnight. Sports Business Daily today reported that the 2.6 was inaccurate and the telecast actually drew a 2.8.
(Saturday’s overnight from Sports Business Daily)
