Baseball on FOX set a primetime record-low and was beaten head-to-head by the NHL last weekend.
Regional Major League Baseball action featuring Cardinals/Dodgers drew a 1.5 final rating and 2.3 million viewers on FOX last Saturday night, down 12% in ratings and 14% in viewership from coverage featuring Phillies/Cardinals last year (1.7, 2.6M), and down 46% and 50%, respectively, from coverage featuring Mets/Yankees in 2011 (2.8, 4.6M).
The 1.5 rating is easily the lowest ever for a primetime Major League Baseball window on broadcast TV. The previous low was a 1.7, set twice last year.
Saturday’s telecast was outdrawn head-to-head by Game 5 of the Red Wings/Blackhawks NHL Stanley Cup playoff game on NBC (1.6, 2.9M) and Game 3 of the Spurs/Grizzlies NBA playoff game on ESPN (3.1, 4.9M).
So far this season, all seven MLB telecasts on FOX have had less than a 2.0 final rating. That ignominious streak should end this week, as the primetime window on FOX features Red Sox/Yankees in 57% of markets.
