After an awful debut, MLB on FOX saw only a slight improvement for its second telecast of the season.
Regional MLB coverage on FOX earned a 1.4 overnight rating Saturday night, down 44% from last year (2.5) and down 50% from 2012 (2.8), both of which featured the Yankees. Saturday’s telecast earned the second-lowest overnight ever for a primetime MLB telecast on broadcast TV, ahead of only coverage the previous week (1.2).
Prior to this year, the lowest overnight for primetime MLB on broadcast TV was a 1.7 set last season.
It is not unprecedented for FOX to sink below a 1.5 overnight for MLB coverage, but usually those numbers are reserved for later in the season — after college football takes center stage. To earn these numbers right off the bat is a bad sign.
Saturday’s telecast had to contend head-to-head with Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on TNT (5.7), but last year’s coverage had even greater competition — Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on TNT (6.2) and Game 2 of the NHL Eastern finals on NBC (2.5).
(Sat. overnights from Sports Business Daily)
