Ratings: Texas Rangers, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans

7.1 Overnight For ‘SNF’ Preseason Debut

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

MLB season up on ESPN, TBS; FOX down but finishes strong

by Jon Lewis

4 years ago

MLB regular season viewership wrap.

Ratings: Judge 61, NASCAR, Presidents Cup and more

by Jon Lewis

4 years ago

Ratings roundup.

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 27: New York Yankees Outfield Aaron Judge (99) celebrates after scoring a run during the third inning of the MLB baseball regular season game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays on September 27, 2022, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire)

Judge chase boosts ESPN, TBS, YES

by Jon Lewis

4 years ago

Viewers dig the long ball.

Judge home run pursuit lifts FOX to MLB season-high

by Jon Lewis

4 years ago

A big turnout for Aaron Judge.

Comments 5

Anonymous says:

15 years ago

Jeffrey, you’re right. Last year’s numbers for Postseason were not so good (even if, excluding World Series, they were more than decent). But, as shown by 2009 Playoffs, if you have big teams from big markets, ratings can still be strong. This year, if we get both Yankees or Red Sox from AL and both Phillies or Braves from NL, I’m pretty sure numbers will be healthy. With a little bit of luck, having a 7-game Series which misses for too long, I suppose average TV ratings (for a WS featuring two of the four cited teams) will be super, surpassing easily the 11.0 mark but, maybe, the 12.0, too, which are really big numbers in today’s TV landscape.
Baseball World Series (or LCS), like every other big sporting event except for NFL games, draws big ratings when you get popular teams (or players) from big cities in the contention. That’s true for MLB as it is for NBA or NHL.
As regards the All-Star Game, I fear that’s a bigger problem: it needs big changes in order to be more appealing but I’m not sure about what it really needs. One thing is certain: if you have to face the absence, for various reasons, of such stars as Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Justin Verlander, Ryan Braun, Mariano Rivera, Felix Hernandez, David Price…it’s clear something is wrong. No blames, naturally, for the ones who were injured (it’s true for someone on the list above, too). But some silly rules such as every team must be represented and pitchers aren’t eligible to play if they started the previous Sunday have to be undoubtedly eliminated. Even having the best players in for more innings could help. I think this year’s numbers also reflected the fact that the contest was not so tight.
Jeffrey says:

15 years ago

Have to agree with ZabriskiePt: stadium attendance and local ratings are what matter most for MLB, as well as web traffic, and those indicators are at least good, if not very good, in several key markets. What is troublesome, however, is how the crown jewels of MLB (All-Star Game, LCS, and World Series) continue to see the erosion of viewers. These events used to pull in a strong national audience, but they no longer do. A lot of media analysts believe if we get a Red Sox/Phillies Series, all will be well. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Anonymous says:

15 years ago

I don’t think MLB has to be worried about these numbers. As everyone is supposed to know, Baseball and Football are completely different beasts when it comes to TV relevance. Baseball is an everyday game for six months a year and, for that reason, can be compared to itself only for analysing its trends. This season’s local and national numbers show that Baseball is generally in good shape: it draws well in Baseball towns and where there are competitive teams; it goes worse where teams are out of contention. The only worrisome situation, in my opinion, is Tampa Bay where a good team (even if playing in the toughest division) is showing big losses in local ratings.
By the way, talking about what happened in Detroit last Friday, the over 44,000 people in attendance at the Tigers game (played in Detroit; the same thing can’t be said for the Lions’ game), even if they wouldn’t have entirely watched it on TV, accounted for another 1.5 to 2.0 rating points, which would have led to a bigger advantage for the Baseball matchup.
Paulsen says:

15 years ago

Just saw an FS Detroit press release with slightly different numbers: 9.3 for the Lions, 7.4 for the Tigers. According to FS Detroit, the Tigers won the head-to-head battle (7:30-9:45 PM local time), 8.1 to 8.0.
Chad says:

15 years ago

Baseball can’t be happy, with the success of the Lions in previous years and a pre-season game beats the Tigers in a pennant race matchup.