For the third straight season, Major League Baseball on FOX averaged a record-low 1.8% of U.S. television homes.
FOX averaged a 1.8 final rating and 2.7 million viewers for 26 Major League Baseball telecast windows this season, even with both last year and 2009.
The 1.8 average rating is tied as the lowest ever for Major League Baseball on broadcast television. MLB on FOX has now either set or tied a record low rating in five consecutive seasons.
The highest rating of the season was a 2.8 for regional action on May 21 (primetime) and August 6 (afternoon), the highest regular season rating for MLB on FOX since 2008. The most-viewed telecast on the season was the May 21 window, which earned 4.551 million viewers.
On the flip side, the lowest rating of the year was a 1.1 for regional action on August 27 and September 10. The least-viewed telecast was the September 10 window, which earned just 1.632 million viewers.
For the fourth straight year, MLB on FOX was outdrawn by regular season NBA coverage on ABC (3.0, 5.110M). The NBA held a 67% advantage over Major League Baseball this year (3.0 to 1.8), the league’s largest lead since 1997 (4.7 to 2.7). MLB topped the NBA on broadcast each year from 2003 to 2007.
Ratings and viewership for the final MLB on FOX telecast of the season are available here.
Ratings For MLB on FOX During the 2011 Season
* August 27 telecast was affected by Hurricane Irene
Game-by-game ratings for MLB on FOX are also available for the 2010 and 2009 seasons
|
Date
|
Time
|
Game(s)
|
% of U.S.
|
Net
|
Rating
|
Viewers (000)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., 4/2/11 | 4 PM | DET 6, NYY 10 |
59%
|
FOX |
2.0
|
3,157
|
| SF 10, LAD 0 |
20%
|
|||||
| SD 11, STL 3 |
20%
|
|||||
| Sat., 4/9/11 | 1 PM | NYY 9, BOS 4 |
84%
|
FOX |
2.6
|
3,891
|
| PHI 10, ATL 2 |
15%
|
|||||
| Sat., 4/16/11 | 4 PM | NYM 2, ATL 4 |
45%
|
FOX |
1.5
|
2,292
|
| LAA 7, CHW 2 |
35%
|
|||||
| MIN 3, TB 4 |
19%
|
|||||
| Sat., 4/23/11 | 4 PM | ATL 5, SF 2 |
69%
|
FOX |
1.8
|
2,794
|
| CIN 5, STL 3 |
19%
|
|||||
| CHW 0, DET 9 |
11%
|
|||||
| Sat., 4/30/11 | 1 PM | STL 3, ATL 2 |
52%
|
FOX |
1.4
|
2,101
|
| LAA 1, TB 2 |
25%
|
|||||
| NYM 1, PHI 2 |
22%
|
|||||
| Sat., 5/7/11 | 1 PM | MIN 0, BOS 4 |
48%
|
FOX |
1.4
|
2,136
|
| CIN 2, CHC 3 |
44%
|
|||||
| TB 8, BAL 2 |
7%
|
|||||
| Sat., 5/14/11 | 7 PM | BOS 6, NYY 0 |
71%
|
FOX |
2.6
|
4,103
|
| SF 3, CHC 0 |
20%
|
|||||
| ARI 1, LAD 0 |
8%
|
|||||
| Sat., 5/21/11 | 7 PM | NYM 3, NYY 7 |
36%
|
FOX |
2.8
|
4,551
|
| CHC 9, BOS 3 |
32%
|
|||||
| TEX 0, PHI 2 |
19%
|
|||||
| OAK 0, SF 3 |
12%
|
|||||
| Sat., 5/28/11 | 7 PM | STL 4, COL 15 |
24%
|
FOX |
2.4
|
3,799
|
| CIN 6, ATL 7 |
19%
|
|||||
| BOS/DET (PPD) |
17%
|
|||||
| PHI 5, NYM 2 |
16%
|
|||||
| KC 1, TEX 10 |
14%
|
|||||
| LAA 0, MIN 1 |
9%
|
|||||
| Sat., 6/4/11 | 4 PM | CHC 4, STL 5 |
72%
|
FOX |
1.6
|
2,433
|
| COL 2, SF 1 |
15%
|
|||||
| LAD 11, CIN 8 |
12%
|
|||||
| Sat., 6/11/11 | 4 PM | CHC 1, PHI 7 |
59%
|
FOX |
1.4
|
2,195
|
| CIN 10, SF 2 |
24%
|
|||||
| TEX 1, MIN 8 |
16%
|
|||||
| Sat., 6/18/11 | 4 PM | NYY 4, CHC 3 |
74%
|
FOX |
1.7
|
2,590
|
| TEX 5, ATL 4 |
23%
|
|||||
| Sat., 6/25/11 | 4 PM | NYM 14, TEX 5 |
50%
|
FOX |
1.4
|
2,160
|
| CLE 0, SF 1 |
31%
|
|||||
| WSH 0, CHW 3 |
12%
|
|||||
| LAA 6, LAD 1 |
6%
|
|||||
| Sat., 7/2/11 | 4 PM | NYY 5, NYM 2 |
79%
|
FOX |
2.0
|
3,018
|
| CHW 1, CHC 0 |
10%
|
|||||
| CLE 3, CIN 1 |
10%
|
|||||
| Sat., 7/9/11 | 4 PM | ATL 4, PHI 1 |
76%
|
FOX |
1.9
|
2,863
|
| MIN 3, CHW 4 |
16%
|
|||||
| SD 0, LAD 1 |
7%
|
|||||
| Sat., 7/16/11 | 4 PM | BOS 9, TB 5 |
41%
|
FOX |
1.9
|
2,784
|
| PHI 2, NYM 11 |
25%
|
|||||
| LAA 4, OAK 2 |
18%
|
|||||
| CHW 5, DET 0 |
15%
|
|||||
| Sat., 7/23/11 | 4 PM | ATL 2, CIN 11 |
45%
|
FOX |
1.8
|
2,863
|
| SD 6, PHI 8 |
34%
|
|||||
| DET 1, MIN 4 |
20%
|
|||||
| Sat., 7/30/11 | 4 PM | CHC 5, STL 13 |
50%
|
FOX |
1.6
|
2,438
|
| LAA 5, DET 1 |
26%
|
|||||
| TB 2, SEA 3 |
23%
|
|||||
| Sat., 8/6/11 | 4 PM | NYY 4, BOS 10 |
81%
|
FOX |
2.8
|
4,101
|
| PHI 2, SF 1 |
18%
|
|||||
| Sat., 8/13/11 | 4 PM | TB 2, NYY 9 |
63%
|
FOX |
1.7
|
2,793
|
| TEX 7, OAK 1 |
20%
|
|||||
| PIT 0, MIL 1 |
16%
|
|||||
| Sat., 8/20/11 | 4 PM | STL 0, CHC 3 |
47%
|
FOX |
1.5
|
2,372
|
| MIL 11, NYM 9 |
45%
|
|||||
| CIN 3, PIT 5 |
7%
|
|||||
| Sat., 8/27/11* | 4 PM | DET 6, MIN 4 |
61%
|
FOX |
1.1
|
1,685
|
| PIT 7, STL 0 |
28%
|
|||||
| COL 6, LAD 7 |
10%
|
|||||
| Sat., 9/3/11 | 4 PM | TEX 7, BOS 12 |
71%
|
FOX |
1.4
|
2,095
|
| CIN 4, STL 6 |
17%
|
|||||
| CHW 8, DET 9 |
11%
|
|||||
| Sat., 9/10/11 | 4 PM | MIN 2, DET 3 |
49%
|
FOX |
1.1
|
1,632
|
| OAK 8, TEX 7 |
33%
|
|||||
| CLE 3, CHW 7 |
17%
|
|||||
| Sat., 9/17/11 | 4 PM | TB 4, BOS 3 |
66%
|
FOX |
1.5
|
2,167
|
| NYM 0, ATL 1 |
25%
|
|||||
| DET 3, OAK 5 |
8%
|
|||||
| Sat., 9/24/11 | 4 PM | BOS 1, NYY 9 |
87%
|
FOX |
1.5
|
2,174
|
| SEA 3, TEX 7 |
12%
|
(This year’s numbers from Nielsen; additional information from Sports Business Daily, Media Life Magazine)
