From Sports Media Watch, a one-stop page for all sports ratings news.
Jon Lewis
Tuesday’s Italy-United States World Baseball Classic pool play game averaged 2.07 million viewers across FS1 (1.9M) and Fox Deportes, marking the largest audience for a WBC pool play game on FS1. Italy’s upset win, which peaked with 2.40 million in the 10 PM ET quarter-hour, more-than-doubled the average for U.S. pool play games on FS1 in 2023.
The four U.S. pool play games averaged 3.17 million viewers, nearly tripling the 2023 average of 1.12 million. Three of the four games aired on FOX, compared to one of four in 2023.
Source: Fox Sports
Jon Lewis
Games 1 and 2 of the Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series averaged 7.0 and 6.6 million viewers respectively on Canada’s Rogers SportsNet, marking the two most-watched Blue Jays games on record, according to the network’s reporter Hazel Mae.
American figures for Games 1 and 2 on FOX will not be available until Tuesday at the earliest.
Source: SportsNet PR
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry averaged 2.57 million viewers on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” over the weekend, marking the third-largest audience of the MLB season — behind only Yankees-Dodgers on ESPN June 1 (2.73M) and regional action featuring Red Sox-Yankees on FOX June 7 (3.0M).
The Yankees’ win, which peaked with 2.89 million viewers in the 8:15 PM ET quarter-hour, nearly doubled last year’s comparable Astros-Orioles game (1.31M).
Over on FOX, a Thursday night window featuring Yankees-Red Sox averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.33 million viewers — up from a 1.1 and 1.95 million last year.
Going back to the prior weekend, FOX averaged a 1.1 and 2.01 million (+17%) for its usual Saturday regional, while ESPN drew just shy of 1.7 million for the Mariners-Mets “Little League Classic” (-22%).
Source: ESPN, Programming Insider 8/22, PI 8/20 1, PI 8/20 2
Jon Lewis
New York Yankees games on YES Network are averaging 292,000 viewers so far this season, up 5% from last year (277K). Nearly half of the games this season have averaged at least 300,000 viewers, compared to a third at the same point last year.
Source: YES Network
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Cubs-Cardinals) averaged 1.98 million viewers last weekend, peaking at 2.1 million in the 9:15 PM ET quarter-hour — more than double Mets-Mariners opposite the Olympics last year (937K).
ESPN is now averaging 1.69 million viewers for MLB games this season, including 1.73 million for Sunday Night Baseball — both up ten percent from the same point last year. The Sunday night average is the highest at this point of a season since 2017.
On FOX last weekend, regional action featuring the same Cubs-Cardinals matchup averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.8 million viewers — up sharply from last year opposite the Olympics (0.6, 1.07M).
Source: ESPN, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (Tigers-Phillies) averaged 2.03 million viewers, peaking at 2.42 million — up 72% from last year’s Cardinals-Cubs game, which aired opposite the Olympics (1.18M). Sunday night games are now averaging 1.68 million, up 7% from last year and the highest average since 2017.
In other weekend action, the Braves-Reds MLB Speedway Classic — which began Saturday night but was largely played Saturday afternoon — averaged 1.6 million. The rain delay portion Saturday night averaged 1.8 million.
For more, see this article.
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Mets-Giants) averaged 1.66 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, peaking at 2.10 million — down 3% from last year, when the series featured Yankees-Red Sox but also aired opposite the Olympics (1.71M).
Sunday Night Baseball is still averaging 1.7 million viewers for the season, up 5% from last year and the highest since 2017.
On FOX the previous night, regional action featuring Dodgers-Red Sox averaged 2.02 million — down 2% from last year, which like the Sunday night window featured Yankees-Red Sox opposite the Olympics (2.07M).
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports
Jon Lewis
Wednesday’s Yankees-Rays Major League Baseball game averaged 708,000 viewers on MLB Network, marking the second-most watched regular season game ever on the network (dates back to 2010). Only Derek Jeter’s final home game in 2014 (837K) averaged a larger audience.
Keep in mind MLB Network coverage was blacked out in the local markets.
Entering Thursday, MLB Network was averaging 235,000 viewers for its out-of-market games in July — which would rank as its highest such average in any month since July 2019.
Source: MLB Network
Jon Lewis
Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, in which Ichiro and C.C. Sabathia were among those enshrined, averaged 247,000 viewers on MLB Network — the highest since 2019 (382K).
Source: MLB Network
Jon Lewis
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball returned from All-Star hiatus with 1.61 million viewers for Tigers-Rangers on July 20, down only a hair from a larger-market pairing of the Red Sox and Dodgers last year (1.62M).
The previous night, regional MLB action featuring Red Sox-Cubs averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.7 million viewers on FOX — down 23% and 20% respectively from last year (1.1, 2.12M).
Source: ESPN, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game averaged a 3.8 rating and 7.19 million viewers on FOX, tying last year as the lowest rated on record and surpassing only two years ago as the least-watched (7.01M). Nonetheless, it remains easily the most-watched All-Star Game in sports.
The Midsummer Classic — which peaked with 8.1 million viewers — declined 3% from last year (7.44M).
For more, see this article.
Source: Fox Sports, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Monday’s MLB Home Run Derby averaged a 2.7 rating and 5.73 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, down a tick in ratings but up 5% in viewership from last year (2.8, 5.45M).
For more, see this article.
Source: ESPN, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
ESPN averaged 1.71 million viewers for Cardinals-Cubs and 844,000 for Rangers-Padres in a rare Sunday Night Baseball doubleheader last weekend. As one might expect, both games declined from a solo Red Sox-Yankees window on the same weekend last year (2.36M). ESPN had not aired a Sunday Night Baseball doubleheader since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
On FOX, regional action last weekend averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.51 million viewers — the network’s second-largest audience of the season, but down a tick and 7% respectively from the same weekend last year (1.4, 2.7M).
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
The June 28 edition of MLB on FOX averaged a 1.1 rating and 2.38 million viewers, the network’s second-largest audience of the season, but down a tick and 4% respectively from last year.
Source: Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball — Twins-Tigers — averaged 2.02 million viewers, up two-thirds from Rangers-Orioles on the equivalent night last year. The Tigers’ win, which peaked with 2.30 million in the 9:15 PM ET quarter-hour, ranks third for the season among Sunday night games.
Sunday Night Baseball is now averaging 1.75 million viewers for the season (+11%), the highest at this point of a season since 2017.
Source: ESPN
Jon Lewis
Facing Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Mets-Phillies averaged 1.47 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball — with 14% of that audience watching the “Statcast” alternate presentation on ESPN2. Viewership declined only 7% from Mets-Cubs last year, which did not face NBA competition (1.58M).
On FOX the previous night, regional action averaged a 1.0 rating and 2.00 million opposite breaking news coverage — not counting a brief preemption at 10 PM ET — down from a 1.2 and 2.21 million last year. Coverage trailed the competing Men’s College World Series Game 1 on ESPN.
On Tuesday night, Braves-Mets averaged a 0.31 and 527,000 on TBS and truTV — actually up from a Mets-Yankees game on TBS alone last year (0.28, 484K).
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports, Programming Insider, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Giants-Dodgers averaged 1.91 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, down 8% from Yankees-Red Sox last year (2.07M).
The previous night, regional action on FOX featuring Yankees-Red Sox drew a 1.1 and 2.12 million — down 9 and 12 percent respectively from coverage featuring the same matchup a year ago.
Source: Programming Insider, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Regional Major League Baseball action featuring Red Sox-Yankees averaged 3.0 million viewers on FOX Saturday night, marking the largest regular season MLB audience on any network since the same matchup on FOX in September 2022, in the middle of the Aaron Judge home run chase (3.1M).
The rivalry also averaged 1.92 million on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, actually down from Dodgers-Yankees in the same window last year (2.30M). Sunday Night Baseball nonetheless remains up 12% to its highest season-to-date average since 2017.
For more on the numbers, see this article.
Source: Fox Sports, ESPN
Jon Lewis
Sunday’s Yankees-Dodgers Major League Baseball game averaged 2.73 million viewers on ESPN, surpassing a Mets-Yankees Subway Series game last month to rank as the most-watched edition of Sunday Night Baseball since 2018 and the largest audience of the MLB season.
The Yankees’ win, which peaked with 3.1 million in the 8:30 PM ET quarter-hour, increased 65% from Cardinals-Phillies in the same window last year (1.65M).
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball is now averaging 1.72 million viewers for the season, a 16% increase from last year and the highest average at this point of the season since 2017.
On Saturday, regional action featuring the same matchup averaged 2.2 million on FOX — up slightly from last year (2.1M).
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports
Jon Lewis
The May 25 edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Dodgers-Mets) averaged 1.67 million viewers on ESPN, more than double a rain-delayed Cubs-Cardinals game on the same night last year (847K). Sunday Night Baseball viewership was up 16% for the season through May.
The previous night, FOX averaged a 1.1 and 2.3 million for coverage featuring the same Dodgers-Mets matchup — the network’s most-watched game window this season and up from last year (1.0, 1.94M).
On TBS last Tuesday, Braves-Phillies drew a 0.17 and 278,000 (+22%).
Source: ESPN, Fox Sports, Programming Insider, Programming Insider, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
The latest edition of MLB on TBS — Mets-Red Sox — averaged 305,000 viewers across TBS and truTV, up 23% from Braves-Cubs last year. MLB on TBS is now averaging 313,000 viewers for the season, up 16% from last year and up 13% from 2023.
Going back to last weekend, FOX averaged 1.91 million for regional MLB action featuring Braves-Red Sox or Twins-Brewers. Last year’s comparable window was affected by rainouts and averaged 1.1 million.
Source: TNT Sports, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Last Saturday’s Mets-Yankees Major League Baseball game averaged a combined 901,000 viewers across MLB Network (316K) and the New York RSNs SNY (301K) and YES Network (284K).
The first game of the series on Friday night averaged 644,000 across MLB Network and YES (322K each). For YES, it was the most-watched game prior to Memorial Day in a couple of years. For MLB Network, it was the most-watched Friday night game since last July.
SNY did not carry the Friday game, which aired on WPIX.
As previously noted, the Sunday game delivered ESPN’s largest Sunday Night Baseball audience in seven years.
Source: SNY, YES, MLB Network
Jon Lewis
Mets-Yankees averaged 2.54 million viewers in the latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, the most-watched MLB telecast of the season and the most-watched edition of the Sunday night franchise since 2018.
The Yankees’ win, which peaked with 3.02 million viewers in the 9:45 PM ET quarter-hour, soared 156% over last year’s poor-performing Padres-Braves game (992K), which faced competition from an NBA playoff Game 7.
Source: ESPN
Jon Lewis
FOX averaged 2.02 million for its regional Major League Baseball window last weekend, which the network says is the largest audience of the MLB season.
The following night, the latest edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (Phillies-Guardians) averaged 1.3 million — down 13% from Braves-Mets a year ago (1.5M).
In other MLB action, TBS drew 294,000 for Red Sox-Tigers on Tuesday night — down from Yankees-Twins last year (308K).
Source: Fox Sports, ESPN, Programming Insider
Jon Lewis
Tuesday’s Padres-Yankees Major League Baseball game averaged 337,000 viewers on TBS, up 40% from Astros-Yankees last year and the network’s second-most watched game this season.
MLB on TBS is now averaging 319,000 viewers through five games, up 18% from last year.
Source: TNT Sports
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