NBC's broadcast of MLB's All-Star Game last night
earned a 10.9/18 preliminary overnight Nielsen rating, down
18% from last year's 13.3/23 overnight, which was on Fox.
The rating peaked with a 12.1/20 between 9:00-9:30pm ET. It
marks the lowest-rated overnight in All-Star Game history
(THE DAILY). In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers reviews NBC's
broadcast of the game and writes the "sounds tended to stand
out more than the pictures during NBC's coverage ... albeit
with mixed results." He writes that the microphones on
managers Joe Torre and Bobby Cox "offered timely and
terrific sound bites" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/12).
HOME RUN DERBY DOWN: ESPN's broadcast Monday night of
the "Home Run Derby" at Turner Field earned a 5.73 national
cable rating, a drop of 24% from last year's 7.51 and the
lowest since '97 (AP, 7/12). USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke
writes that the lower rating "possibly [reflects] the injury
pullouts" of top players (USA TODAY, 7/12).
RATINGS TO DATE: MEDIAWEEK's John Consoli notes that
ratings for "MLB on Fox" are up "just" 0.7% this season, to
a 2.8. Ratings among men 18-34 are up 4.1%, to a 1.5, and
men 18-49 are up 7.2%, to a 1.6. With these ratings, some
analysts think MLB "may have a tough time tripling its
current network TV rights fees." One media buyer: "I don't
think the networks want to continue to lose money on these
deals. The networks have already overpaid to renew deals
with the NFL, NCAA basketball and the NBA. What it's come
down to is, how many loss leaders does a network want to
carry to reach a small male audience" (MEDIAWEEK, 7/10
issue). USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes that ESPN's MLB
ratings "have slipped" 7% to a 1.3, despite a season high
3.7 for Sunday's Yankees-Mets (USA TODAY, 7/12).
