MLB Regular Season: Fox Saturdays Flat; ESPN, TBS Audience Down

Fox averaged a 1.8 final Nielsen rating and 2.7 million viewers for its Saturday MLB telecasts this season, flat with last year's record-low figures. Ratings and viewership had declined the previous five seasons for Fox' regular-season package. The net finished on a high note last Saturday, earning a 2.2 rating and 3.4 million viewers, up 83% from a 1.2 rating and 1.7 million viewers for last year's finale. Fox' primetime telecast on May 22 was the net's highest-rated and most-viewed coverage of the season with a 2.7 rating and 4.3 million viewers. Among afternoon telecasts, coverage on May 8 featuring Yankees-Red Sox was tops with a 2.5 rating and 3.7 million viewers.

BRISTOL BALL: ESPN averaged a 1.4 U.S. rating and 2.2 million viewers for its 24 "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts this season, down 13% and 12%, respectively, from a 1.6 rating and 2.5 million viewers for the net's 23 telecasts last season. The net's Red Sox-Yankees telecast on August 8 was the highest-rated and most-viewed "SNB" with a 2.3 U.S. rating and 3.5 million viewers. ESPN averaged a 1.0 U.S. rating and 1.4 million viewer for 66 MLB telecasts this season, including non-exclusive Monday and Wednesday telecasts. That is down from a 1.1 rating and 1.6 million viewers last season.

FUNNY BUSINESS: TBS averaged a 0.4 U.S. rating and 557,000 viewers for 26 telecasts during the third season of its non-exclusive Sunday afternoon MLB telecasts, even in ratings but down 11% in viewership from last season. That does not include the '09 Twins-Tigers AL Central tiebreaker. The net's first season of telecasts in '08 averaged 0.5 U.S. rating and 624,000 viewers, excluding that season's White Sox-Twins AL Central tiebreaker. None of the net's telecasts this season topped the 1 million viewer mark despite the net airing 12 Yankees games. Just one regular-season, non-tiebreaker telecast on TBS has topped 1 million viewers in the three years -- an Indians-Yankees game from April 19, 2009.

STRASMAS PRESENT: Nationals P Stephen Strasburg's MLB debut on June 8 marked MLB Network's highest-rated and most-viewed game this season, the first year that the net was rated by Nielsen. MLB Network from April to September saw a 51% increase in average primetime viewers, with August marking the best two months in the net's history with an average of 150,000 viewers. Weeknight games from August 2-6 also marked the net's most-viewed week ever with 220,000 primetime viewers per night. MLB Network saw spikes in its audience when it cut to major performances, including 300% bumps for the finishes of perfect games by A's P Dallas Braden on May 9 and Phillies P Roy Halladay on May 30. The net also saw a 330% increase in audience when it cut to Tigers P Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game on June 2.

AND NOW YOUR LOCAL NEWS: FS Midwest topped all MLB RSNs this season with a 9.5 local rating for its Cardinals game telecasts, up from a 7.97 rating last year. The A's had the lowest local average rating with a 1.16 on Comcast SportsNet California, which was actually up from a 0.82 rating on the net last year. The Nationals saw the biggest percentage increase among all MLB teams, up 136% for its telecasts on MASN/MASN2. The Reds (+95%) on FS Ohio and Rays (+77%) on FS Florida/Sun Sports also saw significant bumps in TV numbers on their way to their respective division titles. The Cubs saw the sharpest drop among MLB clubs, down 39% on CSN Chicago. The Red Sox were not far behind, down 38% for games on NESN (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).

PENNANT FEVER: CSN Bay Area averaged an 11.83 local rating and over 300,710 HHs for its telecast of the Oct. 3 Padres-Giants game, during which the Giants clinched the NL West. The game is the net's highest-rated Giants game ever, besting the Oct. 1 game against the Padres, which averaged a 10.55 rating. Twenty of the 24 Giants games that aired on the net beginning on September 1 were the highest-rated program for the day (CSN)....In California, John Maffei notes Channel 4 San Diego averaged a 5.4 local rating for its Padres telecasts this season, up 42% from last year, and averaged a 6.6 for its primetime Padres broadcasts, up 57%. Each ratings point "represents about 11,000 viewers." Channel 4 averaged a 9.4 rating for the Oct. 1 Padres-Giants game, with the postgame show "posting a solid 2.5." KSWB-Fox averaged a 7.7 for the Oct. 2 Padres-Giants game, while the Oct. 3 game, which aired on Channel 4 -- "without the conflict of a blacked-out Chargers game -- did a 10.3 rating" (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 10/8).

RATINGS ROUNDUP: CSN Philadelphia averaged an 8.3 local rating (247,000 HHs) for its Phillies game telecasts this season, up 16% from a 7.14 rating last year (CSN)....FS Ohio officials said the '10 season was the "highest-rated Reds season" ever for the RSN. The Reds ratings "could be one reason the Bengals' TV audience is down 1.5 ratings points -- or 4 percent -- after four games this season," as "three times the Bengals aired head-to-head with Reds' pennant race games" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 10/7)....MASN averaged a 1.4 local rating (33,000 HHs) in the DC market for its Nationals telecasts this season, up 100% from a 0.7 last season. The net averaged a 0.4 rating in the Baltimore market for the telecasts, even with '09. Meanwhile, MASN averaged a 3.3 local rating in Baltimore for its Orioles telecasts, up 10% from a 3.0 in '09. Orioles telecasts averaged a 0.7 rating in DC, even with '09 (MASN)....FS Wisconsin averaged a 4.9 local rating for 136 Brewers game telecasts, down 19% from a 6.1 last season. WMLW-IND averaged a 4.4 rating for 16 telecasts (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/8).