The Nationals’ 4-1 win over the Giants in Game 3 of the NLDS last night earned a 1.4 overnight rating for MLB Network, the best in the history of the net. Yesterday’s game -- which began around 5:00pm ET -- broke MLB Net’s previous record (1.2 overnight) set Saturday for Cardinals-Dodgers Game 2, which began in primetime. Meanwhile, FS1 averaged a 2.2 overnight for the Cardinals' Game 3 NLDS win over the Dodgers, the third-best overnight in network history. The game -- which began around 9:00pm ET -- peaked at a 2.7 rating between 12:00-12:15am. The game averaged a 23.4 overnight in St. Louis, the highest ever for an FS1 broadcast in the market and also the best rating in any single market for an FS1 telecast. The game scored a 7.6 rating in L.A., the highest such number for FS1 ever in that market. (Josh Carpenter, Staff Writer).
BAY AREA BLUES: In S.F., Al Saracevic notes with last night's Nationals-Giants game on MLB Network, many Bay Area Giants fans "reacted in shock when they realized that Game 3 was being televised on a channel that many don’t get." MLB Network is "on a higher tier of service than many people receive." Today's Game 4 will return to Fox Sports 1, a channel "few have heard of and even fewer can find." A Giants spokesperson said, "We do apologize to our fans for any inconvenience" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/7).
MARKET WATCH: ESPN's Bomani Jones said of the impending Royals-Orioles ALCS, "Neither one of those cities is very big. I imagine that has been a topic of discussion at the Major League Baseball offices. This is a great series for people who really, really, really enjoy watching baseball. It is not going to pick up a single casual viewer, but you know what, that sounds like what baseball has become so maybe they can be happy with having a good series." ESPN's Dan LeBatard added, "If you care about baseball, you love it. If you make money off of baseball and television ratings, you want to set fire to the entire sport" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN2, 10/6).
LOVING LOCAL FLAVOR: The AP’s Rachel Cohen reports MLB teams "made for the most popular window of prime-time TV over the course of the regular season" in 11 metropolitan areas. Nielsen data shows that "regional baseball broadcasts topped the rankings" in Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, K.C., Cleveland, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Seattle, S.F., Boston and Phoenix. The average rating for games on the respective RSNs "outpaced the offerings of any other channel in the market" for the 7:00-11:00pm window. In the "face of a record-low World Series ratings and the increasing average age of viewers, baseball officials are giddy about their business, and that's because of the value of those local summer audiences" (AP, 10/7).
