ESPN drew a 4.9 overnight rating for the Gillette Home Run Derby last night, which saw Reds 3B Todd Frazier win the event under a new tournament-style format with timed rounds. That figure is up 26% from a 3.9 overnight last year, but that event that was delayed by an hour due to rain and did not end until midnight. The 4.9 overnight is down slightly from a 5.0 rating in '13, but up from a 4.7 in '12 and a 4.8 in '11. All-Star Game host market Cincinnati led the way with a 19.6 local rating last night, marking the best figure on record for an individual market during a Derby telecast. Midwest markets rounded out the top five for the Derby -- St. Louis (11.3), K.C. (10.4), Dayton (9.7) and Pittsburgh (7.9). The Derby also had its best audience yet on the WatchESPN app with 73,600 viewers, up 57% from last year (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
FOR PETE'S SAKE: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote former MLBer Pete Rose has been an "unexpected and welcome one-man marketing machine" for Fox baseball coverage. He "will appear" on FS1 today at 5:00pm ET along with host Kevin Burkhardt and analyst Frank Thomas as part of the net's "MLB Whiparound" leading up to the All-Star Game. The pregame coverage "then moves to local Fox stations" at 7:00pm with the same trio. Rose also will be on the field prior to the game "as part of the MLB 'Franchise Four' campaign, where fans voted on the most impactful players in the history of each of the 30 clubs." Fox said that it "plans to interview Rose" after the ceremony, "but not on the field." Rose will "also appear on the postgame show" (SI.com, 7/13). The Denver Post’s Eric Goodman said Fox bringing Rose "into the national spotlight is going to draw an audience just because we don’t really hear" from him. The Denver Post’s Les Shapiro said having Rose on the pregame show is a “smart move by Fox." Shapiro: "It’s the ‘car crash factor.’ We’re going to be craning our necks to see … if they reference the latest on Pete Rose. ... I’m curious to see how he handles himself” (“The Sports Show,” DENVERPOST.com, 7/13).
LOWER, BUT STILL STRONG: Fox Sports Senior VP/Programming & Research Mike Mulvihill stressed that the ASG "remains one of television's top-rated shows during the summer." In Chicago, Ed Sherman notes the ASG audience was "fairly steady" when MLB initially tied home-field advantage to the event in '03. However, the ASG rating dropped from a 9.3 in '08 to "all-time lows with three straight games" below a 7.0 rating from '11-13. The ratings "rebounded to 7.5 last year thanks in part to" former MLBer Derek Jeter's last appearance. Fox' Joe Buck thinks that ratings "might improve if fans knew the best players were going to play deeper into the game" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/14).
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT? In Boston, Christopher Gasper writes the ASG is an event "stuck in sporting limbo." It is "neither an entertaining exhibition that is fun for fans and players alike nor a game played with the intensity and import of a game that actually counts in the standings." But it has "actually managed to become less significant and less enjoyable to watch." Somewhere on the to-do list of first-year MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "should be extracting the ennui" from the ASG and return it to "enjoyable exhibition status" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/14). In Chicago, Mike Imrem writes, "No wonder so much talk centers on how to make the All-Star Game at least appear to be more than a mere exhibition. The answer should be simple: How about each team goes all in to win? ... Why not try to win the All-Star Game just for the sake of winning the All-Star Game?" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 7/14).
