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Fox' MLB All-Star Game Overnight Rating Down Slightly; Hurt By 31% Drop In N.Y. Market

Fox dew a 7.8 overnight rating for the AL’s 6-3 win over the NL in the MLB All-Star game last night, down slightly from a 7.9 overnight last year and an 8.1 overnight in ’13 and ’12. Despite the drop in the overnights, Fox still will get an easy win in primetime among all nets. With last year featuring the ASG swan song for Derek Jeter, the N.Y. market saw a 31% drop this year (8.2 vs 11.9). K.C., which had three players for the hometown Royals in the AL starting lineup, led all markets last night with a 31.4 local rating, marking the best figure for a non-host market on record. Cincinnati ranked second with a 22.8 local rating. Rounding out the top five were St. Louis (17.9), Pittsburgh (13.2) and Dayton (11.4). While N.Y. was down, other large markets rebounded from ’14. L.A. drew an 8.5 local rating, which is the market’s best ASG figure in five years. Chicago drew a 7.7 rating, its best figure in three years (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes Fox' ASG pregame show "was a bit of a ... tribute" to former MLBer and Fox analyst Pete Rose, "showing a shot of Pete Rose Way, a street near the ballpark, and the rose garden on the spot where Riverfront Stadium stood where his record-breaking 4,192nd hit landed" in '85. Rose during the show "watched a replay of his collision" with Ray Fosse in the '70 All-Star Game "and was unapologetic for doing what he did to score" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/15). In Salt Lake City, Scott Pierce writes one "can't help but wonder if working for Fox is part of Rose's campaign to be reinstated." Pierce: "Should Fox be helping Rose with his campaign? Should it be ignoring his ethical failures and holding him out as some sort of hero? Absolutely not" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 7/15).

FROM THE TWITTER-SPHERE: There was plenty of thoughts on Twitter last night about the Fox booth of Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci. The St. Paul Pioneer Press' Mike Berardino wrote, "Tom Verducci's grasp of pitching mechanics and ability to explain them in simple terms to a broad audience continue to impress. Verducci also made great point about Dozier's leg drive. It's how he generates so much power for a little guy. Went out to deep left center." Sports talk radio show producer Jason Stewart wrote, "I enjoy and  respect Tom Verducci's perspective on baseball. Always has something compelling to say.  All I ask: be interesting." Mitchell Communications Group Senior Dir for Digital & Social Media Brent Gambill: "The best moments of the Fox #ASG broadcast are when Buck/Verducci pretend they are a two-man booth." The N.Y. Post's Bart Hubbuch: "Harold Reynolds still having a job is a strong bit of trolling by Fox." USA Today's Paul Myerberg: "Harold Reynolds makes me miss Joe Morgan, which I really did not think was possible." The L.A. Daily News' Tom Hoffarth: "If Harold Reynolds did any home work he'd know @yungjoc650 lets it fly every at bat. Hence the huge K numbers. with 2 more tonight." The Bergen Record's Art Stapleton: "Been watching ASG for just 2 innings + have thought this on multiple occasions already: What the hell is Harold Reynolds talking about?" The Boston Globe's Chad Finn: "Next baseball-related thing that needs a clock: Harold Reynolds. He gets 10 seconds per inning to talk. Because I'm feeling generous." 

UP GOES FRAZIER: ESPN on Monday night finished with 7.13 million viewers for Reds 3B Todd Frazier's win at the Gillette Home Run Derby, marking the event's best audience since '09, when Prince Fielder's win at Busch Stadium drew 8.25 million viewers. The Derby delivered ESPN a win for the night among all nets, as well as among all key adult and male demos. The Derby peaked from 10:00-10:30pm ET with 7.52 million viewers. The Derby also saw 256,000 unique visitors on the WatchESPN app, up 14% from last year. Meanwhile, ESPN on Monday following the Derby drew 2.97 million viewers for a tape-delayed All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, which was held Sunday. The audience was the best for the event since '10, when it drew 3.2 million viewers (ESPN).

MLB HOME RUN DERBY AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN
YEAR
RATING
VIEWERS (000)
'15^
4.2
7,126
'14*
3.4
5,402
'13
4.1
6,651
'12
4.1
6,882
'11
4.0
6,686
10
4.0
6,418
'09
5.1
8,250

NOTES: ^ = First year under new format. * = Event was delayed by an hour due to rain.

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