MLB finished with year-over-year viewership gains for both the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby from Marlins Park. Fox averaged 9.28 million viewers for Tuesday's All-Star Game, with the 10-inning affair up 7% from 8.71 million viewers last year. That remains the lowest ever for the Midsummer Classic. The game also saw gains among all key adult demos. There was an initial tune-in of just under 8 million viewers from 8:16-8:30pm ET before viewership peaked at 10.02 million people from 10:00-10:15pm ET. Fox’ audience this year was still the second-lowest on record, and the net did not register a primetime win on Tuesday among average viewers. Fox saw a slightly higher median age for the game this year, rising from 54.6 years old in ’16 to 56 years old this year. Combined with Fox Deportes -- which had its second-best All-Star Game audience -- and Fox Sports Go streaming, Tuesday's game averaged 9.44 million viewers (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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MLB ALL-STAR GAME AUDIENCE TREND ON FOX
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YEAR
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LOCATION
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VIEWERS (000)
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'17
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Miami
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9,280
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'16
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San Diego
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8,707
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'15
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St. Louis
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10,914
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'14
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Minneapolis
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11,338
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'13
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N.Y.
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10,956
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WHO'S WATCHING? AD AGE's Anthony Crupi noted in keeping with the ongoing "greying of baseball, many of those who did tune in were a bit long in the tooth." The All-Star Game "delivered a 2.3 rating in Fox's target demo, which works out to some 2.95 million adults 18 to 49." Last year's game "drew a record low 2.2 in the demo, or 2.79 million members of the 18-to-49 crowd." By way of comparison, Tuesday's game was "routed in the demo" by ESPN's coverage of Monday's Home Run Derby, which "drew a 2.9, or 3.53 million adults 18 to 49." Around 3.57 million men age 50 years and up tuned in for Tuesday game, nearly "four-and-a-half times the turnout among men 18 to 34 (802,000)" (
ADAGE.com, 7/12).
MIC'D UP: In N.Y., John Harper notes while players "wearing microphones rarely produces any of the real inside-the-game type sound that the networks hope for," Tuesday's game "did deliver a gem." After walking against Yankees P Dellin Betances, who is having control issues of late, Nationals RF Bryce Harper told Cubs 1B coach Brandon Hyde, "I feel like he’s a guy you can go up there and just take. He’ll walk you." Harper wondered if Harper knew Fox was "airing his comment, because it’s not the type of blunt assessment a player normally would make publicly." However, it was "exactly what Fox wanted." The microphones "did bring fans closer to the game than ever, it seemed," especially when viewers could hear Nationals P Max Scherzer "grunting when he delivered his fastball as clearly as if you were standing behind him on the mound" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 7/12).
INSPIRED CHOICE: In DC, Marissa Payne notes Astros RF George Springer, who wore a microphone and was interviewed during the game, "has had a stutter all his life." He said after the game, "I can’t spread a message to kids and adults if I’m not willing to put myself out there. I understand I’m going to stutter. I don’t care. It is what it is. It’s not going to stop me from talking or having fun" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/13). In Hartford, Dom Amore writes Springer "won admirers from the larger audience for his courage and efforts to show youngsters there is no reason to be self-conscious" (HARTFORD COURANT, 7/13).
PUSHING THE BOUNDARY: In K.C., Lee Judge writes if fans "will tolerate on-deck interviews and even worse, if fans like them, how long until they’re conducted during games that matter?" In some of the most important games played, the media’s "demand for access distracts the people playing the game." Media members are always "seeking access, always creeping closer to the action to provide an inside look. During Tuesday's game, that "crossed the line and that line is easy to see; it’s white and runs from home plate to the foul poles." The media should "stay off the field in games that matter" (K.C. STAR, 7/13).
