ESPN Sees 6% Viewership Gain For "Sunday Night Baseball" Telecasts In '13

ESPN finished with a 1.3 rating and 1.9 million viewers for its “Sunday Night Baseball” telecasts, up 8% and 6%, respectively, from a 1.2 rating and 1.8 million viewers in ‘12. Last year saw ESPN finish with its lowest “SNB” audience since ’05. However, the '13 "SNB" audience is still under 2 million viewers, a mark frequently hit in previous years. The top “SNB” telecast this season was Yankees-Red Sox on Aug. 18, as 3.1 million viewers tuned in to see Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez play at Fenway Park following the announcement of his PED-related suspension. That was the top “SNB” audience since the same matchup in August ’11 averaged 4.7 million viewers. ESPN had four Red Sox-Yankees “SNB” telecasts in ’13, averaging 2.5 million viewers, flat with last year’s three games (one rainout). The three Yankees-Red Sox matchups in ’11 averaged 4.2 million viewers and four games in '10 averaged 3.1 million viewers.