MLB viewership is off to a strong start on national TV this season. ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” is averaging 2.52 million viewers through three games, up 13% from the same point last season. "SNB" both this season and last included one ESPN2 telecast and one Yankees-Red Sox game. The “SNB” increase comes despite viewership for the Yankees-Red Sox game dropping 17% compared to the first “SNB” matchup between the two teams last year. This year’s audience boost comes from strong numbers for the Cardinals-Cubs season opener. Meanwhile, FS1 is averaging 530,000 viewers for its four Saturday telecasts to date, up 12% to date. Last year during the same period, FS1 had six telecasts, including one Tuesday night game. A Yankees-Red Sox game was aired both years. On MLB Network, the league-owned channel has had its most-viewed opening two weeks on record. Viewership was boosted by the net’s most-watched Opening Day on record, most-watched regular-season day on record (April 10), and most-watched regular-season week on record (April 13-19). The April 16 game between the D-backs and Giants drew 344,000 viewers, marking the net’s most-viewed late-night game during the regular season. The net’s new “MLB Central” morning show is drawing an audience 17% higher than programming in the same window last year.
