ESPN on Monday night averaged 8.17 million viewers for Yankees RF Aaron Judge’s Home Run Derby win. That is the best Derby audience since ’09, when Prince Fielder won the event (8.25 million viewers). A pair of Yankees in the field helped the N.Y. market to its best Derby figure on record (10.8 rating). L.A. earned the same superlative with a 6.0 rating, as rookie Dodgers 1B/LF Cody Bellinger took part in the event. Younger viewers tuned into the event this year as well, with viewership among males 12-34 up 22% for the Derby. ESPN also had its best Hispanic audience on record for the Derby (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
|
MLB HOME RUN DERBY AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN
|
|
YEAR
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
WINNER
|
|
'17
|
8,167
|
Yankees RF Aaron Judge
|
|
'16
|
5,524
|
Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton
|
|
'15^
|
7,126
|
Reds 3B Todd Frazier
|
|
'14*
|
5,402
|
A's RF Yoenis Cespedes
|
|
'13
|
6,651
|
A's RF Yoenis Cespedes
|
CHART NOTES: ^ = First year under new format. * = Event was delayed by an hour due to rain.
AT A LOSS FOR WORDS: On Long Island, Neil Best wrote ESPN's Mark Teixeira and Jessica Mendoza were "appropriately wowed" by the action while calling the Derby, but they "struggled to find new ways to express that wow-ness as the night wore on." They also "did what they could with awkward interviews of players distracted by watching the competition as it unfolded before them, and by the noise in Marlins Park." ESPN's Karl Ravech "helpfully provided balance as lead announcer in his first turn in place of Chris Berman." Ravech's "understated approach -- compared with Berman's, anyway -- allowed the real stars to shine" (NEWSDAY.com, 7/11). This was the first Derby without Berman since '93, and in N.Y., Charles Cotton wrote his "absence -- polarizing as ever -- was felt." Berman was a "staple at the event ... whether you love him or you hate him" (NYPOST.com, 7/11).
PUMP UP THE VOLUME: Giants C Buster Posey poked some fun at ESPN's announce crew, sarcastically saying, "I was a little disappointed at the commentating because they should have been going bonkers when I was watching balls go second deck in right center, because that's not normal. You know how it is hitting here. That's not normal.” ESPN’s Eduardo Perez: "So you're calling out Ravy, you’re calling out Tex yesterday on the calls?” Posey: “I'm calling them out. They should have been doing back flips for some of those homers.” ESPN’s Karl Ravech: "It's amazing how many people thought we were overreacting and yelling and screaming" ("Baseball Tonight," ESPN, 7/11).
