Fox' MLB All-Star Game Overnight Rating Hits All-Time Low
Fox drew a 6.2 rating last night for the AL’s 4-3 win in the MLB All-Star Game from Cleveland, marking an all-time low for the event. Last night’s number is down 5% from a 6.5 rating for last year’s game from DC. The previous low was set three years ago, when Fox drew a 6.4 overnight for the game hosted by the Padres at Petco Park. The game two years ago in Miami drew a 6.5 overnight. Fox did win the night in primetime for last night’s game. Cleveland led all markets with a 17.6 rating, followed by K.C. (11.6) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (10.2) (Josh Carpenter, THE DAILY).
SOUNDS OF THE GAME: YAHOO SPORTS' Liz Roscher writes Fox' move to put microphones on multiple players "in the field and in the batter's box was an unqualified success." Braves 1B Freddie Freeman, Indians SS Francisco Lindor, Astros 3B Alex Bregman and Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon were among the players to contribute to the broadcast, and that "added a funny and wild aspect to the game" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/10). Freeman was mic'd up during his at-bat in the first inning when he faced Astros P Justin Verlander, and USA TODAY's Andy Nesbitt wrote it provided "great banter and entertainment." Nesbitt: "We need more of this in our baseball broadcasts" (USATODAY.com, 7/9). SI.com's Dan Gartland writes Freeman’s "running commentary of the at-bat and his back-and-forth with Verlander was an absolute delight" (SI.com, 7/10). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes Freeman's interview was the "rare instance of hooking a player up for sound actually paying off." Freeman's "playfulness is what made it work" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 7/10). MLB.com's Andrew Mearns wrote under the header that Freeman's at-bat was "must-see TV." Brewers LF Christian Yelich and Dodgers RF Cody Bellinger, the two leading candidates for NL MVP, also were mic'd up at the same time so they could talk to each other, and Mearns wrote, "Hopefully, these experiences will lead to more interactive mid-game interviews like this" (MLB.com, 7/9).
SHOWING SOME PERSONALITY: SI.com's Matt Martell wrote MLB "did a great job highlighting all these players' personalities with so many guys getting mic'd up" (SI.com, 7/9). THE RINGER's Claire McNear: "If we're going to let the exhibition game just be for fun's sake, this has been an awfully great way to have some fun" (THERINGER.com, 7/10). ESPN.com's David Schoenfield: "It's an exhibition game. This is fun. It works" (ESPN.com, 7/10).
TALKING REAL ISSUES: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes he cannot remember a previous All-Star Game broadcast "that was so issue-oriented." The "hot topic of the early innings, both in the broadcast booth and during a couple of in-game interviews, was this season's allegedly juiced baseballs." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "strongly denied" yesterday that MLB has "done anything intentional to increase the cruising distance of the ball." Verlander, who has been outspoken about his thoughts on the ball, "tempered his comments during a first-inning dugout interview" (BALTIMORE SUN, 7/10).