Hildebrandt: Two things you should know about MLB on TV
From SABR member Chuck Hildebrandt at SABRMedia.org on May 19, 2015:
1: Televised baseball is not dying.
Several times each year over the past several years, we have been treated to predictions of the demise of baseball in America, and the main proof of that always comes in the form of comparative TV ratings. Just last year, for instance, we were informed that the opening tilt of the Royals-Giants World Series was the lowest rated Game 1 in history. “[The World] Series is on, and everybody is watching … football”, gloated the New York Times headline. Not only that, but more people watched “The Big Bang Theory” and “NCIS: New Orleans” than the World Series, which was outdrawn even by “The Walking Dead”, a cable show about zombies, for crying out loud. In case you were too thick to understand the implication, the Times made it clear in so many words: “Baseball is no longer the center of attention in a new landscape”. Translation: Baseball is dying.
So what are we to make of Maury Brown’s article in Forbes yesterday: that in most of the largest markets in the country, baseball is actually outdrawing the NBA and the NHL in TV viewers? You can see from these ratings in 14 markets from last Wednesday night, when two top NBA playoff games and the NHL’s Rangers-Capitals overtime win competed against the Mets and Cubs on ESPN, that baseball won the night against basketball and football.
Read the full article here: http://sabrmedia.org/2015/05/19/two-things-you-should-know-today-about-major-league-baseball-on-tv/
Originally published: May 19, 2015. Last Updated: May 19, 2015.