ESPN MLB Regular-Season Viewership Up; Growth Across Multimedia Platforms
Last night’s ESPN MLB telecast (7 p.m.-midnight ET) – in which Baltimore defeated Boston 4-3 to eliminate the Red Sox from the postseason in dramatic fashion – is the network’s most-viewed Wednesday night telecast since 1998 (St. Louis/Houston, Sept. 23 – 2.7 rating; 2,036,000 household impressions; 2,675,000 viewers), according to Nielsen. The telecast (not shown in the local markets of the teams competing) averaged:
- 1.6 household coverage rating
- 1,549,000 household impressions
- 2,117,000 viewers
Immediately after the game ended, ESPN provided live coverage (12:05-12:14 a.m.) of Tampa Bay’s extra-inning, walk-off victory against the New York Yankees – securing the Rays a postseason berth – which generated:
- 2.8 rating
- 2,775,000 household impressions
- 3,841,000 viewers
ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Baseball telecast – Philadelphia’s extra-inning 4-3 win over Atlanta, eliminating the Braves from the postseason – posted:
- 0.9 rating
- 904,000 household impressions
- 1,184,000 viewers
On the season, ESPN’s 69 regular-season MLB telecasts were up across the board compared to last year’s 66 telecasts:
- Viewership up five percent (1,449,000 vs. 1,386,000)
- Households up three percent (1,125,000 vs. 1,093,000)
- Rating even (1.1)
Sunday Night Baseball’s audience also grew this season:
- Viewership up five percent (2,294,000 vs. 2,177,000)
- Households up four percent (1,720,000 vs. 1,656,000)
- Rating even (1.7)
Digital & Mobile Usage – Wednesday, Sept. 28
September 28 was the highest trafficked day of the 2011 regular season for MLB content on ESPN digital platforms. Highlights:
ESPN.com
- MLB section had over 2.7 million unique visitors yesterday, up 56 percent vs. average day during the 2011 season
- MLB section logged an average minute audience of 19,000 users, up 65 percent vs. typical day this season
- MLB GameCast generated 500,000 unique visitors, up 205 percent vs. average day in 2011
ESPN Mobile Web
- Yankees/Rays GameCast posted 360,000 unique visitors and 1.9 million total minutes spent
- Phillies/Braves GameCast generated 332,000 unique visitors and 2.6 million total minutes spent
- Red Sox/Orioles GameCast netted 325,000 unique visitors and 1.7 million total minutes spent
ESPN3
- More than 150,000 unique viewers generated nearly 9.2 million minutes with an average time spent of one hour
Digital & Mobile Usage – 2011 MLB Season
- MLB content on ESPN’s mobile properties up 27 percent in total minutes and 20 percent in visits compared to 2010
- ESPN.com’s MLB section up 25 percent in total minutes and 17 percent in visits over last year
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