ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, Monday Night Baseball & Wednesday Night Baseball Viewership Up Double-Digits
The total live audience (television + streaming) for ESPN’s 16 MLB game telecasts in April was up 19 percent from last year, averaging 1,352,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. On television, ESPN generated 1,315,000 average viewers (p2+), up 18 percent from last April, and ESPN’s average minute streaming audience of 37,000 viewers was up 100 percent from April 2016.
Additionally, viewership for all three of ESPN’s weekly, prime-time game franchises was up double-digits through April:
Sunday Night Baseball
- Total Live Audience: 2,306,000 viewers, up 12 percent from April 2016.
- Television: 2,257,000 viewers (p2+), up 12 percent from April 2016.
- Streaming: average minute audience of 49,000 viewers, up 44 percent from April 2016.
Monday Night Baseball
- Total Live Audience: 1,100,000 viewers in April, up 42 percent from April 2016.
- Television: 1,064,000 average viewers (p2+), up 40 percent from April 2016.
- Streaming: average minute audience of 36,000 viewers, up 123 percent from April 2016.
.Wednesday Night Baseball
- Total Live Audience: 661,000 viewers in April, up 13 percent from April 2016.
- Television: 636,000 average viewers (p2+), up 11 percent from April 2016.
- Streaming: average minute audience of 25,000 viewers, up 104 percent from April 2016.
More April highlights:
- ESPN’s Opening Night telecast on April 2 – the Chicago Cubs at the St. Louis Cardinals – generated a total live audience of 3,707,000 viewers, making it the most-watched Opening Night telecast ever, and it was up 26 percent from Opening Night in 2016.
- ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball telecast on April 10 – the Chicago Cubs home-opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers – delivered a total live audience of 1,880,000 viewers, making it the most-watched weekday regular-season MLB game on ESPN since 2012.
ESPN’s MLB games are the latest in a series of significant live events on ESPN, including the NFL Draft and the NBA Playoffs, which have seen increases in viewership.
On deck:
Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell continues this Sunday, May 7, at historic Wrigley Field. The defending World Series Champion Chicago Cubs will host the New York Yankees, at 8 p.m. ET. Dan Shulman will provide commentary with analysts Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone, and reporter Buster Olney. Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet will be on site, proceeding the game at 7 p.m. with host Karl Ravech and analysts Mark Teixeira and Tim Kurkjian.
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Media contact: Ben Cafardo at 860-766-3496 or ben.cafardo@espn.com. On Twitter: @Ben_ESPN.
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