Why Does Fox Have MLB? This Is Why.

The ratings for MLB on Fox during the regular season may not be burning up your TV set, but when it comes time for the League Championship Series, the ratings for baseball appropriately go up.

Even without the Chicago Cubs, this year's National League Championship Series involving two big markets, Philadelphia and Los Angeles brings in the viewers. Game 1 of the NLCS performed 6% higher than Game 1 of the American League Championship Series involving Boston and Cleveland last year.

Dodgers/Phillies NLCS Comes Out Swinging on FOX

Memorable Game 1 Up 6% From Previous Year

Game Earns FOX Highest-Rated and Most-Watched Thursday Night in Nine Weeks

All Major Demographics Show Significant Increases From 2007

New York, NY – Facing the toughest night of competition in all of television, the 2008 NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies got off to a solid start last night earning a 5.1 national household rating and an 8 share (7.7 million viewers) for Game 1. Those figures represent a 6% improvement over last year’s 4.8/9 (7.4 million viewers) for Game 1 of the Cleveland Indians - Boston Red Sox ALCS which also aired on FOX. This marks the first time since 2003 that FOX’s opening LCS broadcast has enjoyed year-to-year growth. NLCS Game 1 projects to be FOX’s highest-rated and most-watched night in nine weeks and will tie FOX’s best Thursday night A18-49 demographic performance in a month. Last year’s NLCS aired on TBS.

Game 1 of the NLCS also posted impressive increases across all major demographics, with particularly strong gains among younger viewers. Compared to last year’s ALCS Game 1 on FOX, last night’s game is up +29% among Men 18-34 (2.7 vs. 2.1), +18% on M18-49 (3.3 vs. 2.8), and +12% on M25-54 (3.8 vs. 3.4). Increases are similarly strong across the Adult demos: +24% on A18-34 (2.1 vs. 1.7), +14% on A18-49 (2.5 vs. 2.2), and +4% on A25-54 (2.8 vs. 2.7). Teen viewing is also up, with M12-17 up +15% (1.5 vs. 1.3) and P12-17 up +25% (1.0 vs. 0.8).

Philadelphia was last night's top-rated market with a 23.9/35 followed by Los Angeles (9.4/18), New York (7.7/12), Boston (7.5/12), Hartford (7.4/11), and St. Louis (6.5/10).

As you can see, Philadelphia garnered excellent ratings for the NLCS and even Boston was watching, a city that is quite parochial in watching sports. Usually, the ratings for sports in Boston involving its own teams are high, but for events not involving the home team, ratings are usually lower. One can deduce with the Sox in the American League Championship Series, interest in the NLCS is higher, plus there's the Manny Ramirez factor.