Ratings Roundup: MLB on Fox Dips, NFL Network Cashes in On Free Agent Frenzy

Regional MLB action on July 23 featuring Braves/Reds earned a 1.8 final rating and 2.863 million viewers on FOX, down 18% in ratings and 14% in viewership from coverage featuring the same matchup last year (ATL/CIN: 2.2, 3.315M), and flat in ratings and down 7% in viewership from 2009 (NYY/CHW: 1.8, 2.669M). Six of the last eight MLB telecasts on FOX have had declines from last year…

…NFL Network, airing coverage of post-lockout NFL player movement, averaged 427,000 viewers in primetime Thursday night. Excluding live game coverage and the NFL Draft, Thursday’s coverage earned the largest primetime audience in the history of the network. Overall, NFL Network averaged 290,000 primetime viewers from Tuesday to Thursday, up 202% compared to last year….

…Coverage of the Formula 1 German Grand Prix earned a 0.9 final rating and 1.406 million viewers on FOX last Sunday, up 50% in ratings and 75% in viewership from last year (0.6, 802K). The race earned the largest F1 audience of the season on FOX…

…CBS drew a 0.52 final rating and 855,000 viewers for an hour-long Tour de France highlight show last Sunday, up 11% in ratings and 37% in viewership from last year (0.47, 626K), and up 11% and 19%, respectively, from 2009 (0.47, 721K). The CBS highlight show drew a lower rating and fewer viewers than both of NBC’s tape-delayed Tour de France windows.