MLB: Local TV And Streaming Viewership Up Over 4%

It was clear pretty early on that the 2020 Red Sox weren’t going anywhere, and unsurprisingly a lot of fans tuned out as Boston stumbled to a 24-36 record in this pandemic-shortened season, marking the team’s worst record by winning percentage since 1965, reports WEEI Boston.

The Red Sox took a bigger hit in television ratings than any other Major League Baseball team. According to a new report from Forbes’ Maury Brown, Red Sox ratings on NESN were down 58% from 2019, dropping from a 5.15 average to 2.14. That was well ahead of the Los Angeles Angels, who saw the second-biggest drop at 40%.

Average viewership for Red Sox games was down 54%, according to Brown, from 158,614 in 2019 to 72,515 this year.

Overall, Major League Baseball saw average viewership across the league increase by 4.2% while ratings decreased by 11%. The reason for the discrepancy is that Nielsen began tracking more digital viewers this year (boosting viewership), but fewer households (hurting ratings).

Forbes reports a key win for MLB and the networks is seeing growth across age demos. With the addition of digital, MLB content is finally tracking what many have assumed through streaming.

The biggest viewership growth from last year’s data came in the 18-to-34 age group, which saw a 53% change (13,171 average, compared with 8,583 last season). The 18-to-49 age group grew 31% (29,199 for 2020, compared with 22,264 for 2019), and the 25-to-54 age demo had 16% growth (32,327, compared with 27,843 last season).