The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Empty stands not hurting Braves viewership
With attending games in person not an option, more people are watching the Braves on TV.
The first nine games of the season shown on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast averaged a 3.66 rating in the Atlanta TV market, up 21% from a 3.02 rating for the first nine telecasts on the networks last season.
The 3.66 rating translates to an average audience of about 86,000 households.
The rating for individual games has ranged from a high of 4.45 for the July 24 opener against the Mets (104,000 homes) to a low of 2.4 for the July 27 game at Tampa Bay (56,000 homes).
The one Braves game televised on ESPN so far this season, July 26 at the Mets, drew a 4.4 rating in Atlanta.
The rating is the number of households, out of every 100 in the market, watching the games on average.
The 2019 season began in late March, while the start of this season was delayed four months by the coronavirus pandemic.
While up impressively vs. the start of last season, the Braves ratings on Fox Sports South/Southeast through Sunday are up only slightly vs. the average for all of last season (3.62).
The ratings last season increased 13% from an average of 3.2 in the 2018 season, and the 2018 ratings soared 76% from 1.82 in the 2017 season. The 2018 surge came as the Braves emerged from four consecutive losing seasons with their first division title since 2013.
In 2013, Braves games on Fox Sports South/Southeast averaged a 4.1 rating in the Atlanta TV market, a level still not regained on average. The average rating had plummeted to a lowly 1.18 by the 2016 season, the second year of the Braves’ teardown and rebuild.
According to Fox Sports South/ Southeast, five of this season’s first nine telecasts on the networks won their time slots in the Atlanta household ratings over all other TV programming, while each of the nine games topped all nonnews cable programming competition in the market.