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NBC Tops Midseason MLB TV Ratings as Rights Moves and Measurement Change Shift the Landscape

Moving marquee windows to broadcast and adding streaming and new Nielsen methods have raised reported audiences and altered how networks stack up this season.

Overview

  • Midseason Nielsen figures show NBC leading national MLB audiences with roughly 2.25 million linear viewers and about 2.5 million when Peacock streaming measured by Adobe Analytics is added.
  • Fox ranks a close second, averaging about 2.24 million viewers for its Baseball Night in America windows, a year‑over‑year rise in line with broader measurement gains.
  • ESPN and ABC combined are averaging about 1.12 million viewers, a decline traced largely to ESPN shifting many games from weekend windows to weeknights.
  • Nielsen’s rollout of its ‘Big Data’ methodology and the inclusion of streamer counts have generally lifted measured sports audiences and complicate direct comparisons with prior seasons.
  • TBS and truTV’s Tuesday package is up roughly 21% year‑over‑year at about 466,000 viewers and is reporting a 41% increase among female viewers, a shift that could change advertiser targeting and regional broadcast strategies.