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Media Views: Cards help make St. Louis Fox's top-rated market again
The Cardinals not only had the best record in baseball in the regular season, they shattered records locally and nationally in television ratings.
To wit:
For Saturday afternoon games on the Fox network (KTVI, Channel 2 locally), St. Louis had a 9.9 rating - the highest figure for any market in the 10 seasons Fox has been carrying major-league baseball. It is the third season in a row that St. Louis is Fox's top-rated market. This year's local rating was 41 percent higher than the No. 2 market, Boston, which had a 7.0 figure.
In fact, St. Louis has been tops nationally in six of the last eight years. The other two seasons, St. Louis was second.Advertisement
"St. Louis is a baseball town with a legendary history," Fox Sports President Ed Goren said. "The Cardinals are one of those teams that have a national following - no matter what town you go into, you're going to find Cardinals fans."
"What a great year it would be, not to take anything away from other teams, but to do a World Series again in St. Louis, in the final days of the old Busch (Stadium). I don't know if it gets us any ratings, but it's a great story."
Fox will carry the Series, as well as both league championship series.
The majority of the Cardinals games were shown on cable's FSN Midwest, and according to Nielsen Media Research, those telecasts were seen in an average of 9.2 percent of area homes. That's the highest rating ever for Cards cablecasts, up 5 percent over last year when the previous mark was set at 8.8. And it's the second-best rating in the nation for a team's games on a regional cable carrier. Only Boston was higher.
FSN Midwest was the top-rated station on St. Louis television in prime-time hours 27 times this season, all with Cardinals games. That's quite a feat for a cable/satellite channel that is picked up in about 80 percent of area homes.
KPLR (Channel 11) carried the Cards' telecasts that aired on free TV, and finished with a rating of 12.9. That's up from last season's 12.5 figure and is the highest finish for the station other than in 1998, when Mark McGwire's run for the home run record sparked a 14.8 rating. KPLR's rating ranked second nationally to Boston for over-the-air TV.
Cashing in
KPLR is enjoying a Cardinals-fueled roll in the ratings this week. It televised the final two regular-season games at Busch Stadium, had a two-hour special on the ballpark and also showed the closing ceremonies on Sunday.
Plus, it has simulcast all games so far in the Cards-Padres series. The combined KPLR and ESPN/ESPN2 rating for Game 1 was 15.7, and that soared to 24.1 for Game 2.
Last Sunday's farewell festivities pulled a rating of 18.1. The day before, KPLR carried the introduction of the Cardinals' all-Busch Stadium team (7.0 rating), the Cards-Reds game (15.1) and a two-hour special chronicling the history of the ballpark (6.8).
In contrast, FSN's telecast Wednesday of the Blues' opener drew a 2.1 rating and their second game pulled a 2.8 figure.
On another note, Cardinals vice president Dan Farrell said Major League Baseball Productions is putting together a DVD about the history of Busch Stadium, which should be ready in time for the holiday season. It is expected to have extensive footage of activities that took place last weekend.
KPLR's telecast last Sunday of the Cardinals-Reds game, which overlapped much of KTVI's coverage of the Rams-Giants football contest, helped drop the Rams to their lowest local rating in more than six seasons.
Impacting the Rams
The Rams' lopsided loss to the Giants was seen in 18.6 percent of area homes, according to Nielsen. In the period when the Cards were playing simultaneously (1:15-3:30 p.m.), the baseball game drew a 13 rating. The Rams' rating is their worst since Game 2 of the 1999 season, which generated a 16.1 figure. The Rams beat Atlanta 35-7 that day as they were beginning their storybook rise to prominence.
KTVI general manager Spencer Koch said a variety of factors combined to beat down the Rams' rating, the smallest in the club's last 108 games.
"I attribute it to a bad football game, good weather (with people being outdoors instead of inside watching TV) and a nostalgic finish to the ballpark," Koch said. "Those are big" obstacles.[/b][/quote]
The Cardinals not only had the best record in baseball in the regular season, they shattered records locally and nationally in television ratings.
To wit:
For Saturday afternoon games on the Fox network (KTVI, Channel 2 locally), St. Louis had a 9.9 rating - the highest figure for any market in the 10 seasons Fox has been carrying major-league baseball. It is the third season in a row that St. Louis is Fox's top-rated market. This year's local rating was 41 percent higher than the No. 2 market, Boston, which had a 7.0 figure.
In fact, St. Louis has been tops nationally in six of the last eight years. The other two seasons, St. Louis was second.Advertisement
"St. Louis is a baseball town with a legendary history," Fox Sports President Ed Goren said. "The Cardinals are one of those teams that have a national following - no matter what town you go into, you're going to find Cardinals fans."
"What a great year it would be, not to take anything away from other teams, but to do a World Series again in St. Louis, in the final days of the old Busch (Stadium). I don't know if it gets us any ratings, but it's a great story."
Fox will carry the Series, as well as both league championship series.
The majority of the Cardinals games were shown on cable's FSN Midwest, and according to Nielsen Media Research, those telecasts were seen in an average of 9.2 percent of area homes. That's the highest rating ever for Cards cablecasts, up 5 percent over last year when the previous mark was set at 8.8. And it's the second-best rating in the nation for a team's games on a regional cable carrier. Only Boston was higher.
FSN Midwest was the top-rated station on St. Louis television in prime-time hours 27 times this season, all with Cardinals games. That's quite a feat for a cable/satellite channel that is picked up in about 80 percent of area homes.
KPLR (Channel 11) carried the Cards' telecasts that aired on free TV, and finished with a rating of 12.9. That's up from last season's 12.5 figure and is the highest finish for the station other than in 1998, when Mark McGwire's run for the home run record sparked a 14.8 rating. KPLR's rating ranked second nationally to Boston for over-the-air TV.
Cashing in
KPLR is enjoying a Cardinals-fueled roll in the ratings this week. It televised the final two regular-season games at Busch Stadium, had a two-hour special on the ballpark and also showed the closing ceremonies on Sunday.
Plus, it has simulcast all games so far in the Cards-Padres series. The combined KPLR and ESPN/ESPN2 rating for Game 1 was 15.7, and that soared to 24.1 for Game 2.
Last Sunday's farewell festivities pulled a rating of 18.1. The day before, KPLR carried the introduction of the Cardinals' all-Busch Stadium team (7.0 rating), the Cards-Reds game (15.1) and a two-hour special chronicling the history of the ballpark (6.8).
In contrast, FSN's telecast Wednesday of the Blues' opener drew a 2.1 rating and their second game pulled a 2.8 figure.
On another note, Cardinals vice president Dan Farrell said Major League Baseball Productions is putting together a DVD about the history of Busch Stadium, which should be ready in time for the holiday season. It is expected to have extensive footage of activities that took place last weekend.
KPLR's telecast last Sunday of the Cardinals-Reds game, which overlapped much of KTVI's coverage of the Rams-Giants football contest, helped drop the Rams to their lowest local rating in more than six seasons.
Impacting the Rams
The Rams' lopsided loss to the Giants was seen in 18.6 percent of area homes, according to Nielsen. In the period when the Cards were playing simultaneously (1:15-3:30 p.m.), the baseball game drew a 13 rating. The Rams' rating is their worst since Game 2 of the 1999 season, which generated a 16.1 figure. The Rams beat Atlanta 35-7 that day as they were beginning their storybook rise to prominence.
KTVI general manager Spencer Koch said a variety of factors combined to beat down the Rams' rating, the smallest in the club's last 108 games.
"I attribute it to a bad football game, good weather (with people being outdoors instead of inside watching TV) and a nostalgic finish to the ballpark," Koch said. "Those are big" obstacles.[/b][/quote]
Sponsor of Adam Wainwright
Sponsor of the $0.50 any-size frozen coke at Mobil on the Run when the Cards score six
There are 24 teams in baseball with a longer World Series drought than the St. Louis Cardinals.
"I told myself from the beginning, 'If he's going to throw a shutout, then he's going to tie,' ... he was not going to beat me today." ---Adam Wainwright, 8/11/10
"I was confused." ---Tim McCarver, 7/30/15
Sponsor of the $0.50 any-size frozen coke at Mobil on the Run when the Cards score six
There are 24 teams in baseball with a longer World Series drought than the St. Louis Cardinals.
"I told myself from the beginning, 'If he's going to throw a shutout, then he's going to tie,' ... he was not going to beat me today." ---Adam Wainwright, 8/11/10
"I was confused." ---Tim McCarver, 7/30/15
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