Catching up on a news item from the over the weekend, we find Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball talking about the success of the YES Network. Now that the final 2008 numbers are in, the YES Network has emerged as the most watched regional sports network in the nation for the sixth consecutive year.
According to Brown’s compilation, “YES averaged 29,000 TV in total day delivery, 16% more than #2 NESN, which averaged 25,000 households.” Take that, Boston. Meanwhile, this 29,000 total was just 2,000 less than the combined total delivery of MSG, MSG Plus and the Mets’ SportsNet NY. Talk about crushing the competition.
Meanwhile, when the Yankees are on TV during primetime, YES draws an average of 72,000 households. Game telecasts, according to the YES Network press release, “regularly out-performed ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS programs in New York. For example, from May 28 to August 7, primetime YES Yankees telecasts were the #1-rated program in the New York DMA 24 out of 25 game days in TV households, Men 18+, Men 18-49, Men 25-54, Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, and Total Viewers 2+.” While that’s a lot of TV ratings mumbo-jumbo to the untrained ear, in a nutshell, that simply means more money for the Yankees.
In terms of local popularity, it’s not that close. Thirty-three Yankee telecasts earned a 5.0 rating or higher while just seven of SNY’s Mets telecasts reached such lofty levels. They may have been a mediocre, over-paid and under-performing team in 2008, but the Yankees still reel in the viewers. For the bottom line, that’s a very good thing indeed, and with even more expectations placed upon the star-filled 2009 team, I would expect a seventh year of YES dominance.
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