Listeners Are Heavily Interested in Major League Baseball on the Radio

As baseball gets set to come back after the All-Star break, many are looking back on the first portion of the season to see what we have learned so far. Nielsen has done the same as it relates to radio listenership throughout Major League Baseball and found that, overall, the numbers look very strong across the board.

The company looked at all 29 teams in the U.S., which are all located in PPM markets, for games from the star of the season through June 20 and found that over 40% of teams have a double-digit 6+ share, about 50% do a five share or better 6+ ad that just under half of the teams deliver 50,000 listeners per average game.

Nielsen provided a list of the top teams based on 6+ share so far this season and immediately you notice the amount of teams that are in the American and National League Central Divisions.

John Snyder of Nielsen explained, “When those teams play against a team located in the eastern time zone, those games start an hour earlier and work their way closer to prime commuting time.”

Snyder also notes, “Unlike the NFL where the league dictates start times, MLB teams, for the majority of games, have the ability to start their games when they believe it most beneficial to the team. In recent years this has led to the start time of games being moved from the 7 p.m. hour to games now beginning at some point in the 6 p.m. hour.  In addition to time zones, most of the teams who play in either the NL or AL Central have moved the start time of their home games, especially Monday through Thursday. It’s worth noting that two of the teams that fall into the top 10 are from the East Division, but have moved their start times up in recent years – the Phillies to 6:40 p.m. and the Orioles to 6:35 p.m.

As for the top teams when it comes to cume, that title in the first portion of the season goes to Philadelphia, where the team is off to a 62-34 start, with the New York Yankees the only other team averaging over 100,000. The Yankees started off as one of the hottest teams in baseball but have cooled off significantly while still 18 games over .500.

BSM Staff