Nielsen’s John Snyder says the percentage of in-home radio listening for Major League Baseball games is “crazy high.”
Snyder says the Atlanta Braves lead the way when it comes to in-home listening, with 73% of total listening to Braves games coming from fans in-home. Snyder says that could be chalked up to several factors.
“I think it’s a combination of a bunch of factors,” he says in a post on his LinkedIn page. “One, love for the hometown radio announcers — it’s now easier than ever to sync the audio with the video. Two, subscription fatigue — not everyone is willing to pay the extra money to watch the games. Three, the Bally [Sports] / Comcast blackout in 12 MLB markets — Atlanta is one of those markets. And four, it’s easier for the local stations to stream games. Whatever the reason, baseball on the radio is home.”
Nielsen’s numbers are through June 28 (Persons 6+ AQH Persons %).
Indeed, fans eight of the nine teams on the above chart — the Braves, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels (“California” on the above chart) — are in markets affected by the Bally Sports / Comcast conflict.
Other teams affected by the blackouts include the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers.
But will these numbers last? On Monday it was announced that Comcast and Bally Sports parent Diamond Sports have reached a deal to end the three-month blackout. The deal will restore 15 Bally Sports regional sports networks, which have been unavailable to Comcast subscribers since May 1.
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