Washington, D.C. - The Kansas City Royals, which are broadcast locally by Fox Sports Kansas City, posted this season's top local TV ratings of the 29 Major League League baseball clubs that were measured by Nielsen, as reported by Forbes Magazine. 
The Royals, which last year won the World Series, garnered an 11.70 rating on average per game, more than three ratings points higher than the second-place finisher, The St. Louis Cardinals, which had an average 8.54 rating. (The Cardinals' regional sports network is Fox Sports Midwest.)
 
Kansas City Royals Posts Top MLB TV Ratings
The Detroit Tigers (Fox Sports Detroit) finished third with a 7.56 rating; the Baltimore Orioles (MASN) were fourth with a 7.28 while Pittsburgh Pirates (ROOT Sports) were fifth with a 7.22. Kansas City last year also finished first in the local MLB ratings with an average rating of 12.98 per game.  Forbes notes that nine clubs had the top ratings of all networks in prime time in their local markets: Royals, Tigers, Orioles, Pirates, Indians, Red Sox, Mariners, Giants and Cardinals. Two other clubs, the Cubs and Rangers, finished second of all networks in prime time in their local markets. The MLB's local ratings dominance illustrates the continuing power of live television, particularly for sporting events, which helps explains why sports networks spend enormous sums for game rights.  The Cleveland Indians this year posted the biggest improvement in local TV ratings, raising their ratings by an average of 71 percent per game. The Indians surprised some baseball observers this year by winning the AL Central division.  The San Diego Padres suffered the biggest decline in ratings with a 36 percent drop.  Toronto Blue Jays were not listed in the Nielsen rankings because they play in Canada where Nielsen does not measure viewing.  The Nielsen ratings covered the 2016 MLB season from April 3 through September 25.
Phillip Swann/tvpredictions.com
 

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