MLB on ESPN: Most-Viewed Wednesday Night Telecast Since 1998

ESPN MLB Regular-Season Viewership Up; Growth Across Multimedia Platforms

Last night's ESPN MLB telecast (7 p.m.-midnight ET) - in which Baltimore defeated Boston 4-3 to eliminate the Red Sox from the postseason in dramatic fashion - is the network's most-viewed Wednesday night telecast since 1998 (St. Louis/Houston, Sept. 23 - 2.7 rating; 2,036,000 household impressions; 2,675,000 viewers), according to Nielsen. The telecast (not shown in the local markets of the teams competing) averaged:

· 1.6 household coverage rating

· 1,549,000 household impressions

· 2,117,000 viewers

Immediately after the game ended, ESPN provided live coverage (12:05-12:14 a.m.) of Tampa Bay's extra-inning, walk-off victory against the New York Yankees - securing the Rays a postseason berth - which generated:

· 2.8 rating

· 2,775,000 household impressions

· 3,841,000 viewers

ESPN2's Wednesday Night Baseball telecast - Philadelphia's extra-inning 4-3 win over Atlanta, eliminating the Braves from the postseason - posted:

· 0.9 rating

· 904,000 household impressions

· 1,184,000 viewers

On the season, ESPN's 69 regular-season MLB telecasts were up across the board compared to last year's 66 telecasts:

· Viewership up five percent (1,449,000 vs. 1,386,000)

· Households up three percent (1,125,000 vs. 1,093,000)

· Rating even (1.1)

Sunday Night Baseball's audience also grew this season:

· Viewership up five percent (2,294,000 vs. 2,177,000)

· Households up four percent (1,720,000 vs. 1,656,000)

· Rating even (1.7)

Digital & Mobile Usage - Wednesday, Sept. 28

September 28 was the highest trafficked day of the 2011 regular season for MLB content on ESPN digital platforms. Highlights:

ESPN.com

· MLB section had over 2.7 million unique visitors yesterday, up 56 percent vs. average day during the 2011 season

· MLB section logged an average minute audience of 19,000 users, up 65 percent vs. typical day this season

· MLB GameCast generated 500,000 unique visitors, up 205 percent vs. average day in 2011

ESPN Mobile Web

· Yankees/Rays GameCast posted 360,000 unique visitors and 1.9 million total minutes spent

· Phillies/Braves GameCast generated 332,000 unique visitors and 2.6 million total minutes spent

· Red Sox/Orioles GameCast netted 325,000 unique visitors and 1.7 million total minutes spent

ESPN3

· More than 150,000 unique viewers generated nearly 9.2 million minutes with an average time spent of one hour

Digital & Mobile Usage - 2011 MLB Season

· MLB content on ESPN's mobile properties up 27 percent in total minutes and 20 percent in visits compared to 2010

· ESPN.com's MLB section up 25 percent in total minutes and 17 percent in visits over last year