Braves’ local TV ratings continue to move upward

Ender Inciarte is interviewed by Fox Sports South/Southeast reporter Kelsey Wingert after a game earlier this season.

Credit: Mike Zarrilli

Credit: Mike Zarrilli

Ender Inciarte is interviewed by Fox Sports South/Southeast reporter Kelsey Wingert after a game earlier this season.

The Braves’ local TV ratings were up slightly in the first half of this season compared with a year ago.

Telecasts on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast averaged a 3.21 rating in the Atlanta TV market before the All-Star break, a 6% increase from the same point last season, according to Nielsen figures provided by the networks.

The gain builds on a substantial jump in viewership last year, when the Braves emerged from three consecutive 90-loss seasons to win the NL East. The Braves’ local TV ratings increased 51% in the first half of 2018 from the first half of 2017.

The rating is the number of households, out of every 100 in the market, watching a telecast on average. The Braves’ 3.21 rating equals an audience of about 75,000 homes in the Atlanta market.

Braves telecasts during prime time this season have averaged a 3.45 local rating, which Fox Sports South/Southeast said ranks No. 1 in the Atlanta market among cable networks and No. 2 among all networks on nights when the Braves play.

The most-watched Braves game in the first half of the season on the Fox regional networks was a June 25 win over the Chicago Cubs, which delivered a 4.93 rating (about 115,000 homes) in Atlanta.

In addition to the TV audiences, Fox said a growing number of Braves fans are watching games streamed on the Fox Sports Go app, with average streams per game up 97% and average minutes streamed per game up 60% from last year.