(SUNRISE, FL) Fox Sports Net Florida today announced that the network's coverage of the Florida Marlins vs. Philadelphia Phillies game on Wednesday, September 24 generated an average Nielsen household rating of 8.6, making it the highest rated Marlins game ever on the regional sports network. The game telecast beat the 8.1 rating, set back during the 1997 season and was the highest viewed program in 9 out of the 13 quarter hour rating periods between 7:00 PM and 10:15 PM, peaking at 11.9 at 10:00 PM. Ratings are based on the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA.
"The bitter history of the 1998 season can finally be put to rest. Jeffrey Loria, David Samson, Larry Beinfest and Jack McKeon have returned championship caliber baseball to South Florida and the fans are tuning-in in record numbers, " said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox Sports Net Florida. "Marlins ratings on Fox Sports Net are up 60% over last season and for the first time in six years South Florida baseball fans now have plans in October."
One rating point represents approximately 15,500 television households in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA, which consists of Dade, Broward and Monroe Counties. All Marlins home games televised on Fox Sports Net are simulcast in Spanish, accessible by using the SAP feature available on most television sets.
Fox Sports Net Florida reaches more than 4.9 million households in Florida. Fox Sports Net Florida's programming includes Major League Baseball's Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers, the University of Miami, and the University of South Florida, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, NASCAR and 54321. Fox Sports Net Florida is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
Rainbow Sports Networks is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Fox Sports Net reaches more than 79 million households nationwide and is a service of National Sports Partners, equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., and Fox Entertainment Group. Rainbow Sports Networks incorporates Rainbow's 50% ownership in Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports National Advertising and the ownership and management of Fox Sports Net regional networks in five of the nation's largest markets: Chicago, San Francisco, New England, Ohio and Florida.