(SUNRISE, FL) – Fox Sports Net announced today that its Florida Marlins' telecasts averaged a
4.3 television household rating during the month of May in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA, the highest May average rating for Marlins game telecasts in the history of the regional sports network. The 4.3 average rating marks a 72% increase over last season's May average. Previously, the highest average rating for May was a 3.1 set in 1998, the year after the Marlins first World Series Championship.
"Many so-called baseball insiders projected baseball's World Champions would not be in contention this year, but the Marlins continue to hold first place in the NL east and hold the interest of television viewers throughout Florida," said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox Sports Net Florida. "With more fans attending the games in person this season, one would think there would be a negative siphoning effect on the television ratings, but that's simply not the case. We're experiencing record setting ratings simultaneous to big increases in fan attendance at the games."
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 over 5 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 and NASCAR. Fox Sports Net Florida is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
Rainbow Sports Networks is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Fox Sports Net reaches more than 80 million households nationwide and is a service of National Sports Partners, equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC 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.