Here Are The 2016 MLB Prime Time Television Ratings For Each Team Maury Brown/Forbes With the 2016 Major League Baseball season nearing an end, it’s time to begin looking at the popularity of the game, and with it, how it fared on television. The league continues to be a dominate force in prime time during the summer; something that bodes well for advertisers that take advantage of the large number of games, as well as the craving of sports fans who seek live content outside of the grips of DVRs. The data from Nielsen that covers the 29 U.S. clubs in the league from April 3-Sept 25 shows that nine clubs had the No. 1 ranking across all TV networks in prime time (Royals, Tigers, Orioles, Pirates, Indians, Red Sox, Mariners, and Giants). More than half the league (16 out of 29) saw them rank in the top 3 across all television networks . Out of the 29 clubs charted, 24, or 83% of the league saw the No. 1 rated programming in primetime on just cable over the course of the season. Overall, for the 29 clubs, ratings were up 1% over last year’s data of the 29 U.S. teams. Fifteen of the 29 saw ratings increases over their prime time ratings in 2015. For the second year in a row, the Kansas City Royals led the league with a stunning 11.70 rating, down from the whopping 12.98 in prime time last season on FOX Sports Kansas City. The Royals were the only club this year to see their average rating in prime time in double-digits. Coming in with the second-highest ratings for the league in consecutive years was the St. Louis Cardinals with an 8.54 rating on FOX Sports Midwest, down from a 10.86 last season. They were followed by the Tigers (7.56 average rating, up from 6.42 last season on FOX Sports Detroit), and Baltimore Orioles who saw a 36% increase in ratings over last season pulling a 7.28 average rating on MASN. Also on Forbes: In a sign that baseball has shifted to a more regionalized fan experience, local sports fans are also choosing regional sports networks over ESPN on the nights their MLB teams play. ESPN’s average local ratings crack the top 10 compared to RSN MLB ratings in only three markets (Kansas City at #9, Cleveland at #7 and Atlanta at #7). Otherwise, ESPN falls somewhere between 11 and 20 across the remaining markets. In terms of the largest increase in prime time ratings, the AL Central winning Cleveland Indians rank at No. 6 seeing an eye-popping 71% increase in their year-over-year average rating in prime time pulling a 7.03 compared to a 4.10 average rating last season on SportsTime Ohio. The Indians were followed by the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs who pulled a 39% increase over the 2015 season posting a 5.00 average rating on CSN Chicago. From 2014 to this season, the Cubs have seen a complete turnaround in viewership in prime time. Over the course of two seasons, the Cubs have gone from a 1.54 average in prime time, a 225% increase. On the declining side, the disappointing season for the San Diego Padres were reflective in terms of television interest. Ratings dropped from a 4.13 at the end of 2015 to a 2.65 on FOX Sports San Diego, a decline of 36%. The Padres were followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves who each saw ratings drop 34% compared to last season in prime time. And while they continue to see struggles in getting broad distribution, the Los Angeles Dodgers saw ratings increase 28% over last year on SportsNet LA. The NL West champions saw Vin Scully call his final home game on Sept. 25th. For those wondering about ratings for the Toronto Blue Jays, while the Nielsen numbers do not correspond directly to the viewership data in Canada, ratings through July on SportsNet were up 50% over last year, averaging a solid 928,000 per game across all time slots. Those figures are likely to have increased over the remainder of the season. Below are shows ratings and viewership numbers for the sports prime time window from April 3-Sept 25, how the programming ranked across all networks, how the programming ranked against cable, last year’s rating average, the increase or decrease from the year prior, and how games ranked on ESPN when the home team played to the national audience. Rnk Mkt Team Rtg 2016 000s Rtg 2015 + or – 2015 All TV Cable ESPN Rnk All TV 1 Kansas City Royals 11.70 105 12.98 -10% 1 1 9 2 St. Louis Cardinals8.54 104 10.86 -21% 1 1 12 3 Detroit Tigers 7.56 138 6.42 18% 1 1 18 4 BaltimoreOrioles 7.28 80 5.35 36% 1 1 18 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 7.22 83 9.15 -21% 1 1 20 6 Cleveland Indians 7.03 105 4.10 71% 1 1 7 7 Boston Red Sox 6.93 167 5.20 33% 1 1 19 8 Seattle Mariners 5.84 103 5.48 7% 1 1 20 9 Bay Area Giants 4.71 117 4.99 -6% 1 1 15 10 Chicago Cubs 5.00 174 3.60 39% 2 1 13 11 Dallas Rangers 3.96 105 3.19 24% 2 1 11 12 Minneapolis Twins 3.59 62 4.52 -21% 3 1 18 13 Tampa /St. Pete Rays 2.95 55 4.12 -28% 3 1 16 14 Denver Rockies 2.84 45 2.09 36% 3 1 12 15 Wash, DC Nationals 2.78 68 2.73 2% 3 1 15 16 San Diego Padres 2.65 28 4.13 -36% 3 1 17 17 Cincinnati Reds 3.44 30 4.42 -22% 4 1 14 18 Philadelphia Phillies 3.26 95 3.00 9% 4 1 11 19 New York Mets 2.92 215 2.84 3% 4 1 14 20 Houston Astros 2.88 68 2.42 19% 4 1 11 21 Phoenix Dbacks 2.57 48 3.89 -34% 4 1 20 22 Milwaukee Brewers 2.97 26 3.95 -25% 5 1 18 23 New York Yankees 2.52 196 3.06 -18% 5 2 14 24 Atlanta Braves 1.25 30 1.9 -34% 6 2 7 25 Miami Marlins 1.86 31 1.78 4% 7 1 15 26 Los Angeles Dodgers 1.32 73 1.03 28% 7 1 17 27 Los Angeles Angels 1.14 63 1.6 -29% 9 2 17 28 Chicago White Sox 1.00 35 0.79 27% 9 3 13 29 Bay Area Athletics 0.77 19 0.91 -15% 12 5 15 Source: Nielsen Arianna Live+SD Data Stream 4/3-9/25/16 Indians dealt rain-shortened loss in Detroit By Jordan Bastian and Jason Beck / MLB.com | 2:19 AM ET + 33 COMMENTS DETROIT -- The Tigers couldn't beat the rain Wednesday night, but they had just enough at-bats to beat the Indians. Miguel Cabrera's three- run home run in the fifth inning came right before the downpour that stopped play at Comerica Park to finish out a rain-shortened 6-3 win. The Tigers' second straight victory kept them within a game of the second American League Wild Card spot after the Orioles rallied in the ninth to beat the Blue Jays in Toronto. If the two teams finish the season tied for the spot, they'd play a one-game tiebreaker in Baltimore on Monday. Toronto is a game ahead of the O's for the top Wild Card. The Indians remain one game back of the AL East champion Red Sox, who would open the ALDS at home against Cleveland as things currently stand. The Rangers currently hold the AL's top seed for the playoffs, meaning they would play the winner of the AL Wild Card Game. If the Wild Card race goes to a tiebreaker, Michael Fulmer would be in line to start it. If not, then the Tigers rookie closed his regular season Wednesday with three runs on six hits allowed over 3 1/3 innings, the final two runs coming in the fourth inning following a 45-minute rain delay. Carlos Santana's two-out RBI single off Blaine Hardy tied it, nullifying Ian Kinsler's two-run homer in the third on a night when the Indians had a procession of relievers set up. "They were just taking pitches," Fulmer said. "I thought I made some quality pitches, especially the slider in. And they weren't biting at it. So I have to make an adjustment." A pair of fifth-inning singles, one of them a Jose Iglesias line drive that right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall lost in the lights and raindrops, set up Cabrera, who -- moments after thunder rumbled -- hit the first pitch he saw from Joseph Colon on a line into the right-field seats. When the inning finished three batters later, the game was official. After a delay of 1 hour, 12 minutes, all of it spent under continuous rain, the game was called. The two teams spent almost as much time in delays (1:57) as actually playing (2:02). "It's in Major League Baseball's hands. They have to sign off on it," manager Brad Ausmus said. "But I guess from all accounts, there's at least another three hours of rain coming.