YES Connects With Record Pre-Game Mark Before Stadium Finale
At Peak, Nearly 1 Million Viewers Tuned In Farewell Festivities At The House That Ruth Built
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 9/22/2008 2:43:00 PM
YES Network’s coverage of the festivities before the final baseball game at Yankee Stadium attracted nearly 1 million viewers at its peak last night and was the regional sports network’s most-watched pre-game show ever.
Sunday’s pre-game was the network's highest-rated ever with a 5.27 household rating in the New York DMA from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and most-watched program of its type with an average of 588,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Galaxy Navigator.
From 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. YES’s coverage of the tribute to the venerable ballpark averaged 986,000 viewers.
YES, whose coverage featured Yankees legends like Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford trotting out to their old positions on the field, also was the most-watched network in New York from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 Moreover, during the 8 p.m. half-hour, more people watched YES than both NBC’s coverage of the National Football League battle of unbeatens, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, and ABC’s presentation of the Primetime Emmy Awards head-to-head.
Showcasing pre-taped features of the greatest Yankees moments, as well as other events including boxing matches, NFL games and papal visits, the pre-game show also included interviews with fans, current Yankees Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, members of the club’s late 1990s dynasty, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and David Wells, plus current YES on-air talent Paul O’Neill and David Cone. In addition, there was a tribute to Bobby Murcer, the beloved Yankee player and YES announcer, who passed this July.
ESPN2 simulcast the pre-game preceding, before turning the telecast of the game a 7-3 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles, to ESPN.
Sunday’s coverage of the Stadium send-off shattered YES’s previous pre-game best: a 3:01 rating and 279,000 viewers before the Oct. 12, 2004 American League Championship Series game against the Boston Red Sox.
