FS West Scores Best Opening Day Ratings with Angels-Mariners

On what was Major League Baseball's traditional Opening Day, Fox Sports regional sports networks opened up with some strong Nielsens.

Fox Sports West, the cable home of the Angels, scored a 2.91 household rating in the Los Angeles, with its coverage of the Halos and the Seattle Mariners. That marked the most-watched Opening Day in the club's 23 years on the RSN.

The defending National League champion St. Louis Cardinals delivered their best road opener ever on Fox Sports Midwest, crushing an 11.1 rating in the St. Louis DMA. The telecast was the top program of the day in "Gateway to the West."

For its part, Fox Sports Arizona connected on a 6.0 rating for the Diamondbacks game versus the San Francisco Giants, the highest rating for a Snakes' home opener since 2004.

Fox Sports Detroit drilled a 34% jump in viewership over the 2013 season. The RSN's coverage of the Tigers and Kansas City Royals registered a 14.9 rating in the Motor City environs, its second-highest-rated Opening Day ever.

Fox Sports Florida rang up a 1.9 rating in the Miami DMA for the Marlins-Colorado Rockies game, topping last year's Opening Day affair by 78%.  It the most-watched Marlins opener since 2011.

Also in the Sunshine State, Sun Sports got off to a shiny start with a 5.7 rating in the Tampa DMA with Rays-Toronto, up 19% from the 2013 season starter.

SportsTime Ohio, despite the absence of carriage by Dish Network, recorded a 7.4 rating in the Cleveland DMA for its coverage of the Indians and Oakland A's. That was 33% above the RSN's Tribe telecast average during the 2013 campaign.