April 5 Telecast Produces Highest Opening Day Game Rating Ever!
(SUNRISE, FL) – FSN Florida announced today that the regional sports network's Opening Day television coverage of the Florida Marlins vs. the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, April 5 generated an average Nielsen television household rating of 5.1, peaking at 6.2 for the 6:30-6:45 PM quarter hour, in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA. This marks the highest recorded Opening Day rating on FSN Florida and is a 21% increase over the 2004 season opener when the Florida Marlins hosted the Montreal Expos, producing a 4.2 average television household rating.
Marlins on Deck, FSN Florida's live half hour pre-game show, registered a 1.9 average Nielsen television household rating between 3:30-4:00 PM in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA.
"This is an astounding rating for a weekday afternoon game with an additional 57,000 potential television viewers watching the game live at the stadium." said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FSN Florida.
Previously, the record high was a 5.0, set back on March 31, 1998 when the Marlins returned from their 1997 Championship Season and played the Chicago Cubs. 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 FSN Florida are simulcast in Spanish, accessible by using the SAP feature available on most television sets.
FSN Florida reaches over 5 million households in Florida. FSN 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, The Best Damn Sports Show Period and The Sports List. FSN 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 81.1 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.