(SUNRISE, FL) — Fox Sports Net Florida announced today that the network’s Opening Day television coverage of the Florida Marlins vs. the Montreal Expos on Tuesday, April 6 generated an average Nielsen television household rating of 4.2, peaking at 6.1 for the 3:45-4:00PM quarter hour, in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale DMA. The highest recorded rating for Opening Day on Fox Sports Net was a 5.0, set back on March 31, 1998 when the Marlins returned from their 1997 Championship Season and played the Chicago Cubs.
“This is an astounding rating for a weekday afternoon game with over 55,000 potential television viewers watching the game live at the stadium.” said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox Sports Net Florida.
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 more than 4.9 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.