Viewership for ESPN's 2015 MLB Season Opener Up 48%

ESPN's 2015 Major League Baseball season-opening viewership is up 48 percent compared to 2014, according to Nielsen. Through five games - MLB Opening Night and a MLB OPENING DAY quadruple-header - ESPN is averaging 1,370,000 viewers (p2+) compared to 926,000 in 2014. ESPN is also up 50 percent in U.S. household rating (0.9 versus 0.6) compared to last year.

Key Demos

ESPN's season-opening ratings are up double-digits across all key demos: 17 percent in M18-34 (0.7 versus 0.6); 17 percent in M18-49 (0.7 versus 0.6); 40 percent in M25-54 (0.7 versus 0.5); 67 percent in P18-34 (0.5 versus 0.3); 67 percent in P18-49 (0.5 versus 0.3); 67 percent in P25-54 (0.5 versus 0.3).

Opening Day

ESPN and ESPN2 combined to televise a four-game MLB OPENING DAY slate on Monday, April 6, which was up 21 percent in viewership compared to the company's five-game OPENING DAY slate in 2014 (803,000 versus 666,000). Additionally, the composite rating for MLB OPENING DAY was a 0.6 (U.S household) up 20 percent versus a 0.5 (U.S. household) in 2014.

Opening Night

ESPN2's MLB Opening Night telecast presented by Scotts - St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs - on Sunday, April 5, delivered 3,354,000 viewers and a 2.0 U.S. household rating. This is up 47 percent from 2,279,000 viewers and 43 percent from 1.4 U.S. household rating compared to Opening Night 2014 - Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres.

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