Reds hot on the field to start the season, but how are they doing on TV?

Steve Watkins

Staff Reporter-Cincinnati Business Courier

Down year? You couldn’t tell that’s the popular prediction for the Cincinnati Reds this season by their 2-0 start or by looking at how many fans are tuning in on TV.

The Reds’ Opening Day game drew the biggest share of their local TV market of any Major League Baseball team in this season’s openers.

The Reds' 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday pulled in a combined rating of 18.6 for Fox Sports Ohio and WKRC-TV (Channel 12), which simulcasted the game. The rating means nearly 19 percent of all households in Greater Cincinnati tuned in to the Reds opener. That comes to 170,000 households that watched the game.

That’s the third-best Opening Day rating – and third-best regular-season TV rating of any kind – for the Reds since Fox Sports Ohio began broadcasting games in 1997

The Opening Day numbers dwarf the typical Reds ratings that are strong among MLB teams. This year’s Opening Day rating tripled last season’s average 6.0 rating for Reds games on Fox Sports Ohio, meaning about 54,000 households tuned in to each game on average, according to industry sources.

The Reds have steadily ranked at least in the top six over the past five seasons, including placing fourth in 2013 among MLB teams.