May 19, 2013

Report: Tribe Television Ratings Tumble 24 Percent

July 19, 2012 by 41 Comments

Sports Business Journal, the Cleveland Indians’ local television ratings on SportsTime Ohio have dropped 24 percent year-over-year, marking the fifth-biggest drop in Major League Baseball 1 .

The Indians’ drop is, as Crains Cleveland’s Joel Hammond writes, a “stark contrast” to the Detroit Tigers, whose average rating was reportedly an 8.65, the highest in Major League Baseball, and is up nearly 46 percent over last season.

The Indians have long said that television ratings are a forward-looking instrument when it comes to fan attendance. Presently, lacking marquee players and any sign of this issue being rectified, the once-relatively high ratings do not bode well for a team pulling out all of the (internal) stops to get fans through the turnstiles of Progressive Field. The Texas Rangers, owning a roster littered with All-Stars (including free agent pitcher Yu Darvish) are among the top-five in baseball, having seen an 82 percent improvement over last season.

The Indians, having been among the best in the AL Central over the duration of the 2012 MLB season, presently sit at 47-45, three games back of the division-leading Chicago White Sox, 1.5 games behind the Tigers.

[Related: MLB Trade Deadline: The Cost of the “Wait and See” Approach]

(Source: Crain’s Cleveland)

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  1. Ahead of only Houston (24 percent), Colorado (25.3), Philadelphia (32.8) and San Diego (49.2 [back]

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  • The_Real_Shamrock

    The Indians are the main focus so this isn’t surprising at all. Looks like Underwood better start looking for a second job!

  • Chucky Brown

    I could not stomach watching Hafner bat clean up, maybe Brantley will bring me back

  • matt underwood

    I heard their is a job opening in “Souvenir City” – god I hate that guy. What a douche.

  • mgbode

    what do Houston, Colorado, Philly, and SD all have in common?

    all have terrible records this season (yes, they are all in the NL).
    only SD is outside of last place and they are only above Colorado in the NL West.
    only Philly is coming off of a winning season (102 games in fact)

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    What am I missing or is this just a general trivia question?

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    I’d like to ask Rick Manning if Underwood is as annoying as he seems during broadcasts because Underwood is right up there with Fred McLeod in annoyance for me.

  • mgbode

    see the footnote on the article above

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    If it’d been a snake it would have bitten me! Surprised at Philly the rest I can understand especially SD and Houston.

  • Paul

    Keep it up Cleveland. Don’t go and don’t watch. Soon your team will be mine.

    Signed,
    Portland

  • pdxscott

    i live in portland. you’re a bit out of touch if you think people here have an interest in getting a pro baseball team.

  • http://www.cinpleweb.com/ stin4u

    I was listening to Bull and Fox discuss this on the ride home.

    I think for me there simply isn’t any reason to have much faith this team will make a post season run. I hear the argument that, yes, they are in fact ‘in contention’. But, they’ve looked pretty mediocre most of the year (just like last year). That, coupled with the fact that we all know that this team isn’t capable/wont make a move to put themselves over the top. There are too many holes on the roster and no way to fill them. No money, no great bargaining prospects to bail them out.

    Also, on more on a more macro level, I think in our social media, instant gratification craving minds, baseball just can’t cut it. This team is boring; no rumors, no signings, no prospects of big signings/trades. At least with the Browns and Cavs the turn over is quick and we see a new product every two or three years even if they’re terrible. Baseball is so slow developing on every level, especially in small/mid markets like Cleveland, that they are going to lose fans like this.

    I genuinely enjoy Indians baseball, in fact I’m going to the game tomorrow night. But I do see legitimate reasons why people have stopped following this team. This leadership group, including the FO and ownership, have not inspired much hope for fans year in and year out. You can only give away their favorite players and trot out has-beens/4A’s so long, before people start recognizing the trend and interest diminishes.

    I like this team but I don’t think they’re capable of making the playoffs. I don’t have any faith that the FO will make a significant trade to make us better or that the Dolans would have the funds to even consider it. So where does it leave us? Exactly where we are now. I think people will start caring when there is a shake up in how things operate around here IMO.

    Sorry for the book.

  • nj0

    Attendance continues to rise across the Majors. More and more people are going to see baseball, just not in Cleveland.

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    And “they” said the fans have no voice. No ones going to the games and now no one is watching them on TV.

    Wake up Dolans.

  • Seth

    Well late me take a look here. Browns added a stud qb, a stud RB and a stud RT. Yeah sure, their schedule sucks but there is a lot to look forward to. A lot of good things are going to happen. Now, the Cavs! Best rookie of the year mixed with two first round draft picks combined with an awesome coach. Man this is going to be great!! Now, the Indians…. soooo…. we traded two prospects for a pitcher who cant pitch. We have a bunch of players who should be great but aren’t really. We are heading for the same record we have had for the last 5 years: 82-82. There is no real future since we are stuck with all the players that we have right now. This team, as said on Bull and Fox, is boring. I cannot wait for the Browns and Cavs preseason to start. I love my wahoo Indians, but I am not feeling the “What If…”-vibe

  • BisonDeleSightings

    Underwood and McLeod are both brutal. Each is put to shame by his predecessors (yes, that even means Reghi).

  • mgbode

    can’t speak for Portland, but San Antonio is baseball crazy. One of the richest youth baseball cities there is. And, they desperately want a 2nd pro-team (would have to get past Houston and Texas who won secondary rights in Austin/SA).

  • mgbode

    Houston is actually a fun team to watch (as long as you don’t care about them winning). They have a terrible pitching staff, but their lineup is full of youngsters who have alot of promise. Yeah, they are up and down a bunch, but there’s some good stuff in there.

    JD Martinez, Chris Johnson, Moore, and Altuve are all keepers.
    Gonzalez (SS) has been better than expected.

    Of course, without the pitching, they’ll just be the NL Central Royals, but that can be a fun team to watch.

    and one of my favorite ballparks. beautiful palace and great kid’s interactive area too.

  • cmm13

    I remember when Brady Quinn was a stud QB.

  • The_Real_Shamrock
  • mgbode

    who would pay good $$ to sponsor a team that doesn’t get on national TV, noone attends in person, or watches on local TV? that’s just another “the rich get richer” idea (though I’m not opposed. hoping they put some of that money towards lowering jersey costs like they do in England, but I doubt it)

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    I was just trying to help mister sheesh. I thought this way your man Pronk might be able to have the WWE on his sleeve or something when the Indians resign him for his usual 60% games played!

  • mgbode

    now you are onto something :)
    have McMahon/WWE sponsor a weekday game including doing all the player introductions and fan interaction between innings

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    A few divas as ball girls would work too!

  • Steve

    “You can only give away their favorite players and trot out
    has-beens/4A’s so long, before people start recognizing the trend and
    interest diminishes.”

    Except that people didn’t come out to see their favorite players a few years ago. We were still in the bottom third in attendance with Sabathia, Lee and Martinez on the roster.

    “I don’t have any faith that the FO” I know there’s more to your statement, but this kind of baffles me. The Indians front office has shown to be much more competent than the other two in town, yet the other two get the benefit of the doubt at every single turn.

  • mgbode

    hmmm, I don’t know. this can change in a hurry. the Indians FO has pushed hard to keep the team relevant most years. but, they have failed at their biggest trades and had failed in the draft (don’t know about 2008-now but there is some promise in there).

    Browns FO found some defensive players. We’ll know more about the offense this year, but if they drafted well, we’ll think much differently a year from now about them.

    Cavs FO collected assets, drafted Irving, and is looking to make a deal. Each deal they make seems to work for them. Some question TT and Waiters selections and we’ll know more about them in a year as well.

  • mgbode

    ok, who is going to pitch the idea to the FO?

  • http://www.cinpleweb.com/ stin4u

    “The Indians front office has shown to be much more competent than the other two in town”

    Because they’ve been in the playoffs once in the past decade? Because they continue to do the same thing with the same mediocre results? I could argue that your assertion is incorrect. At least the other teams recognize failure and attempt to correct. With the Indians it continues to be the same story yearly, with no changes.

  • Steve

    The Cavs have not shown much ability beyond not screwing up the #1 overall. And we don’t even have to get to player selection before realizing how screwed up the Browns are. Look at how badly they butchered the possible trade-up for Griffin, all the reports of them wanting Wright, then they tell us they loved Weeden all along. They fire Mangini because he didn’t win enough, despite having done nothing for him in the previous offseason to actually help him win more games. They think we’re idiots. Not to single you out, but every year at this time we say “if they drafted well”.

    What defines the Indians biggest trades? Getting Cabrera, Choo, and Santana have turned out to be pretty big trades.

    This is what I’m getting at. The Indians have put out some competitive teams recently, but people dump on them anyway. Not that they don’t deserve heat for the drafting or Sabathia/Lee trades, but our first instinct is to absolutely pile on the negatives. Our first instinct with the Cavs/Browns is “well maybe Waiters & TT/Weeden & Richardson can play up to their potential”. Why cant the first thought about the Indians be “well maybe Santana & Masterson can play up to their potential the rest of the way”?

  • Steve

    Sounds like the Browns. One playoff appearance (in a much easier league to make the playoffs). Continuing to do the same thing (except this is cleaning house every 2/3 years ensuring that there is no continuity in building a contender). Except the Browns would kill for even a .500 season. If the Indians hold up their current pace, this will be 7 of 9 seasons around .500 or better.

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    oribiasi but of course!!! or maybe Andrew Schnitkey that way I can say “you just got the Schnitkey’d out of you DiBiasio!” Woo, woo, woo! ;-)

  • Steve

    And, I would argue that the Indians have certainly not been continuing to do the same thing. They shook up the drafting process. They have adjusted what kind of players they are targeting. They have made some more aggressive moves recently.

  • mgbode

    the Cavs have shown patience. they aren’t out there signing Landry Fields guys of the NBA to ridiculous contracts (that does count).

    TT had a very nice rookie year. In a down draft, there were a ton of “misses” even high up and it doesn’t look like we missed (Thorpe has us with the 2 guys he think will pan out the best from the class in the end)

    Baron Davis trade? Sessions trade? do those not count?

    acquire assets, make good draft picks, and win trades. what more do you want?

  • mgbode

    and I agree that (outside the draft from ’01 – ’07) the Tribe FO has done an overall decent job. it’s just that it seems like this next year is a turning point year for the other 2 FOs that could define them (whereas the Indians FO is who they are at this point)

  • Steve

    I’m not giving them credit for patience, especially considering how few FA (across all sports) want to sign in Cleveland, much less a bad team in Cleveland. I have hopes for Thompson too, but he wasn’t that good last year. TS% was incredibly low, his defensive rebound rate was not good for a big man, and the Cavs were noticeably better on defense with him off the court. He’s got plenty of potential, but he’s got a long way to go still.

    I’ll give you the Baron Davis trade, even if I do think that picking up an unprotected lottery pick is something of a no-brainer to any team. Sessions trade was meh. He had to be moved, they got a whatever piece in return, ho-hum. Not moving Varejao when he was at peak value, and continuously running Jamison out there were negatives.

    What I want is for the Indians to get the same benefit of the doubt you (and a lot of other people) are giving the Cavs. The Cavs haven’t turned on-their-face good moves into actual wins, yet people are excited.

  • Steve

    If the Indians drafting has actually changed, and they are going hard after guys like Jimenez, then I don’t think they are who we think they are at this point. And, just one more time, do you (I’m not trying to single you out here, but I’m not going to put words in anyone else’s mouth) see the difference between how you speak about the Browns/Cavs FO? This year could be a turning point? Don’t we say that every year for the Browns? Haven’t the Cavs had (and come away with meh results) some critical offseasons/trade deadlines? But we’re still here going ‘this could be the year everything comes together’. I’m just looking for some consistency.

  • mgbode

    I have been overall positive about the Indians FO and would say they have done a better job than the Browns and Cavs over the last decade.

    My point was that the other organizations have made bigger changes in philosophy over the past couple of years and we are not sure if they will work or not yet.

    Cavs – Grant took over, stripped the thing down, acquired assets and is very active in the trade market. The draft picks could bust, he could miss out on useful pieces in the trade market or it could go the other way. That’s why this year is an inflection point for him and the FO.

    Browns – they spent the first 2 drafts mostly on defense, now this one (and 1 from ’13) on offense. 3 drafts in we expect better results. if the team falls apart, then it’s going to fall largely on the FO. if the team does well, then it’s going to show that they built through the draft.

    Indians – Brantley is helping the CC trade, but Masterson is hurting the Victor trade this year. They have made some useful trades for some good players, but they also have a dearth of AAA talent (position players – pitching was obviously diluted shipping Pom/White + injury to Carrasco + Fausto not being Fausto). They have done a solid job (even missing on Ubaldo), but I don’t think anyone would rate them above solid and I don’t see them making a move that would push them above that (hey, I hope I’m wrong).

  • mgbode

    that’s the point on patience though. we can go overboard and overpay middling FAs (Toronto-Fields, Houston-Asik/Lin, PHX-Beasely, NYK-Felton, NJ-Lopez&Kris). we did it before w/ Donyell/Hughes/Jones and I am glad we are not doing it again (yet).

    for TT – partnered w/ Samuels he did really well on defensive 5man units. partnered with Jamison, he was bad (and so was AV for a point of reference). using 82games.com. his TS% needs to improve, but his defensive rebound rate was made up for last year by his amazing offensive rebound rate. he does have a long way to go, yes.

    we got Zeller in return for Sessions+2 2nd round picks. a legit 7fter who can run the floor. I think that’s huge.

    and, it doesn’t matter if the Baron Davis trade was a no-brainer. there were 29 teams that could have traded with the Clippers, but it was Grant who made the trade (w/ an assist from Gilberts checkbook). and, who knows how much he had to convince the Clips to not protect the pick.

    also, I think the reason AV is still on the team is because he was injured by the trade deadline. that’s when teams get serious about trading and AV was hurt.

  • mgbode

    also, I give the Indians alot of “benefit of the doubt” around here. It’s just that some of their moves are closer to being completed and they haven’t made many more since then.

    Ubaldo – loved the bold move. sadly, it isn’t working out. maybe he can re-work himself for next season, but this season seems lost.

    Masterson – last year he was very good and though peripherals showed he might dip some this year, he’s dipped alot. I fully expect him to rebound (either this year or next).

    Tomlin – other teams have figured him out. i like him, but don’t expect him to be in the rotation next year. maybe we can find someone to take him (the Royals got the Rockies to take Sanchez, so it’s possible).

    Lowe – very solid move. he is doing about what is expected, but it’s HUGE that we don’t have to put Zach and Jeanmar out there all the time and we could just figure out which of those 2 was ready.

    McAllister – speaking of him, he’s been very good so far. another small trade (at the time) that is paying dividends. that’s where this FO thrives.

    Fausto – another guy for next year’s rotation. as much as this year’s rotation has struggled, they are missing 2 key bullets in the chamber. we’ll have them back for next year.

    Carrasco – let’s not forget him. he’ll be in the rotation next year and I have high hopes for his future.

    I can go into next year with a rotation of:
    Masterson/Ubaldo/Hernandez-Carmona/McAllister/Carrasco

    It’s not great, but it should be good enough if a couple guys rebound and there are 3 proven innings-eaters in there too (that is valueable).

  • Steve

    Varejao should have been gone long before then. Really, as soon as Lebron skipped town. I know you love Zeller, I’m not as high on him, but either way, I don’t see how one can argue that this was a commendable move yet. Yes, Jamison was a defensive sieve (as was Irving) which affects Thompson’s numbers, but the guy wasn’t good defensively by the eye test either.

    And I know you have been even-handed when it comes to the Indians, but you must admit that very few people are like that. Usually the first responses to an Indians column (especially following a loss) are people bemoaning any and everything about the team.

  • Steve

    I definitely shouldn’t have singled you out. As I said above, I think you’re even-handed. I’m talking about the general reaction in town. When the Indians started out fairly well this year, the talk was “oh they’ll fall apart”. When the Cavs won a few games early last year, people were getting giddy about the playoffs. Browns diehards are wholly irrational. I get that its a football town first, and Lebron got this town excited about basketball, but I don’t see why the optimism for those two teams doesn’t extend to the Indians.

  • mgbode

    no doubt. the Indians get far more vitrol for an organization that really is run fairly well.

    i think some of it’s really at the MLB-system itself (which puts our town at a huge disadvantage), some at the FO’s insistence to try to keep fielding competitive (but flawed) teams knowing that’s likely the best scenario for the Indians (while in other sports like the NBA, being that team is bad), and the rest is the fact that the 90s weren’t so long ago (when we had the most dominant offense in MLB) despite the fact the conditions for the 90s are long gone.