Red Sox/Cubs on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball

From ESPN -

Red Sox to Host Cubs in Sunday Night Baseball Showdown


The Boston Red Sox will host the Chicago Cubs on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball on May 22, culminating a three-game series that marks the Cubs’ first trip to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series. The action will begin at 8 p.m. with Dan Shulman providing commentary with analysts Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine and reporters Buster Olney and Wendi Nix.  Coverage will begin at 7 p.m. with Baseball Tonight – hosted by Karl Ravech with analyst Barry Larkin and Sunday Night’s Valentine and Hershiser – from Yawkey Way just outside Fenway Park. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell, part of the AL/NL Showdown presented by State Farm, is also available on ESPN Radio (with Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton), ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

Sunday Night Baseball Viewership Up 15 Percent


ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, presented by Taco Bell, is averaging 2,886,000 viewers through seven telecasts, an increase of 15 percent compared to 2,508,000 viewers for the same number of Sunday Night telecasts last season, according to Nielsen.  The corresponding 2,122,000 household impressions are up 12 percent compared to 1,901,000 last year and the 2.1 rating is an 11 percent improvement over a 1.9 rating to date in 2010.  Sunday Night Baseball has also experienced significant increases across all core male demos, up 32 percent among men 18-34, 24 percent among men 18-49 and 17 percent among men 25-54.  
Overall, ESPN’s 22 MLB telecasts this season are up seven percent among viewers (1,603,000 vs. 1,502,000), five percent in household impressions (1,233,000 vs. 1,178,000) and are even with last year’s 1.2 rating. Key male demos are all seeing double-digit increases, including a 23 percent improvement among men 18-34.  

Additionally, MLB content on the ESPN Mobile Web is up 29 percent in average minutes spent, 24 percent in visits, 22 percent in daily unique visitors and 14 percent in page views since the start of the season, compared to the same period in 2010.  ESPN.com’s MLB section has seen an increase of 14 percent in average minutes spent, 11 percent in visits, nine percent in daily unique visitors and eight percent in page views.