It's probably not surprising that Red Sox telecasts on NESN outpaced NBA and NHL playoff games this year—since the Bruins and Celtics are playing golf. Nonetheless, local baseball broadcasts across the country are smashing round ball and puck playoff action—even in cities where you'd expect the opposite. Take hockey-mad Pittsburgh (please!). A Pirates-Phillies game out-rated a Rangers-Caps Game 7—unheard of! In fact,
in 14 of the 24 major media markets, regular season baseball games destroyed the NBA and NHL playoffs—not to mention nationally televised MLB games on ESPN.
Local baseball is thriving—reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.
