'Home Run Derby' Pulls 4.9 Overnight Rating

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

ESPN's telecast of the 2015 Home Run Derby last night slammed its way to a 4.9 overnight rating, according to Nielsen.

The event, which airs annually prior to Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, was up 26% over last year's edition which averaged a 3.9 rating, said ESPN.

The Derby, which was held at the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Ball Park, was won by the Reds' slugger Todd Frazier (pictured) in front of the hometown fans.  

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The telecast also drew the most Twitter activity for a sports event last night, drawing 6.6 million unique Twitter users, according to Nielsen's daily Twitter TV Ratings report.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.