File this story under “not surprising in any way, shape or form.”

Monday night was the first game of a four-game Freeway Series, the annual battle between the Los Angeles Dodgers and their cross… something rivals the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It was also the beginning of an interrupted, unprecedented four-game streak of games all Dodgers fans could watch regardless of their cable service. The results were a bloodbath, though I guess you can say there’s good news for both networks.

Fox Sports West averaged 346,000 viewers for the Halos’ 5-0 victory over the Dodgers. That’s the second-most watched Angels telecast in the history of that network. It’s also a huge increase from the 80,000 per game the team has averaged, at least up until mid-July.

Sportsnet LA, on the other hand, was hurt by its obvious limitations. Only 88,000 viewers tuned into the game on the network, which has still been locked in a heated dispute with cable and satellite providers over carriage. That’s double the team’s average, but still perilously low, considering it’s barely above the average for a typical Angels game. The good news is that, with 434,000 viewers as a whole, demand for baseball in Los Angeles hasn’t been hurt by the carriage mess.

Tonight will be even more interesting, considering Clayton Kershaw is pitching for the Dodgers. It will be the first matchup between Southern California’s two biggest baseball stars, Kershaw and Mike Trout. Will the Angels numbers go any higher, and can the Dodgers numbers go any higher?

About Steve Lepore

Steve Lepore is a writer for Bloguin and a correspondent for SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.

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