SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 12: The American League All-Stars celebrate after defeating the National League All-Stars 4-2 in the 87th Annual MLB All-Star Game at PETCO Park on July 12, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

There was a time when the MLB All-Star Game could boast that it was a mid-summer ratings and viewership draw. But in this day and age of internet, fragmented cable universe and so many other alternatives, the All-Star Game can no longer make that claim.

While the American League can feel good about winning the All-Star Game once again, Fox has to feel not so good about record lows in both ratings and viewership last night. From our own Doug Pucci:

The previous low was last year when the when the ASG pulled a 6.6 rating and  10.9 million viewers. Gone are the days when the All-Star Game pulled in 36.3 million viewers in 1976. Now, the Mid-Summer Classic has gone to the point where the ratings drop is very precipitous.

Sports TV Ratings has the chart of the ASG’s ratings since 1967 and there was a time when it could garner a 28.5 rating and as much as a 53 share. But since 2002 when it stopped averaging double digits for ratings, the game has steadily fallen to the point where it’s below a 6.0 rating.

Even though last night’s game was pretty decent, had lineups filled with Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, and had some good moments, it just didn’t reasonate with the viewing public.

The NFL Pro Bowl Game was the most-watched of all of the All-Star Games this year with 8.0 million viewers on ESPN while NBA All-Star Game on TNT in February averaged 7.6 million viewers while the NHL All-Star Game pulled 1.6 million viewers on NBCSN.

For Monday’s Home Run Derby on ESPN, the viewership drew 5.524 million, down from 7.1 million the year before.

[Son of the Bronx Twitter]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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