Joey Gallo’s Major League debut with the Texas Rangers was a hit in more ways than one.
The game on Tuesday, June 2, posted a season-best 4.9 television rating on FOX Sports Southwest in Dallas-Fort Worth and was the highest-rated Rangers game on the regional sports network in over a year, according to Nielsen Media Research. It’s also been a year since the Rangers were over .500 as a team.
Among the ratings highlights:
• Surpassed this season’s previous best 4.31 rating set on May 28 vs. Boston and was the highest-rated Rangers game on FOX Sports Southwest since April 19, 2014 vs. the Chicago White Sox, which registered a 5.0 rating (2014 season high).
• An average of 128,300 TV homes in Dallas-Fort Worth tuned in to watch Gallo’s memorable debut.
• The telecast peaked with a 5.6 rating (145,500 homes) from 9:00-9:15 p.m. when FOX Sports Southwest was the most watched network in DFW for the quarter-hour.
• Rating was +88% better than the team’s season average rating going into the game (2.6).
• Since May 25 when Josh Hamilton joined the club, the Rangers have registered their top four and six of their best seven ratings of the season on FOX Sports Southwest, averaging a 3.7 rating during that time.