While Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter played out before 46,069 in Dodger Stadium and another 52,000 on embattled regional sports network, SportsNet LA , presumably a few other Angelenos that don’t subscribe to Time Warner Cable were able to check out the southpaw’s mastery on Wednesday.
MLB Network cut into the action as Kershaw was in the process of chalking up 15 strikeouts and mowing the Colorado Rockies down, save for the Hanley Ramirez throwing error that enabled Corey Dickerson to reach first, leading off the seventh inning.
MLBN scored with 387,000 watchers in the 10 p.m. (PT) quarter hour on June 18, when Kershaw was putting the finishing touches on his gem. That more than doubled the network’s national primetime average of 195,000 that night, according to Nielsen data. No doubt some in LA DMA, who don’t count Time Warner Cable as their video provider, tuned some of Kershaw's exploits on MLBN..
Baseball’s in-house network can present live cut-ins of game action at any time, save for when contests are airing nationally on Fox or ESPN.
In addition to TWC, Bright House Networks in the Bakersfield, Calif. area market is the only other distributor to offer SportsNet LA. (the nation’s No. 2 cable operator negotiates programming deals for BHN). Other area providers, notably DirecTV, Dish Network, Cox , Charter, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse, have yet to reach affiliate pacts with SportsNet LA, which is reportedly seeking a monthly subscriber fee in excess of $4 per month for its rookie year. TWC is handing affiliate negotiations as part of a record 25-year, $8.35 billion deal with the Dodgers.
Last season, Dodgers’ telecasts averaged 225,000 viewers on Fox-owned Prime Ticket.
