Kansas City Chiefs mania continues to grip the St. Louis market, as the team is off to an even better start in television ratings than it had last year 鈥 when it dominated TV viewership figures in the Gateway City.
Last football season, the team was involved in the seven most-watched programs of the year that appeared on St. Louis television. That comprises the 12-month period that ran from the 2023 to 2024 Super Bowls 鈥 both of which the club won.
And they have zoomed to a rollicking start this season, as 17% of the market tuned in to KSDK (Channel 5) on Sept. 5 to watch their debut game according to viewership-tracking company Nielsen. It was a scintillating 27-20 victory over Baltimore in which the outcome could have changed on the final play.
That was 10% better than their opener last season 鈥 also a Thursday prime-time standalone NFL game, in which KC lost to Detroit 21-20. That one drew a 15.4 rating in St. Louis.
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But that KC game last Thursday isn鈥檛 even the most-watched show on St. Louis television this month. It was thumped by the Donald Trump-Kamala Harris presidential debate on Tuesday, but with a caveat. A big one. Not only was it an event of major national interest, it was shown on more than a dozen networks.
Presidential debate ratings
Ranking | Market | Rating |
---|---|---|
1 | Pittsburg | 44.2 |
2 | Philadelphia | 43.4 |
3 | West Palm Beach, Fla. | 43.3 |
4 | Minneapolis | 38.7 |
5 | Milwaukee | 37.8 |
6 | Detroit | 37.4 |
7 | New York | 36.7 |
8 | Kansas City | 36.7 |
9 | St. Louis | 36.2 |
10 | Providence, R.I. | 36.2 |
Michael Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics for Fox Sports, Fox Entertainment and Tubi, crunched the preliminary Nielsen numbers on the eight major networks and tweeted on X that 36.2% of the St. Louis market tuned in across those outlets. That was ninth nationally on a list headed by the two largest cities in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was No. 1, with a 44.2 rating, followed by Philadelphia (43.4). Kansas City was eighth, one slot ahead of St. Louis, at 36.7.
Nationally, the debate drew 67.1 million viewers to watch it live across 17 TV networks, Nielsen says. That figure does not include those tuning in on some streaming platforms, websites and social media outlets, so the universal number was even higher. The Tuesday night audience far surpassed the 51 million that the Trump-Joe Biden debate in June drew, when Biden still was the Democratic presidential candidate before eventually withdrawing based in large part on his weak performance then.
Tuesday鈥檚 audience fell short of the first Trump-Biden debate in 2020, a faceoff that drew 73.1 million TV viewers.
Blues and BSM
It was last week when a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston approved a plan by Diamond Sports Group, parent company of Blues telecaster Bally Sports Midwest, that keeps its deal to televise nine NHL teams intact for the soon-to-start season.
But there has been no announcement yet from BSM or the team touting the developments, or discussing any possible changes for this season. Diamond officials had no new comment this week about the situation. But the Blues did, albeit in general terms.
鈥淲e are continuing to finalize our broadcast plans with Bally Sports for the upcoming season and work towards delivering Blues hockey to fans everywhere,鈥 the team said in a statement issued Thursday.
In a scheduling quirk, there is no local TV for the Blues鈥 first two regular-season games, and three of their first four.
Their debut, on Oct. 8 in Seattle, is the first contest in a Tuesday tripleheader of opening-day NHL matchups that will be shown by ESPN. The Blues-Kraken game is to begin at 3:30 p.m. (St. Louis time), followed by Boston-Florida at 6 o鈥檆lock and and Chicago-Utah at 9 p.m. The nightcap will be the home opener for the Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes.
The Blues鈥 second game, on Oct. 10 in San Jose, is to be exclusively streamed by ESPN+ and Hulu. The next night, they鈥檙e in Las Vegas for the first contest to be in their local package but they are back to ESPN for their home opener 鈥 at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 15, a Tuesday, when they face Minnesota. The local TV package kicks into full gear after that, as there are no more national exclusives for more than a month.
Before that, the Blues host a prospects tournament this weekend at their practice facility in Maryland Heights and both their games will be broadcast on WXOX (101. FM) and livestreamed on as well as the team’s app. Blues hopefuls play their counterparts with the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. Friday and with the Minnesota Wild at 3 p.m. Sunday. Blues radio broadcasters Chris Kerber (play-by-play) and Joey Vitale (analysis) have those calls.
MVC moves to Matrix
The Missouri Valley Conference is moving the portion of its TV package of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball telecasts that in the St. Louis market had been shown on Bally Sports Midwest to Matrix Midwest.
That鈥檚 the recently rebranded outlet owned by KMOV (Channel 4) parent company Gray Media that is being pointed toward become a sports hub. It recently began carrying several programs about Missouri football, and management would like to eventually air Cardinals and/or Blues games.
Although Matrix has even more cable/satellite distribution problems than does Bally Sports Midwest 鈥 the only such operation carrying Matrix is Spectrum/Charter, on Channel 182 鈥 unlike BSM it is also available over-the-air (on Channel 32).
The deal covers stations in 22 markets Gray is in across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee and also some third-party outlets outside Gray鈥檚 coverage area.
鈥淚n the ever-changing landscape of live-event production and distribution, the Missouri Valley Conference remains committed to navigating the best path to reach college basketball fans, and this partnership with Gray does just that,鈥 MVC commissioner Jeff Jackson said in a statement.
The MVC also has TV deals with ESPN, CBS, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.
BSM boss Donovan to retire
Jack Donovan, who has run what now is Bally Sports Midwest for three decades, plans to retire at the end of the month.
Donovan, who also oversees Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Indiana out of a St. Louis office, came to the market in 1994 when Prime Sports was the cable arm of Blues and Cardinals local telecasts before transitioning to Fox Sports Midwest in 1996.
Donavan is to be replaced by Steve Simpson, general manager of Bally Sports Southwest and West. Simpson will add the company鈥檚 three regional sports networks that Donovan currently runs to his duties.
Jay鈥檚 big day
KTRS (550 AM) plans to air a salute to retired longtime St. Louis sportscaster Jay Randolph from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, his 90th birthday.