MLB linear TV ad revenue sinks to $342M

Major League Baseball's linear TV ad revenue fell to $342.3 million through the regular season and early playoffs, down from $500.6 million a year ago, on 252,322 airings versus 433,906, per iSpot.tv. MediaPost attributes the drop to the weakening of regional cable baseball networks, bankruptcies, a shift to streaming and pitch-clock-shortened games. Fox took in $90.5 million, NBC $53.6 million, Fox Sports 1 $45 million, ESPN $29.3 million and TBS $23.6 million.