It’s been a bit of a down year on the field for the Cardinals, compared to lofty performances of recent seasons, and television viewership has followed suit.
According to Nielsen, which measures viewership, 8.1 percent of homes in the St. Louis market have been watching Fox Sports Midwest’s telecasts of the Redbirds this season. That’s a decline from the 9.3 rating the club was drawing on FSM at the same time last season — at the All-Star break.
But there are two key circumstances this season that didn’t exist last time that can be attributed to some of the drop:
• Last year at the break, the Cardinals were 56-33 — the best record in the major leagues — and they were the talk of the town.