YES The Most Watched RSN

From Anthony Crupi:

On the way to claiming their 27th Major League Baseball title, the New York Yankees helped set another milestone in 2009, as the ballclub’s dedicated cable channel was the most-watched regional sports network in the U.S.

YES Network closed out the broadcast year with an average prime time draw of 82,000 households in the New York DMA, up 14 percent from the 72,000 HHs it averaged in the previous year. Despite sharing the DMA with the Mets and SportsNet New York and the Cablevision-owned MSG, YES outdistanced its crosstown rivals, which together averaged 80,000 HHs in prime.

Boston’s NESN, which faces no local competition, averaged 76,000 HHs in the nation’s seventh-largest DMA. YES out-delivered NESN by a 7 percent margin.

YES finished the 2009 Major League Baseball season with a 4.62 average TV HH rating for its Yankees telecasts, a 10 percent increase over its 2008 average. The Yanks enjoyed their second highest-rated campaign since 2007, when YES posted a 4.69 average.

YES does a great job, so this is much deserved. Congrats YES!