• by Wayne Friedman , July 13, 2011

In the summertime period, where high ratings can be tough to come by, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game on Fox posted decent viewership -- although down 10% versus a year ago.

Fox's game pulled in a Nielsen preliminary 11.0 million average viewers, down from 12.1 million a year ago.

Although the numbers are lower than a year ago, Fox says versus other recent sporting events, the All-Star Game competes favorably. The game's Nielsen 6.9 household rating/12 share bested the Kentucky Derby, at a 6.7 rating, the average of the NCAA Tournament games, at a 6.4 number, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals (4.8) and the final round of the U.S. Open, at a 4.5 rating.

Looking at the key 18-49 ratings result, the game earned a Nielsen preliminary 2.9/9, which will climb when the final results come in. Fox also said it grabbed 26 million total viewers -- a different measure than average viewers. The Nielsen total viewers is the sum of all viewers who have tuned in.

Still, Fox's big game will not be the best-rated show of the night. NBC's "America's Got Talent" grabbed almost a full rating point better, at a 3.9 rating/11 share. "Talent" rose some 18% in ratings versus its results against the All-Star game of a year ago.