Giants-Dodgers broadcast on local KDOC-TV scores ratings home run

Los Angeles finally got to see the Dodgers play baseball on TV.

Time Warner Cable simulcast Monday night’s matchup between the Dodgers and rival San Francisco Giants on the independent local broadcast station KDOC-TV (Channel 56).

The broadcast on KDOC -- which is widely available to viewers in the region -- drew three times the audience of SportsNet LA, the channel owned by the Dodgers, according to preliminary overnight ratings.

The game ended in the 13th inning with the Giants beating the Dodgers, 5-2.

Preliminary ratings showed that KDOC’s telecast of Monday night’s game generated a 3.47 household rating in Los Angeles, and a 6 share.

In contrast, the game on SportsNet LA mustered only a 1.12 household rating and a 2 share.

Last week Time Warner Cable took the unusual step of arranging to simulcast the Dodgers’ games on KDOC this week, the final week of the regular season, because so many fans have been shut out of the TV action this year.

Only a third of the homes in the Los Angeles market have access to SportsNet LA, which is carried by Time Warner Cable.

Other major distributors -- including DirecTV, Charter Communications and Cox Communications -- have not picked up the channel, citing its high cost. According to consulting firm SNL Kagan, Time Warner Cable has asked other distributors to pay $4.50 a month per subscriber home for the channel.

The high-stakes standoff left 70% of the Los Angeles TV market in the lurch, without access to most Dodger regular-season games.

National programmers, including ESPN and Fox Sports, have televised some Dodger games. (ESPN plans to broadcast Tuesday night’s game at Dodger Stadium between the Dodgers and Giants.)

For tens of thousands of Los Angeles viewers, Monday represented a rare opportunity to hear legendary broadcaster Vin Scully call the action.

KDOC’s broadcast included promotional commercials featuring Scully, who thanked Time Warner Cable for making this week’s games widely available in Los Angeles.

KDOC, based in Orange County, is owned by Ellis Communications.

Time Warner Cable will continue simulcasting games on KDOC through Sunday, when the regular season ends.

After that, cable channels Fox Sports 1 and TBS will televise the early rounds of the playoffs.

Even though it was also available on KDOC, Monday night’s game drew more viewers than usual to SportsNet LA. Games this season on SportsNet LA have been averaging less than a 1.0 household rating.

The Dodgers are racing to clinch the National League West division title, with the Giants 3½ games back after Monday night’s game.

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