Kansas City Royals cable ratings up in 2012

The Kansas City Royals announced recently that their 2012 season was the franchise's all-time best in terms of cable television ratings.

140 regular season contests were aired on FOX Sports Kansas City in 2012, and according to The Nielsen Co., the average household rating of 3.8 was 13 percent higher than 2011's average. The 3.8 Nielsen rating also topped the Royals' previous franchise best of 3.4, which was set in 2003, as ratings information can be tracked back as early as 1997.

"This year again showed that Kansas City has great baseball fans," FOX Sports Kansas City senior vice president and general manager Jack Donovan said in a press release.

Every month of the season, save for August, saw an uptick in ratings, with September's 52 percent bump over its 2011 counterpart ending as the greatest increase of any month.

The Royals finished the season third in the American League Central division with a record of 72-90.