Build it and they won't necessarily keep coming. But televise the games and they'll keep watching. While the Pirates have struggled to sell tickets for home games in this their third season in PNC Park, the folks at Fox Sports Net are seeing no slippage in the ratings for Pirates broadcasts. "It's a virtually imperceptible difference (from last season)," Fox general manager Larry Eldridge said Wednesday. "Our average through the last home game is a 5.53 rating. Right now, Pittsburgh is the fourth highest average in ratings of any of the Fox regionals -- of any baseball teams, period." Each rating point, Eldridge said, translates to 11,656 households in the Pittsburgh direct market area (DMA). The Pittsburgh DMA totals approximately 1.1 million households. The Fox coverage also extends past that ratings area to encompass 2.2 million households. "It's safe to say that probably between 80,000 and 90,000 households in our entire ratings universe are watching a given game," Eldridge said. When the Pirates don't draw spectators to the ballpark, the explanations usually fall into one of two categories -- bad baseball or bad baseball town. Ask Eldridge to explain continued strong ratings in the face of declining attendance, and once you get past the obligatory "splendid broadcasts" and "excellent production teams" he offers this: "I think there's a lot of baseball fans around here. There really are." Considering the Pirates are in their 116th season, that makes sense. But reconciling the presence of these TV fans with the dwindling ballpark turnout is the tricky part. Clearly, the novelty of PNC Park -- its views and its food -- has abated. And the weather for an April packed with home games was largely unattractive. Temperatures were cold. The threat of rain or worse was present many days. It was much easier to convene in the living room to watch the games, than to huddle under blankets at the ballpark. That has led to the suggestion that the Pirates might benefit from fewer telecasts. Eldridge, not exactly a disinterested observer, disputes that. "Every telecast in a way is a three-hour infomercial for the team," he said. "There's always been a question mark in some peoples' minds if having home games televised hurt attendance. "I believe it may be a factor if there's a question of weather, but when people watching on TV see a ballgame televised from PNC Park, subliminally it's a good message for the team." Eldridge's point is those people eventually will want to come out and experience the fun first-hand. Perhaps when the weather improves. Bigger crowds, in turn, would be welcome for the broadcasts. "I would like to see a sold-out PNC park every game," Eldridge said. "It adds to the energy level in the ballpark. Plus, the Pirates are our partners. We want them to be successful at the gate." Being successful in the ratings books isn't an insignificant thing considering Fox suffered through another decline in Penguins ratings the past season. Those broadcasts drew, on average, approximately half the viewers the past two seasons that they did in 2000-01. "Ratings tend to be cyclical. It's hard to evaluate what they really mean sometimes," Eldridge said. "We look at rating cycles over a period of years." Over a period of years, the Penguins numbers are softening. The Pirates numbers continue strong. Even the late-night Tuesday broadcast from San Diego drew a respectable 3.2 rating. What those numbers would be like if the Pirates were again to experience a winning season is a topic for another day. For now, the numbers are strong and holding, suggesting at worst Pittsburgh is a good televised baseball town.

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