Florida Marlins are still the TV darlings

Even with the rip the heart from your chest and stomp that sucker flat road trip, the Florida Marlins are still doing well as measured by television ratings .

The Marlins' low attendance figures suggest lukewarm fan interest, but TV ratings paint a different picture.

With the Marlins off to a strong start, their games on FSN Florida and Sun Sports -- through Tuesday -- were averaging a 3.4, up 6 percent over 2007 and the team's highest at this point of the season since 2005. A Marlins-Mets game last week drew a 5.2, the best for any Marlins game since 2006, and Tuesday's Braves game drew a solid 4.2.

For perspective, in 2006-07, the season after the Heat won the NBA title, Heat games on Sun Sports averaged a 2.93 rating. The Heat's average dropped to a 2.02 during last season's 15-67 disaster.

(For those scoring at home, one local ratings point equals 15,360 homes.)

And that ain't too bad.