Credit Stephen Strasburg hype if you want, but the Nationals have some reason to believe their season wasn't that bad. According to a MASN press release, many more people watched the Nationals on MASN this year.
↵According to the release, the Nationals doubled their household rating in the D.C. area from 0.7 in 2009 to 1.4 in 2010, which equates to about 33,000 households. As Dan Steinberg notes, it's the second straight year the Nationals' TV ratings have risen locally. Better yet, it's better than the Wizards did last season, as Steinberg notes.
↵The real challenge, of course, is maintaining those viewers next season when Strasburg is hurt. Even if Strasburg didn't pitch the whole season, he has to have been a big reason for the ratings growth. If the Nationals can stay steady next year, then we'll know for sure they're truly creeping into the D.C. fans' consensus.