"People genuinely are very, very excited about this team - and they should be," said Reds TV announcer Thom Brennaman before Tuesday's Reds-Nationals game. "They're fun to watch."

And they're watching TV games - and listening on radio - in record numbers.

Fox Sports Ohio says Reds game viewership is up 49 percent from last season.

TV games are averaging a 6.5 rating, or 59,695 TV households. TV ratings here are the fourth best in Major League Baseball - behind the St. Louis Cardinals (of course), Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, said Kate Buddenhagen, Fox Sports Ohio publicist.

Reds radio ratings are even better. The team's 25 percent audience share with men ages 25-54 is the highest of the 28 MLB cities with Arbitron personal people meters, according to Bill Reinberger, Reds vice president for corporate sales.

Reds night games average 98,600 listeners on WLW-AM (700). The audience jumps to 150,900 listeners for day games, Reinberger said.

After a decade of losing, fans are enjoying a winner. The Reds entered Tuesday's game 10 games over .500, and a half game behind the first-place Cardinals after spending most of the past month atop the Central Division.

"Everywhere I go, there's a buzz about this team," said Marty Brennaman, in his 37th season as the Reds radio voice. "People all have the same question: Can they sustain it? And I tell them: Absolutely they can. But they've got to stay healthy."

His son was not surprised to see Reds ratings spike, considering the high unemployment rate and recession. With nearly all games on TV, "these are good days if you're a baseball fan," Thom said.

Viewership has grown steadily. Ratings were up over last year by 5 percent in April, 6.7 percent in May, 7.1 percent in June and 7.7 percent in July.

And fans are tuning in early to FSO, and staying after the game. Ratings for the "Reds Live" pregame show are up 100 percent; postgame ratings are up 48 percent.

Even Columbus has been Reds hot. Ratings are up 36 percent from last season.

"I'm confident the season's ratings will continue to improve, and you may see secondary or outer market ratings that rival some of the MLB's teams in their home markets. That would be remarkable," said Henry Ford, Fox Sports Ohio senior vice president and general manager.

Marty Brennaman said he's having the most fun at Great American Ball since it opened in 2003.

"It's human nature to want to watch a team that wins instead of one that loses. You want to say nice things. You don't want to be critical," Marty said.

Marty came to Cincinnati in 1974, a year before the Big Red Machine's back-to-back championships. Then he - and Reds fans - waited 14 years for the 1990 wire-to-wire champs. That was 20 years ago.

"That was my favorite team," he said. "But this team has the same kind of chance."