Then why did the station ditch the Braves when that contract concluded?
Most likely the contract was up. Did the loss of baseball help ratings at all? If adding baseball was detrimental, did the loss result in an improvement? From what I can see, the answer is no. In July 21, they got a 2.0, July 22 they got 1.7. In August 21 they got a 1.7, and August 22, they got a 1.3. So they lost audience when they lost baseball.