TV Ratings: MLB-WS Numbers 'Sharply Down'

It was a great World Series for Boston, but not necessarily for Fox.

The Red Sox’ five-game victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers averaged 14.1 million viewers, the Nielsen company said. That’s sharply down from the 2018 Fall Classic, which averaged 18.9 million viewers for the Houston Astros’ seven-game triumph over the Dodgers, according to the Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

The ratings drop likely had more to do with the length of the series than the matchup. World Series games tend to draw in more viewers as the series goes longer, and the broadcasting network usually hits the jackpot if it goes a full seven games — like last year’s series.

The most-watched game this year was the clinching fifth game on Sunday night, which was seen by 17.6 million people and was the most-watched program on television last week.

It had the lowest viewership since the 2014 World Series between Kansas City and San Francisco.

Between the series and Thursday night football, Fox was the week’s most popular network with a prime-time average of 13.1 million viewers. NBC had 6.53 million viewers, CBS had 6.49 million, ABC had 4.2 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, ION Television had 1.2 million and the CW had 1.1 million.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.56 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 2.18 million, MSNBC had 1.5 million, Hallmark had 1.35 million and USA had 1.26 million.

For the month of October, it was really good month for Fox News Channel, reports TV Newser.

FNC was +25 percent in total prime time viewers, +16 percent in total day viewers, +13 percent in the prime time demo, and +3 percent in the total day demo vs. October 2017. The network actually averaged more viewers across the 24-hour day in Oct. 2018 than it did in Oct. 2016, which was the month before a presidential election.

FNC marked 28 consecutive months as the No. 1 basic cable network in total day with nearly 1.7 million total viewers for the month of October 2018, and the 5th consecutive month as the most-watched basic cable network in prime time with more than 2.8 million total viewers, according to Nielsen data. The No. 1 ranking in prime time is impressive considering how sports-driven the month of October is. But this news cycle is unlike any other we have seen.

For the week, ABC’s “World News Now” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.4 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.8 million.

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Oct. 22-28. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. World Series Game 5: Boston at Los Angeles, Fox, 17.63 million.
2. “The OT,” Fox, 15.74 million.
3. “World Series Game 5 Pregame,” Fox, 14.9 million.
4. NFL Football: New Orleans at Minnesota, NBC, 14.09 million.
5. World Series Game 1: Los Angeles at Boston, Fox, 13.81 million.
6. World Series Game 4: Boston at Los Angeles, Fox, 13.56 million.
7. World Series Game 2: Los Angeles at Boston, Fox, 13.51 million.
8. World Series Game 3: Boston at Los Angeles, Fox, 13.25 million.
9. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 13 million.
10. NFL Football: Miami at Houston, Fox, 12.09 million.

11. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.27 million.
12. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 10.97 million.
13. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Atlanta, ESPN, 10.5 million.
14. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 9.54 million.
15. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9.38 million.
16. “FBI,” CBS, 8.83 million.
17. “This is Us,” NBC, 8.54 million.
18. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 8.45 million.
19. “The Conners,” ABC, 8.01 million.
20. “Mom,” CBS, 7.99 million.

CableTV for the month.

Fox News Ratings Better Than MSNBC & CNN Combined:

Basic Cable Top 10: October 2018 (Prime Time)

1. Fox News – 2,829,000
2. ESPN – 2,698,000
3. TBS – 2,487,000
4. MSNBC – 1,575,000
5. FS1 – 1,339,000
6. USA – 1,168,000
7. Hallmark Channel – 1,158,000
8. HGTV – 1,120,000
9. CNN – 931,000
10. TNT – 911,000