TV Ratings: It's All About Football and Baseball

An extra-inning contest to open the World Series helped Fox draw its biggest game one audience in three years.

The network averaged 11.48 million viewers for its broadcast of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Houston Astros on Friday. That’s up 6 percent over last year’s first game (10.81 million) and the best for a World Series opener since 12.19 million watched game one of the 2019 series. Fox also got a 2.85 rating among adults 18-49 for the game, up 13 percent year to year.

On the flip side, Friday’s telecast is still the third-lowest opening game on record for the World Series, ahead of only the previous two years. (The 2020 series, played after a pandemic-shortened season, holds the all-time low for average viewers across the full series and for each of its six individual games.)

Elsewhere Friday, CBS’ Fire Country continued its solid start with 5.3 million viewers for its fourth episode, on par with the previous week. SWAT (4.63 million viewers) and Blue Bloods (5.68 million) also led everything but Fox’s World Series game in their respective hours. ABC got a bump from Diane Sawyer’s hourlong interview special with Matthew Perry (4.39 million viewers), drawing 950,000 more viewers than Shark Tank’s average in the 8 p.m. hour. (The Hollywood Reporter)

📺Top 20 Prime Time Shows for Oct 24-30 (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: Green Bay at Buffalo, NBC, 19.62 million.

2. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 15.31.

3. World Series, Game 1: Philadelphia at Houston, Fox, 11.48 million.

4. World Series, Game 2: Philadelphia at Houston, Fox, 10.8 million.

5. NFL Football: Chicago at New England, ESPN, 10.35 million.

6. “The OT,” Fox, 10.32 million.

7. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 10.24 million.

8. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants at Seattle, Fox, 9.22 million.

9. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.04 million.

10. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.07 million.

11. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.97 million.

12. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.78 million.

13. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 5.95 million.

14. “East New York,” CBS, 5.84 million.

15. “Football Night in America, Part 2,” NBC, 5.83 million.

16. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 5.77 million.

17. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.76 million.

18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.68 million.

19. College Football: Michigan St. at Michigan, ABC, 5.58 million.

20. “FBI,” CBS, 5.45 million.

📺BROADCAST NEWS TV

David Muir, Norah O'Donnell, Lester Holt

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir held onto its No. 1 ranking this past week — which means it has now defeated its evening news competition from NBC and CBS 204 of the past 205 weeks in average total viewers—and 133 of the last 135 weeks among adults 25-54.

According to TV Newser citing Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the week of Oct. 24, World News Tonight averaged eight million total linear viewers, the second-largest audience of any U.S. TV show, excluding sports programming, and the show’s largest total audience in four weeks — since the week of Sept. 26.

World News Tonight’s eight million total viewer average represents a week-to-week gain of +4%, but a -1% loss from the same week one year ago. ABC’s evening newscast also averaged 1.3 million adults 25-54 this past week, which is a +2% gain from the prior week (Oct. 17), but -11% versus the same week one year ago, (Oct. 25, 2021).

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt continues to post week-to-week viewer growth across the board. The second-ranked evening newscast averaged 6.66 million total viewers on linear this past week, which is up +2% from the prior week. Similar to ABC, NBC Nightly News averaged its largest total audience in four weeks — since the week of Sept. 26.

CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged more than 4.82 million total linear viewers this past week. That’s up +3% from the previous week, but -8% from the year-ago week. Additionally, Evening News averaged 794,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is +5% from the previous week but -8% from the year-ago week.

📺LATE NIGHT TV

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN

Gutfeld! was once again one of the highlights of the month garnering 2,159,000 P2+ and 337,000 A25-54 and continuing to make television history with its second highest-rated month since launch in viewers. Airing at 11 PM/ET, the program also topped every show on CNN and MSNBC with both viewers and A25-54. Gutfeld! also bested ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1,447,000 P2+) and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (1,358,000 P2+) in total viewers. FNC’s late-night show also swept Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (403,000 P2+, 145,000 A25-54) across the board in total viewers and the younger 25-54 demo.

📺CABLE TV

 FOX News Channel (FNC) finished October 2022 marking the 20th consecutive month as the top network in all of cable with total day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. FNC also surpassed CNN and MSNBC combined with total day and primetime viewers and A25-54 for the 15th consecutive month. Notably, FNC also notched 98 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the month. 

In addition, FNC was the only cable news network to post growth month over month across the board. In total day, FNC delivered 1.5 million viewers, 206,000 with the 25-54 demo and 124,000 with the 18-49 demo. In primetime, FNC netted 2.3 million viewers, 295,000 in the 25-54 demo and 180,000 with the 18-49 demo. The network secured the top 13 programs in cable news with viewers and the top 15 cable news programs in the 25-54 demo. This also marked CNN’s worst month with primetime viewers year to date.

Attracting 55% of cable news viewers across primetime and 54% in total day, FNC continued to deliver over half the genre’s audience share. According to Nielsen MRI Fusion, FNC also remained the most-watched network across the political spectrum with more Independents and Democrats choosing FNC as their preferred network than MSNBC and CNN in total day and primetime viewers in the A25-54 demo. FNC was also the number one cable news network among Hispanic and Asian households in total day viewers.

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN

At 5 PM/ET, FNC’s late afternoon offering The Five continued as the number one rated show in viewers for the seventh consecutive month and finished first in cable news for the last 10 out of 11 months. The roundtable program averaged 3.4 million viewers, 419,000 with 25-54 demo and 255,000 in the 18-49 demo, outpacing every show on CNN and MSNBC across the board. 

At 8 PM/ET, Tucker Carlson Tonight continued as the highest-rated program in cable news in the younger 25-54 demo, averaging 3.3 million viewers and 470,000 in the 25-54 demo, as well as 295,000 in the 18-49 category throughout October. Hannity at 9 PM/ET scored over 2.7 million viewers, 344,000 in the 25-54 demo and 206,000 among adults 18-49, achieving the fourth most-watched program in all categories and outpacing the competition on MSNBC and CNN combined. 

MSNBC’s newly-launched 9 PM/ET program Alex Wagner Tonight delivered its worst month since launch with just 1,425,000 million viewers and 134,000 in the 25-54 demo, and CNN’s 9 PM hour helmed by Jake Tapper averaged just 691,000 viewers and 153,000 with A25-54. 

At 10 PM/ET, The Ingraham Angle garnered 2.2 million viewers, 292,000 in the 25-54 demo and 171,000 in 18-49 continuing her streak as the most-watched female in cable news. 

Notably, FNC’s The Five and Tucker Carlson Tonight both beat ABC’s Good Morning America in total viewers.

📺COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football TV ratings for the 2022 season. Will be updated as the season progresses. Numbers obtained from network PR, ShowBuzz Daily, Sports Business Daily and Programming Insider.