World Series Fails To Hit Ratings Home Run

Not even the World Series, Fox’s usual fall TV helper, is delivering much of a ratings bump to the network’s early-season doldrums.

The first game of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals delivered a new ratings low for Major League Baseball's initial contest of the fall classic -- a 2.9 rating/9 share in Nielsen's live-plus-same day preliminary program measure among 18-49 viewers -- down a big 41% from a year ago.

Analysts do note that the absence of some big market teams was destined to have some effect early on. At the same time, a long, seven-game series could boost Fox fortunes in terms of ratings and subsequent big advertising revenues.

Fox still won the night -- but not in a dominating way. The network averaged a 2.9/9 with NBC at a 2.2/7 and CBS at a 2.1/6. ABC was further down the list, with a 1.2/4 and the CW, with a 1.1/3.

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NBC’s “The Voice” bested all TV programming on the night -- at a 3.1/10 -- down three-tenths of a rating point from the week before. Two comedies that followed lost a bit of steam but remained with decent viewership -- new show “Marry Me” at a 1.9/5 and sophomore show “About a Boy” at a 1.4/4.

At 10 p.m. NBC’s “Chicago Fire” continued to dominate other network dramas with a 1.9/6: CBS’ “Person of Interest” (1.5/5) and ABC’s “Forever” (1.2/4).

CBS’s “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans” both earned strong 2.4/7 numbers, as well as easily topping all shows in total viewers, at 16.9 million and 15.9 million viewers, respectively.

ABC’s new comedies -- against strong competition -- suffered. ABC’s “Selfie” at 8 p.m., earned a 1.1/4 and “Manhattan Love Story” a 0.7/1. ABC’s best came from “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” with a 1.5/4 -- down two-tenths of a rating point to a new series low.

The CW “The Flash,” a rookie drama, continued its strong effort at 1.4/4, down a bit from the week before -- but still a decent start for the smaller broadcast network.

1 comment about "World Series Fails To Hit Ratings Home Run".
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  1. Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC, November 3, 2014 at 1:59 p.m.

    The story Wayne Friedman can't seem to write about FOX Broadcasting this 2014-2015 Fall-Winter Season:

    "Game 7 Smacks A Home Run for Fox: Second-most-watched baseball game in 10 years with 23.5 million

    By Toni Fitzgerald, MediaLife
    October 31, 2014

    Lucky for Fox the World Series went seven games.

    A huge audience tuned in for Wednesday night’s decisive Game 7, in which the San Francisco Giants topped the Kansas City Royals 3-2, lifting a series that had been on pace to be the least-watched in Major League Baseball history.

    Game 7 averaged 23.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, easily the best of the series and up 76 percent from the 13.4 million who watched Game 6.

    Up until Game 7, no contest had averaged more than 14 million total viewers.

    The final game of the series was the second-most-watched baseball game of the past decade, trailing only Game 7 of the 2011 series, when 25.3 million watched the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers.

    Wednesday’s game also averaged a 13.7 household rating, up 69 percent from Game 6.

    It lifted the seven-game World Series to an average 13.8 million total viewers. That’s down from 14.94 million for last year’s series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the hugely popular Boston Red Sox.

    It was the third-least-watched in history, behind the 2012 series, which also featured the Giants, and the 2008 series, which included some rain-delayed games.

    The series averaged an 8.2 household rating, second lowest behind only 2002, which averaged a 7.6.

    While the historical comparisons aren’t flattering, there’s no arguing that the World Series gave Fox a much-needed jolt among its target demo of viewers 18-49.

    The seven games averaged a 3.7 adults 18-49 rating, and that gave Fox a 20 percent bump in its primetime average, boosting it from a 2.0 to a 2.4.

    The network also got a big audience online, where Fox Sports Go sparked more than 2 million downloads during the World Series."

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