The down ratings for this year’s World Series have continued. Tuesday’s Game 1 posted the lowest average audience in five years (and the second-lowest on record), and Wednesday’s Game 2 did even worse relative to past results, posting the lowest numbers ever for a Game 2. Here’s more on that from Paulsen at Sports Media Watch:
The World Series is on a record-low pace in the ratings.
Wednesday’s Nationals-Astros World Series Game 2 averaged a 7.1 rating and 11.93 million viewers on FOX, marking the lowest rated and least-watched Game 2 on record. The previous lows were 7.8 and 12.34 million for Tigers-Giants in 2012.
Ratings and viewership were the lowest for any World Series game since Giants-Royals Game 4 on a Saturday night in 2014 (6.3, 10.74M).
The Nationals’ blowout win, which peaked with 14.61 million from 10-10:15 PM ET, averaged the sixth-lowest rating and viewership in World Series history. The bottom five games aired on Saturday nights: Game 3 in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and Game 4 in 2014.
Game 2 dropped 12 percent in ratings and 11 percent in viewership from last year. So it’s certainly not promising that this was not only the worst Game 2 ever, but that everything below it was a Saturday night game. And that’s especially true considering that the next two games will be played Friday and Saturday night, generally bad times for ratings.
It’s also notable that Game 3 in particular has often been a low point for ratings. Here’s a table showing the 10-least-viewed World Series games in Paulsen’s historical record (which dates back to 1972), including two from this year:
We’ll see if further games from this year’s series wind up joining that list.
