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.
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.