World Series ratings hit record lows this year
Instead of ending with a roar, the MLB postseason ended with a whimper this year. The San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in four games (with only the fourth coming close to being exciting), and the series did the worst numbers ever for a Fall Classic.
The series averaged a 7.6 rating and 12.7 million viewers on Fox, nearly a full point lower than the previous worst rated series between the Phillies and Rays in 2008 and nearly a million viewers less (8.4 rating and 13.6 million viewers). That 7.6 is way down from last year's 10.0 average rating and 16.6 million average viewers from the 2011 series between the Cardinals and Rangers, which was extremely exciting and dramatic.
What is extremely disappointing (as if the ratings themselves weren't bad enough) is how little of the NFL audience the World Series failed to retain for Sunday's decisive Game 4. The 4PM Giants-Cowboys game drew an 18.8 rating on Sunday as the World Series lead-in, a fantastic number that was up 16% from a Steelers-Patriots matchup last year. The World Series didn't keep even half of that audience, picking up just an 8.9 rating for the final game of the series.
At this point in time, it might not be appropriate to compare MLB's ratings to those of the monster known as the NFL. Game 4 was the only game of the series to top a game from last year's NBA Finals, slightly outdrawing Game 3 of the NBA series by a slight 8.9 to 8.8 margin. The game also topped the ratings for the Daytona 500 (8.0), the final round of the Masters (8.0), and the NCAA national semifinal matchup between Kentucky and Louisville (8.4). I almost don't think it's fair to consistently compare baseball to football when the NFL is beating MLB's brains in when it comes to ratings on a weekly basis. Contrasting MLB to the NBA might be a better proposition for next season, but that's a step backwards overall for a league that deems itself the national pastime.
Is now a good time to mention Fox is going to be paying MLB more than double the rights fees in their next TV contract through 2021?
[AP]
Get rid of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as a first move. Those two drive more away from the games than the teams bring in. I'd rather spend 3 innings trying to find an ESPN radio game than spend 9 innings listening to the horrible undynamic duo from Fox.
"Contrasting MLB to the NBA might be a better proposition for next season"
Here's something to consider: the NBA (and the NHL) both have their championship series in late May-early June... when all the networks have wrapped up their seasons, and a few cable outlets are still showing new programming. MLB has their championship series in October... when every single network and cable outlet are showing new episodes of their hit shows... along with the NFL offering Thursday night AND Sunday night games to boot. (Did the networks offer new episodes or repeats during the World Series in the 70s and 80s? Seems like over the past few years, the baseball playoffs have to compete with new programming every October)
Now, which rating is more impressive now? The NBA against nothing in the summer, or MLB against everything in the fall?
Discuss.
bad things happen when the series ends in a sweep. Had the series gone 6 or 7 games it would have had a higher rating
"Contrasting MLB to the NBA might be a better proposition for next season"
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FYI, the NBA has been outdrawing (and not by a little..by a lot) the MLB on national TV for the past 5 years..and 4 of the 5 past World Series (only exception: 2009) were outdrawn by the NBA Finals. Same goes for regular season and playoffs games, both on broadcast and on cable. So there's no need to wait next season to start comparing NBA and MLB..you guys can already look back at the past 5 seasons (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).
