Perhaps other than the Yankees, no baseball team can move the needle like the Chicago Cubs.
Game 1 of the Cubs/Indians World Series had an 11.3 rating and 19.4 million viewers on FOX Tuesday night, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — up 26% in ratings and 30% in viewership from Mets/Royals last year (9.0, 14.9M) and up 55% and 59%, respectively, from Giants/Royals in 2014 (7.3, 12.2M).
Cleveland’s win, which peaked with 22.7 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET, ranks as the highest rated and most-watched World Series opener since Phillies/Yankees in 2009 (11.9, 19.5M) and is second in both measures since Cardinals/Red Sox in 2004 (13.7, 23.2M).
Excluding Game 7s, it delivered the top World Series audience overall since Rangers/Cardinals Game 6 in 2011 (12.7, 21.1M). It tied the highest rating over that span, matching Game 6 of Cardinals/Red Sox in 2013.
Figures do not include Spanish-language viewership on Fox Deportes, which was up 49% from last year (from 200K to 297K), or the streaming audience of 121,000 on Fox Sports GO. With those numbers added to the mix, the game had 19.8 million viewers — which would top 2009 as the best Game 1 audience since 2004.
In adults 18-49, Game 1 scored a 5.6 rating — up 22% from last year (4.6), up 65% from 2014 (3.4) and the highest in the demo since 2009 (6.3). The adults 18-34 rating of 4.4 increased 16% from last year (3.8) and 47% from 2014 (3.0).
Compared to this year’s NBA Finals, Game 1 edged the Cavaliers/Warriors opener by 2% in ratings and 1% in viewership (11.1, 19.2M) — marking the first time since 2010 that the World Series has opened with a higher rating than its NBA counterpart and the first time since 2013 it has posted a larger audience. Entering this year, the NBA Finals has outdrawn the World Series in six straight years and seven of the past eight. The NBA game was still well ahead in adults 18-49 (7.3 to 5.6) and 18-34 (7.1 to 4.4).
Compared to the NFL, Tuesday’s game scored a higher rating and viewership than every primetime window in exactly one month — since Bears/Packers on Sunday Night Football in Week 3 (11.7, 20.6M). Again, that is not the case in the younger adult demos, with Game 1 trailing Seahawks/Cardinals on SNF last weekend in adults 18-49 (6.0 to 5.6) and 18-34 (4.8 to 4.4).
(Tue. numbers from Fox Sports, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 10/26)
