NLCS ends on high note

The deciding game of the NLCS put up strong numbers on TBS Wednesday night.

Dodgers/Phillies Game 5 drew a 5.0/9 U.S. rating and 8 million viewers on TBS, down 2% in ratings and flat in viewership from last year’s Game 5 between the same two teams on FOX (5.1/8, 8 mil).

Compared to Game 5 of last year’s ALCS on TBS, Dodgers/Phillies was up 6% in ratings and 11% in viewership from a 4.7 and 7.2 million for Rays/Red Sox.

Wednesday’s game finishes as the highest rated, most-viewed of the postseason on TBS. Additionally, the Phillies’ win ranks as the seventh-highest rated and sixth-most viewed MLB postseason telecast ever on cable.

Overall, the Phillies/Dodgers NLCS averaged a 3.7 U.S. rating and 6 million viewers on TBS, down 23% and 19%, respectively, from a 4.8 and 7.4 million for last year’s NLCS on FOX. Comapred to last year’s 7-game ALCS on TBS, the series was down 20% in ratings and viewership from a 4.6 and 7.4 million.

Phillies/Dodgers ranks as the second-least viewed League Championship Series since ’76, ahead of only the 2007 Rockies/Diamondbacks NLCS (4.3 million on TBS).

To put the numbers in perspective, TBS sister network TNT averaged a 5.4 rating and 8.6 million viewers for the Magic/Cavaliers NBA Eastern Conference Finals in May, and a 3.3 and 5.3 million for 6 NASCAR races in June and July.

Most viewed MLB postseason games ever on cable

Least viewed LCS since 1976

Source: Turner Sports