Like the Yankees the night before, the Cubs fueled a big increase in overnights for baseball’s Wild Card round.
The Cubs/Pirates National League Wild Card Game drew a 5.5 overnight rating on TBS Wednesday night, up 34% from Giants/Pirates on ESPN last year (4.1) and up 49% from Rays/Indians on TBS in 2013 (3.7). Compared to last year’s Athletics/Royals A.L. Wild Card Game on TBS, which aired on a Tuesday night, the overnight increased 45% from a 3.8. The game peaked at 6.5 from 10:15-10:30 PM ET.
The Cubs’ win scored the second-highest Major League Baseball overnight on cable since 2011, trailing only the Astros/Yankees A.L. Wild Card Game on ESPN the previous night (5.7). It goes without saying that this year’s Wild Card games rank as the two highest rated ever in the metered markets (eight telecasts dating back to 2012), easily topping the previous high of 4.1 for last year’s Giants/Pirates matchup.
Locally, the Pirates’ third straight Wild Card game drew a 26.2 rating in Pittsburgh — up 16% from last year against the Giants (22.6) but down 22% from 2013 against the Reds (33.7). The game also drew a 21.8 in Chicago, the market’s highest MLB rating since the White Sox clinched the World Series in 2005.
(Wed. numbers from twitter.com/turnersportspr [1], [2], [3], [4])
