The numbers remain less than spectacular, but the World Series is on its hottest pace since the decade began.
Game 3 of the Royals/Mets World Series had a 7.9 rating and 13.2 million viewers on FOX Friday night, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 10% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Royals/Giants last year (7.2, 12.1M) and up 7% and 6%, respectively, from Red Sox/Cardinals on a Saturday night in 2013 (7.4, 12.5M). Coverage on Fox Deportes earned 198,000 viewers, bringing the total up to approximately 13.4 million.
The Mets’ win, which peaked at a 9.1 and 15.2 million from 10:00-10:15 PM ET, ranks as the highest rated and most-watched Game 3 of the World Series since Yankees/Phillies in 2009 (9.1, 15.4M). Keep in mind Game 3 aired on a Saturday night from 2007-13, the lowest rated night of the week.
All three games of the World Series have hit a multi-year high in ratings and viewership, with Games 1 and 3 the highest in six years and Game 2 the highest in four.
Despite the multi-year high, Friday’s 7.9 rating is tied as the sixth-lowest for a non-Saturday World Series game. The Royals have played in five of the bottom seven, with the other four coming last year against the Giants.
Friday’s game had a 48.0 rating in Kansas City, down 2% from last year (49.0) and a series-low. It had a 23.1 in New York, up 9% from Game 2 (21.3) but down 45% from the last Game 3 to involve the Mets in 2000 (42.0). Keep in mind the 2000 series also involved the Yankees.
Royals/Mets has now averaged an 8.5 rating and 14.1 million viewers, up 13% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (7.5, 12.4M), up 5% in both measures from 2013 (8.1, 13.4M), and the highest rated and most-watched World Series through three games since 2009. Friday’s adults 18-49 rating was not immediately available, but the series is averaging a 4.0 in the demo — up 21% from last year (3.3).
(Fri. numbers from Fox Sports)
