Ratings sank to multi-year lows for the championship games of the Little League World Series.
Sunday’s Maine-Endwell (NY)/South Korea LLWS World Championship drew a 1.6 final rating and 2.6 million viewers on ABC, down 43% in ratings and 44% in viewership from Japan/Lewisberry (PA) last year (2.8, 4.6M) and down 52% in both measures from South Korea/Chicago in 2014 (3.3, 5.3M).
Excluding 2006, when play was postponed a day due to rain, Sunday’s game ranks as the lowest rated LLWS final since at least 1997 and the least-watched since at least 2002.
The previous day, the Maine-Endwell/Goodlettsville (TN) U.S. Championship pulled a 1.6 and 2.5 million — down 30% in ratings and 29% in viewership from Lewisberry/Pearland (TX) last year (2.3, 3.6M) and down 53% and 51%, respectively, from Chicago/Las Vegas in 2014 (3.4, 5.2M).
The 1.6 is the lowest for the U.S. Championship since it began airing on ABC in 2001. Keep in mind that excludes 2009, when coverage was postponed to the evening on ESPN2.
Rounding out a weekend of declines, the South Korea/Panama International Championship had a 1.1 and 1.6 million — down 31% in ratings and viewership from Japan/Mexico last year (1.6, 2.4M) and down 21% and 22%, respectively, from South Korea/Japan in 2014 (1.4, 2.1M). The 1.1 rating is the lowest for the International Championship since it began airing on ABC in 2007.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
