While the Yankees’ first Division Series in five years continues to deliver, the Cubs’ first LDS since winning the World Series has stumbled.
Monday’s Indians-Yankees ALDS Game 4 had a 2.7 rating and 4.5 million viewers on FS1, up 13% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Indians-Red Sox last year (2.4, 4.0M) but down 23% and 22% respectively from Cardinals-Cubs in 2015 (3.5, 5.8M), both on TBS.
The Yankees’ series-tying win was the second-most watched game of the postseason. New York has now played in the top three games and four of the top five.
FS1 pulled 2.4 million for Astros-Red Sox Game 4 earlier in the day, up 6% from Royals-Astros in the same window two years ago (2.2M). There was no comparable telecast last year.
Shifting to the National League, Nationals-Cubs Game 3 had 2.8 million viewers on TBS Monday afternoon — up 85% from Nationals-Dodgers on MLB Network last year (1.5M) and 43% from Blue Jays-Rangers on FS1 in 2015 (2.0M). Ratings were not immediately available. Compared to the Cubs’ previous NLDS Game 3s, which both aired in later timeslots, viewership fell 31% from last year against San Francisco (4.1M) and 51% from 2015 against St. Louis (5.8M).
It was the least-watched Cubs playoff game since at least 1998. The three Nationals-Cubs games thus far rank as the three least-watched over that span, each falling below the previous mark of 3.7 million for Cubs-Diamondbacks Game 2 in 2007.
Game 2 of the series on Saturday night had a 2.1 rating and 3.5 million viewers, down 25% and 24% respectively from Cubs-Cardinals in 2015 (2.8, 4.6M). There was no comparable window last year.
Rounding out the recent action, Monday’s Dodgers-Diamondbacks clincher had a 1.3 rating and 2.2 million viewers on TBS — down 48% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Cubs-Giants last year (2.5, 4.1M) and down 46% and 44% respectively from Dodgers-Mets in 2015 (2.4, 4.0M)
Game 2 had a 1.65 (-35%) and 2.8 million (-39%).
[Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 10.10a, 10.10b, Programming Insider 10.10]
