Outside of the Cubs and Yankees’ outlier appearances, World Series ratings have not been this strong in years.
Wednesday’s Astros-Dodgers World Series Game 2 earned a 9.2 rating and 15.5 million viewers on FOX, down 10% in ratings and 11% in viewership from Cubs-Indians last year, which began an hour earlier to avoid rain (10.2, 17.4M) but up 11% and 13% respectively from Mets-Royals in 2015 (8.3, 13.7M).
The Astros’ extra-inning win trails only Cubs-Indians last year and Phillies-Yankees in 2009 (11.7, 18.9M) as the highest rated and most-watched World Series Game 2 in the past decade.
Outside of last year, it was the highest rated and most-watched non-clinching World Series game since Red Sox-Cardinals Game 4 in 2013 (9.4, 16.0M).
Including the Spanish-language audience on Fox Deportes (382K) and streaming viewership on Fox Sports GO (154K), Game 2 had 16.0 million viewers — down 10% from last year’s 17.8 million. In both games thus far, the gap from last year has narrowed with the addition of Spanish-language and streaming viewership.
Game 2 had a 4.2 rating in adults 18-49, down 13% from last year (4.8) but up 8% from 2015 (3.9). The 4.2 is the third-best for Game 2 of the World Series in a decade, a marked turnaround from Game 1 — which was the third-lowest rated in the demo all-time.
In adults 18-34, Game 2 had a 3.3 rating — down 11% from last year (3.7) but up 10% from 2015 (3.0). Ratings in adults 25-54 fell 14% from last year (5.7 to 4.9) but increased 7% from 2015 (4.6).
All World Series ratings dating back to 1972 are available here.
[Wed. numbers via Programming Insider 10.27, Fox Sports PR/Twitter 10.27]
