With both ALDS games overlapping on different networks Thursday night, the Yankees’ clinching win was no match for last year. Plus: a second night of steep declines for the NHL; a six-year high for NASCAR at Talladega.
Yankees’ clincher down big opposite competing ALDS game
Thursday’s Yankees-Royals MLB American League Division Series Game 4 averaged a 1.9 rating and series-high 3.54 million viewers across TBS and truTV, down sharply from Phillies-Braves on the same night last year (3.0, 5.88M). Unlike last year’s game, which aired in a standalone window, the Yankees’ series-clinching win overlapped for an hour with Guardians-Tigers Game 4 on TNT — which also drew a series-high 1.7 and 3.42 million.
The Guardians’ series-tying win — the first postseason game scheduled for TNT since 2012 — peaked with 4.2 million in the 7:45 PM ET quarter-hour, suggesting that viewers began to tune out once the Yankee game began at 8:00. The Yankee game peaked at 9:45 PM with 4.6 million.
While both games hit series-highs, it is fairly certain that the overlap resulted in some ratings cannibalization. On the other hand, it is just as likely that Guardians-Tigers fared better at 6 PM ET on TNT than it would have in an afternoon window on TBS.
The American League postseason is averaging 3.0 million viewers on the TNT Sports networks, up 18% from last year’s ALDS on the Fox Sports networks. Compared to the last time TBS carried the ALDS in 2022 — which was also the last time the Yankees were in the field — viewership is down from 3.5 million.
NHL down sharply again on second night of season
Wednesday’s Rangers-Penguins NHL regular season game averaged a 0.22 rating and 467,000 viewers on TNT, down 55% in ratings and 48% in viewership from Blackhawks-Bruins last year, the second career game for Connor Bedard (0.49, 896K). The Rangers’ 6-0 rout ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched season opener on TNT since the network began airing NHL games in 2021.
The Avalanche-Golden Knights nightcap drew 315,000, down 16% from Avalanche-Kings a year ago.
The steep declines on Wednesday night followed a similar performance for the season-opening tripleheader on ESPN.
NASCAR scores top fall Talladega audience in six years
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Talladega averaged a 1.7 rating and 3.13 million viewers on NBC, up 23% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.51M) and the largest audience for the fall Talladega race since 2018. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s win, which peaked with 4.2 million viewers, outdrew all of last year’s playoff races.
The previous day’s Xfinity Series race at the track averaged 917,000 on CW, down from 1.02 million on USA the last time it was run in 2022.
(Nielsen estimates via Programming Insider 10.12, 10.13, Braylon Breeze/Twitter 10.13)
