Heading into today’s action, ratings for the MLB League Championship series have been mixed.
The Phillies/Dodgers NLCS on FOX is up dramatically from last year’s Rockies/Dodgers NLCS on TBS, but down from last year’s Red Sox/Indians ALCS, which FOX televised.
Game 2 on Friday afternoon drew a 4.0/9 overnight rating, down 5% from a 4.2 overnight for Athletics/Tigers Game 3 in ’06, the last MLB LCS game to take place on a weekday afternoon. There is no fair comparison to Game 2 of last year’s ALCS, which aired on FOX on a Saturday night.
Game 3 on Sunday night drew a 6.7/11 overnight, the best of the postseason, but off 11% from a 7.5 for Red Sox/Indians Game 3 last year, which aired on a Monday night in an earlier timeslot. Not surprisingly, Game 3 did not come close to Sunday Night Football on NBC, which drew a season low 9.4/15 overnight.
Meanwhile, ratings are way up for the ALCS on TBS, at least when compared to last year’s NLCS on the network. Games 1 and 2 of the Red Sox/Rays series averaged a 3.9 rating and 6.3 million viewers on TBS, up 39% and 52% from the first two games of last year’s NLCS.
