MLB Postseason: NLCS Ends With Series-High; TBS on Par With Last Year

The Cardinals/Dodgers National League Championship Series concluded with a series-high.

Game 6 of the Dodgers/Cardinals NLCS earned a 3.7 U.S. rating and 6.1 million viewers on TBS Friday night, up 3% in ratings and viewership from Brewers/Cardinals Game 6 on a Sunday night in 2011 (3.6, 5.9M). There was no comparable game of the Tigers/Yankees ALCS last year.

Friday’s Game 6 earned the largest audience of the Dodgers/Cardinals series.

The full Cardinals/Dodgers NLCS averaged a 3.2 U.S. rating and 5.0 million viewers on TBS — down 16% in ratings and viewership from last year’s four-game Tigers/Yankees ALCS (3.8, 5.9M), but up 10% and 9%, respectively, from the six-game Cardinals/Brewers NLCS in 2011 (2.9, 4.6M).

The series ranks as the second-best NLCS ever on TBS (four series), trailing only Phillies/Dodgers in 2009 (3.8, 6.1M). With that said, the series also ranks as the third-worst LCS ever on any network, ahead of only Rockies/Diamondbacks on TBS in 2007 (2.8, 4.3M) and the previously mentioned Cardinals/Brewers series in ’11.

Overall, TBS averaged a 2.7 U.S. rating and 4.2 million viewers for coverage of the 2013 MLB Postseason (24 telecasts) — flat in ratings and up 2% in viewership from last year (2.7, 4.1M), but down 4% and 3%, respectively, from 2011 (2.8, 4.3M).

Keep in mind TBS did not have the luxury of airing any Yankee games during the postseason. The last time the Yankees missed the playoffs (2008), TBS averaged 5.4 million viewers for playoff coverage. That year, the network had a seven-game ALCS involving the Red Sox.

Average Ratings/Viewership For MLB Playoffs on TBS

Past five seasons

(This year’s numbers from Turner Sports)