A weekday afternoon timeslot on a fledgling network resulted the smallest audience ever for MLB’s League Championship Series.
Game 3 of the Cardinals/Giants NLCS drew 2.8 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 Tuesday afternoon, down 50% from Red Sox/Tigers on FOX last year (5.6M) and down 28% from Giants/Cardinals on FOX in 2012, a game that included a three-hour rain delay (3.9M). Last year’s Cardinals/Dodgers NLCS Game 3 had 4.8 million on TBS in primetime.
The Giants’ win ranks as the least-viewed League Championship Series game ever. The previous low was 3.0 million for Cardinals/Brewers Game 2 on TBS in 2011 (3.0M). Given the timeslot and the channel, the record low is no surprise.
The game also earned the second-smallest audience of the playoffs on Fox Sports 1, ahead of only Giants/Nationals Game 1 in the Division Series (2.0M). Keep in mind the 4 PM ET start was also the second-earliest of the playoffs on FS1, ahead of only that Giants/Nationals game (3 PM ET).
All three games of the Cardinals/Giants series — including Game 1 on the FOX broadcast network — have had double-digit declines in viewership compared to both last year’s ALCS and the 2012 NLCS. Overall, eight of the nine playoff games on FOX/FS1 this year have declined by double-digits.
Locally, Game 3 drew a 19.3 in St. Louis and an 8.3 in the Bay Area — where it had a 1 PM local start time.
(Tue. numbers from Fox Sports)
