The numbers were not exactly good, but TBS scored increases for the final three games of the ALCS.
Game 5 of the Indians/Blue Jays ALCS had 2.8 million viewers on TBS Wednesday afternoon, up 10% from Royals/Blue Jays on Fox Sports 1 last year (2.6M). The 2014 ALCS ended in a sweep, as did last year’s NLCS on TBS. Ratings were not immediately available.
The previous day, Game 4 of the series had 2.7 million — up 5% from Royals/Blue Jays on FS1 last year (2.6M) but down 31% from Orioles/Royals on TBS in 2014 (4.0M). Compared to last year’s Mets/Cubs NLCS on TBS, viewership sank 65% from 7.9 million.
Games 4 and 5 benefited from the low bar set last year, when the comparable games of Royals/Blue Jays earned the smallest audiences in LCS history. Even with the increases, the games rank as the fifth and sixth least-watched LCS games ever, with the series generating three of the bottom six.
The ALCS was a much stronger draw in primetime, with Monday’s Game 3 earning a series-high 4.3 million — up 39% from last year (3.1M) but down 29% from 2014 (6.0M). Ratings increased 40% year-over-year (from 1.89 to 2.65).
The three straight increases were a turnaround from the first two games of the series, which declined 37% (Game 1) and 2% (Game 2). Keep in mind none of the figures include Canadian viewership, which does not count toward U.S. TV ratings.
(Numbers via Programming Insider 10/18, ShowBuzz Daily 10/19, 10/20)
