In what Fox Sports executives and Cubs fans hope was the penultimate game of the series, the NLCS delivered another strong performance in the Nielsens.
Game 5 of the Cubs/Dodgers National League Championship Series had 7.2 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 Thursday night, up 47% from Cardinals/Giants in 2014, the last NLCS Game 5 (4.9M). Compared to Game 5 of last year’s ALCS on FS1, viewership increased 179% from 2.6 million for Royals/Blue Jays on a Wednesday afternoon. Ratings were not immediately available.
The Cubs’ win, which peaked at 8.8 million viewers from 8:30-8:45 PM ET, earned the second-largest audience in the history of FS1, behind Game 2 of the series last Sunday (7.3M). The Cubs’ postseason run now accounts for seven of the network’s eight most-watched programs.
Figures do not include the Spanish-language audience on Fox Deportes (312K) and streaming viewership on Fox Sports GO (135K).
Cubs/Dodgers faced direct competition from the Bears/Packers Thursday Night Football game, which had 14.2 million across CBS and NFL Network. For the night, it ranked third on television in adults 18-49 — with its 2.0 in the demo trailing Grey’s Anatomy on ABC (2.1) and TNF on CBS/NFLN (4.5).*
It should be noted that even after nine Cubs games, the most-watched game of the playoffs remains the Giants/Mets N.L. Wild Card. That game, the only postseason matchup on ESPN, had 7.4 million.
* Not including the seven minutes of TNF “pre-kick” that had a 2.4 in the demo.
(Thu. numbers from Fox Sports, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 10/21)
