Entering a World Series that is virtually guaranteed to increase over last year, both League Championship Series incurred declines.
The six-game Cubs/Dodgers National League Championship Series averaged just under 7.0 million viewers on Fox Sports 1, down 11% from last year’s four-game Mets/Cubs series on TBS (7.9M) but up 56% from Giants/Cardinals on FS1 and FOX in 2014 (4.5M). Compared to last year’s six-game Royals/Blue Jays ALCS on FS1 and FOX, viewership increased 80% from 3.9 million.
Cubs/Dodgers averaged the second-largest audience for an NLCS since Giants/Phillies in 2010 (9.1M) behind only last year. Including American League series, it ranks fourth over that span behind Mets/Cubs, Red Sox/Tigers in 2013 (7.7M) and Rangers/Tigers in 2011 (7.1M). The latter two series aired on the FOX broadcast network.
The series also averaged the fourth-largest audience for an LCS on cable, behind Mets/Cubs last year, Rangers/Yankees in 2010 (8.2M) and Rays/Red Sox in 2008 (7.4M).
In the American League, the five-game Indians/Blue Jays series averaged 3.3 million on TBS — down 13% from Royals/Blue Jays last year, down 34% from the four-game Royals/Orioles series in 2014 (5.1M), and the least-watched LCS on record. Figures do not include Canadian viewership, which does not count toward U.S. television ratings.
The previous low was 3.9 million for Royals/Blue Jays last year, and the low before that was 4.3 million for Rockies/Diamondbacks in 2007. While the final three games of the series each posted increases in viewership, the steep drop for Game 1 — which fell 37% from last year’s opener on the FOX broadcast network — was too much to overcome.
(NLCS averages from Fox Sports)
