The Rangers’ triumph over the Yankees in the ALCS earned the second-largest cable audience ever for a Major League Baseball game.
TBS earned a 7.2 U.S. rating and 11.863 million viewers for Yankees/Rangers Game 6 Friday night, up 33% in ratings and viewership from Game 6 of the 2008 ALCS (BOS/TB: 5.4, 8.928 mil), the only previous Game 6 on the network.
Game 6 of last year’s Angels/Yankees ALCS on FOX drew a 9.3 rating and 15.481 million viewers on a Sunday night.
The Rangers’ series-clinching win ranks as the second-most viewed Major League Baseball game ever on cable. The only game to draw more viewers was Game 7 of the Red Sox/Rays ALCS on TBS in 2008 (13.397 mil).
The previous #2 game was a Cubs/Cardinals regular season matchup on ESPN in 1998 (10.622 mil).
In addition, the game drew the second-largest audience in the 34-year history of TBS — again, behind Game 7 of the ’08 ALCS.
Yankees/Rangers ranks as the most-viewed game of this year’s postseason, topping the previous high of 11.196 million for Giants/Phillies Game 5 on FOX. Overall, the game drew the second-largest MLB audience of 2010 — behind only the MLB All-Star Game in July (12.118 mil).
Compared to other sports, Yankees/Rangers Game 6 drew the largest non-NFL audience for any sporting event since the Spain/Netherlands World Cup final (24.3 million viewers on ABC and Univision), and the largest non-NFL cable audience since Game 7 of the ’08 ALCS.
The game drew a 28.5 rating in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market, up 55% from Wednesday afternoon’s Game 5 (18.4), and a series-high. To put that in perspective, the highest local rating of the 2006 Mavericks/Suns NBA West Finals on TNT was a 19.1 (Game 5).
In New York, the game drew a series-high 18.4 rating, up 43% from Game 5 (12.9), but down 32% from last year’s Angels/Yankees ALCS Game 6 on FOX (26.9) — when the Yankees clinched a trip to the World Series.
Overall, the Rangers/Yankees ALCS averaged a 5.1 U.S. rating and 8.223 million viewers on TBS, up 34% in ratings and 36% in viewership from last year’s Phillies/Dodgers NLCS (3.8, 6.064 mil), and up 11% and 10%, respectively, from the 2008 Rays/Red Sox ALCS (4.6, 7.443 mil).
The series ranks as easily the highest rated, most-viewed League Championship Series on TBS (four series).
(Turner Sports)
