Ratings and viewership for every game of the 2010 Major League Baseball postseason.
FOX and TBS averaged approximately 7.5 million viewers for 32 postseason games, down 17% from last year (9.0 mil), but up 8% from 2008 (6.9 mil). The baseball playoffs averaged more viewers than the 2009-10 college football bowl season (6.627 mil, 34 telecasts) and the 2010 NBA Playoffs (5.725 mil, 76 telecasts).
With MLB reportedly giving thought expanding the postseason, here is something to consider. The entire MLB Postseason averaged more viewers than the entire NBA Playoffs, even in a year when the NBA Finals topped the World Series. This is in large part because MLB has far fewer low-rated early round games to drag down the overall average. There were just 15 games prior to the League Championship Series, compared to 57 NBA games prior to the Conference Finals (does not include NBA TV).
In other words, perhaps less is more — at least from a television ratings perspective.
The top game of the postseason was Game 4 of the Giants/Rangers World Series on FOX, which drew a 9.0 rating and 15.537 million viewers. It was the only game of the playoffs to average at least 9% of U.S. television households, compared to six games (five World Series and one ALCS game) last year.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the postseason’s lowest numbers came for Game 4 of the Rangers/Rays ALDS on TBS, which drew a 1.5 and 2.219 million viewers.
Ratings/Viewership For 2010 MLB Postseason Games
^: Comparison is to 2008, as there was no comparable game last year.
2010 NLCS on FOX compared to 2009 ALCS on FOX; 2010 ALCS on TBS compared to 2009 NLCS on TBS
| Date | Time | Game | # | Net | Rating | vs. ’09 | Viewers | vs. ’09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., 10/6/10 | 1:30 PM | Rangers 5 | 1 | TBS |
1.6
|
-20%
|
2,244
|
-19%
|
| Rays 1 | ||||||||
| 5 PM | Reds 0 | 1 | TBS |
2.7
|
-37%
|
4,209
|
-36%
|
|
| Phillies 4 | ||||||||
| 8:30 PM | Yankees 6 | 1 | TBS |
4.3
|
30%
|
6,914
|
39%
|
|
| Twins 4 | ||||||||
| Thu., 10/7/10 | 2:30 PM | Rangers 6 | 2 | TBS |
1.8
|
-18%
|
2,421
|
-18%
|
| Rays 0 | ||||||||
| 6 PM | Yankees 5 | 2 | TBS |
3.5
|
even
|
5,314
|
3%
|
|
| Twins 2 | ||||||||
| 9:30 PM | Braves 0 | 1 | TBS |
3.1
|
3%
|
4,888
|
10%
|
|
| Giants 1 | ||||||||
| Fri., 10/8/10 | 6 PM | Reds 4 | 2 | TBS |
3.1
|
-24%
|
5,024
|
-23%
|
| Phillies 7 | ||||||||
| 9:30 PM | Braves 5 | 2 | TBS |
3.0
|
-9%
|
4,774
|
-6%
|
|
| Giants 4 | ||||||||
| Sat., 10/9/10 | 5 PM | Rays 6 | 3 | TBS |
2.2
|
-15%
|
3,513
|
-13%
|
| Rangers 3 | ||||||||
| 8:30 PM | Twins 1 | 3 | TBS |
3.0
|
-6%^
|
4,810
|
-8%^
|
|
| Yankees 6 | ||||||||
| Sun., 10/10/10 | 1 PM | Rays 5 | 4 | TBS |
1.5
|
-29%
|
2,219
|
-24%
|
| Rangers 2 | ||||||||
| 4:30 PM | Giants 3 | 3 | TBS |
2.6
|
18%^
|
4,238
|
26%^
|
|
| Braves 2 | ||||||||
| 8 PM | Phillies 2 | 3 | TBS |
2.8
|
-32%
|
4,653
|
-32%
|
|
| Reds 0 | ||||||||
| Mon., 10/11/10 | 7:30 PM | Giants 3 | 4 | TBS |
3.0
|
-6%
|
4,667
|
-10%
|
| Braves 2 | ||||||||
| Tue., 10/12/10 | 8 PM | Rangers 5 | 5 | TBS |
4.1
|
—
|
6,410
|
—
|
| Rays 1 | ||||||||
| Fri., 10/15/10 | 8 PM | Yankees 6 | 1 | TBS |
5.0
|
16%
|
8,111
|
19%
|
| Rangers 5 | ||||||||
| Sat., 10/16/10 | 4 PM | Yankees 2 | 2 | TBS |
3.6
|
24%
|
5,831
|
32%
|
| Rangers 7 | ||||||||
| 8 PM | Giants 4 | 1 | FOX |
4.2
|
-19%
|
7,126
|
-16%
|
|
| Phillies 3 | ||||||||
| Sun., 10/17/10 | 8 PM | Giants 1 | 2 | FOX |
5.3
|
-9%
|
8,835
|
-6%
|
| Phillies 6 | ||||||||
| Mon., 10/18/10 | 8 PM | Rangers 8 | 3 | TBS |
5.2
|
73%
|
8,214
|
63%
|
| Yankees 0 | ||||||||
| Tue., 10/19/10 | 4 PM | Phillies 0 | 3 | FOX |
3.3
|
-31%
|
5,040
|
-31%
|
| Giants 3 | ||||||||
| 8 PM | Rangers 10 | 4 | TBS |
6.3
|
85%
|
9,846
|
75%
|
|
| Yankees 3 | ||||||||
| Wed., 10/20/10 | 4 PM | Rangers 2 | 5 | TBS |
4.1
|
-18%
|
6,107
|
-24%
|
| Yankees 7 | ||||||||
| 8 PM | Phillies 5 | 4 | FOX |
5.7
|
-15%
|
9,274
|
-10%
|
|
| Giants 6 | ||||||||
| Thu., 10/21/10 | 8 PM | Phillies 4 | 5 | FOX |
6.9
|
-9%
|
11,196
|
-6%
|
| Giants 2 | ||||||||
| Fri., 10/22/10 | 8 PM | Yankees 1 | 6 | TBS |
7.2
|
33%^
|
11,863
|
33%^
|
| Rangers 6 | ||||||||
| Sat., 10/23/10 | 8 PM | Giants 3 | 6 | FOX |
6.7
|
-28%
|
11,639
|
-25%
|
| Phillies 2 | ||||||||
| Wed., 10/27/10 | 8 PM | Rangers 7 | 1 | FOX |
8.9
|
-25%
|
15,009
|
-23%
|
| Giants 11 | ||||||||
| Thu., 10/28/10 | 8 PM | Rangers 0 | 2 | FOX |
8.5
|
-27%
|
14,130
|
-25%
|
| Giants 9 | ||||||||
| Sat., 10/30/10 | 7 PM | Giants 2 | 3 | FOX |
6.7
|
-26%
|
11,460
|
-26%
|
| Rangers 4 | ||||||||
| Sun., 10/31/10 | 8 PM | Giants 4 | 4 | FOX |
9.0
|
-33%
|
15,537
|
-32%
|
| Rangers 0 | ||||||||
| Mon., 11/1/10 | 8 PM | Giants 3 | 5 | FOX |
8.8
|
-17%
|
14,950
|
-13%
|
| Rangers 1 |
Ratings and viewership for Phillies/Giants Game 3 courtesy Sports Business Daily‘s Austin Karp.
