NFL competition held the numbers in check, but a wild and lengthy Game 5 of the National League Division Series still did well for TBS.
Thursday’s Cubs-Nationals NLDS Game 5 had a 4.1 rating and 7.0 million viewers on TBS, up 46% in ratings and 55% in viewership from Dodgers-Nationals on FS1 last year (2.8, 4.5M) but down 9% and 5% respectively from Dodgers-Mets on TBS in 2015 (4.5, 7.4M).
Chicago’s dramatic win delivered the third-largest MLB Division Series audience since 2011, behind Dodgers-Mets in 2015 and Yankees-Indians Game 5 the previous night (7.3M). The Cubs have now played in three of the six most-watched LDS games over that span.
The Cubs’ previous NLDS Game 5, against Atlanta in 2003, had a whopping 9.8 and 15.4 million viewers. That game aired on the FOX broadcast network and had a direct NFL lead-in.
Thursday’s game peaked with 9.2 million viewers from 10-10:15 PM ET, more than two hours before the telecast concluded at 12:52 AM.
Head-to-head, Game 5 was more-than-doubled head-to-head by the competing Eagles-Panthers Thursday Night Football game on CBS and NFL Network (8.9, 14.6M). It ranked third for the night behind TNF and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy in adults 18-49 (2.0) and tied for second in adults 18-34 (1.6).
Locally, the game earned a 22.9 rating in Chicago, the market’s best Division Series rating on cable. It had 14.0 in Washington D.C., that market’s second-best rating for a Nationals game.
All told, the complete NLDS averaged 3.7 million viewers on TBS, up 29% from the network’s coverage of last year’s ALDS and up 6% from last year’s NLDS on Fox Sports 1 and MLB Network. Through the Division Series, the MLB Postseason has averaged 3.9 million viewers across TBS, FS1, MLB Network and ESPN, up 8% from last year (3.6M).
[Thu. numbers from Turner Sports, Son of the Bronx, ShowBuzz Daily 10.13]
