Nobody expects World Series TV ratings to sniff last year, but Game 1 got off to a decent start.
Tuesday’s Astros-Dodgers World Series Game 1 had an 8.7 rating and 14.97 million viewers on FOX, down 23% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Cubs-Indians last year (11.3, 19.4M). Compared to Mets-Royals in 2015, ratings fell 3% but viewership increased a fraction of a percent from a 9.0 and 14.94 million.
The Dodgers’ win trails only last year as the most-watched World Series opener since Rangers-Giants in 2010 (15.01M). Excluding last year’s series, all seven games of which had a larger audience, it earned the largest non-clinching World Series audience since Game 4 in 2013 (16.0M).
The shortest World Series game in 25 years peaked with 17.4 million viewers from 10:30 PM ET through the 10:40 PM conclusion. Last year’s later-running game actually peaked earlier, topping out at 22.7 million from 9:15-9:30.
Including the Spanish-language audience on Fox Sports GO (348K) and streaming viewership on Fox Deportes (140K), Game 1 had 15.5 million viewers — down 21% from last year’s 19.8 million.
Going under the hood, there were some discouraging numbers in younger demographics. Game 1 delivered a 3.9 rating in adults 18-49, down 30% from last year (5.6) and down 15% from 2015 (4.6). It was the third-lowest Game 1 rating ever in the demo, ahead of Giants-Royals in 2014 (3.4) and Cardinals-Tigers in 2006 (3.6).
In adults 18-34, Game 1 had a 3.1 rating — down 30% from last year (4.4) and down 18% from 2015 (3.8). Ratings in adults 25-54 fell 32% from last year (6.6 to 4.5) and 13% from 2015 (5.2).
[Tue. numbers from Fox Sports PR/Twitter 10.25, Programming Insider 10.25]
