TBS missed out on a Game 5, but Red Sox-Yankees ratings still ended on a high note.
Tuesday’s Red Sox-Yankees American League Division Series Game 4 earned a 4.4 rating and 7.15 million viewers on TBS, up 16% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Cubs-Giants on FS1 two years ago (3.8, 6.38M). There was no comparable Tuesday night game last year.
Versus Game 4 of the Yankees’ ALDS against Cleveland last year, which aired on a Monday night on FS1, ratings increased 63% (from 2.7) and viewership 59% (from 4.49M).
Boston’s series-clinching win, which peaked with 8.5 million from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, delivered the third-largest Division Series audience since 2011. Two Game 5s hold the top spot — Yankees-Indians on FS1 last year (7.26M) and Mets-Dodgers on TBS in 2015 (7.38M).
Excluding winner-take-all games, it was the highest rated Division Series telecast since 2011 (Yankees-Tigers Game 4: 4.6) and the most-watched since 2007 (Indians-Yankees Game 4: 9.23M). Both of those games aired on TBS.
Game 4 delivered a 1.9 rating in adults 18-49, ranking second for the night behind NBC’s “This is Us” (2.3). It had a 1.4 in adults 18-34, tying the “American Music Awards” for second behind “This is Us” (1.6).
Fueled by Red Sox-Yankees, the American League postseason has averaged 4.32 million viewers on TBS — up 11% from last year’s comparable American League games on FS1, MLB Network and ESPN (3.88M) and up 40% from 2016 on TBS. Compared to last year’s National League games on TBS, viewership has increased 13%.
According to Sports Business Daily, the complete Division Series averaged 3.18 million viewers across TBS, MLB Network and FS1 — down 13% from last year (3.64M) and the lowest average since 2014 (3.15M). It was the first LDS since ’14 in which no series went to a fifth game.
Largest Division Series Audience Since 2011
UPDATED 10/11 to include full Division Series averages.
[Numbers from Turner Sports, Nielsen via Programming Insider 10.10, Sports Business Daily 10.11]
