On a weekend featuring Yankees-Dodgers, the Little League World Series turned in the most-watched baseball telecasts of the year.
Last Sunday’s River Ridge (La.)-Curacao Little League World Series final averaged a 1.9 rating and 3.02 million viewers on ABC, down 10% in ratings and 7% in viewership from Honolulu-South Korea last year (2.1, 3.25M), but up 19% and 16% respectively from Japan-Lufkin (Tex.) in 2017 (1.6, 2.61M).
The 8-0 blowout tied the third-lowest rating for the title game since at least 1997, matching 2012 and ahead of only 2016 and 2017. It topped only those three years as the least-watched final since at least 2003.
Even so, ratings and viewership still exceeded every pro or college baseball game this year, save for the MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. The same can be said of Saturday’s River Ridge-Wailuku (Hawaii) U.S. championship, which had a 1.9 (+12%) and 2.93 million (+18%).
The U.S. championship hit a four-year viewership high, as did the Curacao-Japan international championship earlier in the day (1.2, 1.79M).
So far this season, no Major League Baseball game has exceeded a 1.8 rating or 2.91 million viewers. The College World Series topped out at a 1.3 and 2.00 million for Game 3, while the Women’s College World Series topped out at a 1.1 and 1.80 million for Game 2. Keep in mind that all of the college games aired on cable.
As goes without saying, both the final and U.S. championship outdrew Sunday’s marquee Yankees-Dodgers Major League Baseball game on ESPN (1.5, 2.39M). The MLB game won out in adults 18-49.
[Nielsen estimates via ShowBuzz Daily 8.27]
