Facing Thursday Night Football, the final game of Rays-Astros was a mediocre draw.
Thursday’s Rays-Astros American League Division Series Game 5 averaged a 2.2 rating and 3.67 million viewers on FS1, marking the fifth-least watched LDS Game 5 dating back to 2003 (23 telecasts).
Houston’s win ranks ahead of three afternoon games — Cardinals-Braves the day before (3.33M), Rangers-Blue Jays in 2015 (3.20M) and Giants-Reds in 2012 (2.17M) — and a 2012 Tigers-A’s game on TNT that overlapped with a Yankee game on TBS (2.27M).
Ratings and viewership fell 50% from the last ALDS Game 5, Yankees-Indians two years ago (4.4, 7.26M).
Notably, Game 5 earned a lower rating and fewer viewers than Tuesday’s Game 4 (2.3, 3.70M). It should be noted that Game 5 aired opposite NFL Thursday Night Football, while Game 4 faced no such competition.
Including the audience of 220,000 on Fox Deportes, the game averaged 3.89 million — ahead of Game 4 (3.82M).
Game 5 averaged an 18.5 rating and 34 share in Houston, the market’s highest rated LDS game since 2004. Tampa-St. Petersburg scored a 10.2/17, its highest rating ever for a game on FS1.
FS1 averaged 2.73 million viewers for its Division Series coverage, up 17% from last year, when it aired National League games. Compared to last year’s ALDS on TBS, which included a Red Sox-Yankees series, viewership fell 36% from 4.32 million.
Least-watched LDS Game 5s
[Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 10.11, Fox Sports PR/Twitter 10.11]
