Ratings fell for the Astros-Yankees sequel, but Game 6 still delivered baseball’s best cable audience in two years.
Saturday’s Yankees-Astros MLB ALCS Game 6 averaged a 4.4 rating and 7.47 million viewers on FS1, marking the most-watched Major League Baseball game on cable in two years — since Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS between the same two teams (9.92M).
Houston’s walk-off win, which peaked at 9.1 million from 11:45 PM through Midnight ET, declined 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Game 6 of that 2017 series, which aired on a Friday night (4.8, 8.23M). There was no ALCS Game 6 last year.
Compared to last year’s Dodgers-Brewers NLCS on FS1, ratings and viewership increased 29% over Game 6 (3.4, 5.78M) — and 9% and 2% respectively over Game 7, which aired in the same Saturday night window (4.05, 7.34M).
In the five-year history of FS1, only three programs have earned a larger audience: Games 6 and 7 of the 2017 Yankees-Astros series, and Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS, which saw the Cubs clinch their first pennant since 1945 (9.71M).
Game 6 was Saturday’s top sporting event on any network, topping the Michigan-Penn State college football game on ABC head-to-head (4.0, 6.66M).
Friday’s Game 5 averaged a 3.4 and 5.63 million, down 15% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year on TBS (Red Sox-Astros: 4.0, 6.52M), but up 3% and 7% respectively from Game 5 in 2017, which began in the afternoon (3.3, 5.25M).
Versus last year’s NLCS Game 5 on FS1, ratings jumped 42% (from 2.4) and viewership 50% (from 3.75M). That game also began in the afternoon.
The full Astros-Yankees series averaged a 3.4 and 5.77 million on FS1, down slightly from last year’s five-game ALCS on TBS (3.5, 5.82M). Compared to last year’s seven-game NLCS on FS1, ratings increased 17% (from 2.9) and viewership 19% (from 4.85M).
Viewership declined 11% from the 2017 Astros-Yankees series, which went seven games (6.52M).
This year’s series ranks as the least-watched ALCS since 2016 on TBS (Indians-Blue Jays: 3.35M) and the fourth-least watched overall. Both of this year’s League Championship Series rank among the ten least-watched on record.
Locally, Game 6 averaged a 23.9 rating in Houston, up 45% from 2017 (16.5), and behind only Game 4 (24.0) as the market’s highest for a game on FS1. New York City turned in a 13.2 (-20%).
Game 5 drew a 19.3 in Houston — up 14% from last year (17.0) and up 82% from 2017 (10.6) — and a 10.2 in New York (-30%).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 10.22, Fox Sports PR 10.19, 10.20, Houston Chronicle’s David Barron/Twitter 10.19]
