World Series sets another low for television viewers

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 Game 3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays was the least-watched World Series game ever, beating the record set two days earlier in Game 2.

Friday night’s game was seen by an average of 8,156,000 viewers age 2 and higher on Fox, drawing a 4.3 rating and 10 share, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Game 2 was seen by an average of 8,950,000 (5.0/11) and Game 1 by an average of 9,195,000 (5.1/11).

Tampa Bay’s walk-off 8-7 win in Game 4 on Saturday night was seen by an average of 9,332,000, drawing a 4.8 rating and 12 share, and the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 5 on Sunday night by an average of 10,059,000, drawing a 5.3 rating and 11 share.

Before this year, the only World Series game with fewer than 10 million viewers was Philadelphia’s rain-delayed Game 3 win over the Rays in 2008, viewed by 9,836,000. That game, played on a Saturday night, was delayed by rain for 91 minutes at the start to 10:06 p.m. EDT and the final out was at 1:47 a.m.

Last year’s Series between Washington and Houston drew 12.3 million viewers for Game 3; 10,285,000 for Game 4; and 11,464,000 for Game 5.

Still, Game 3 this year drew Fox’s biggest Friday night audience since last year’s Game 3 and Game 4 drew its biggest Saturday night audience since the Big Ten championship in December.

The Dodgers outdrew the Lakers in the Los Angeles market for comparable games in the NBA Finals against Miami: 18.4/37 for Game 3, 61% above 11.4/25 for NBA Game 3, 21.1/43 for Game 4, 54% above 13.7/26 for NBA Game 4; and 22.2/41 for Game 5, 31% above 17.0/33 for NBA Game 5.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in to a broadcast. The share is the percentage viewing a telecast among those households with TVs on at the time.

Ratings have been lower for sports this fall, a drop thought attributable to lower viewership during the coronavirus pandemic and competition from programming related to the presidential election.