World Series television ratings

Audience measurement by Nielsen Media Research, commonly referred to as Nielsen ratings, has provided World Series television ratings since at least 1963. Key measurements are ''ratings'', the percentage of all U.S. television-equipped households that watched a game, '' share'', the percentage of television sets in use that were tuned to a game, and total viewers (or ''viewership''), the average number of people watching a game throughout its duration.

The highest ratings for an entire World Series is tied between , featuring the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and , featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals. Both series went six games and averaged a rating of 32.8 and a share of 56. Average viewership was slightly larger in 1978 (44,278,950) than in 1980 (42,300,000).

The lowest ratings for an entire World Series was in , a six-game series won by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Tampa Bay Rays, which averaged a 5.2 rating and a 12 share; it also had the lowest average viewership, at 9.785 million. Previously, the four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers by the San Francisco Giants was the least watched, averaging a 7.6 rating and a 12 share; its average viewership was 12.636 million.

The highest-rated individual game in World Series history was Game 6 in , when the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals; the game had a 40.0 rating. The only other games with a rating of 39 or higher were Game 7 in , when the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Boston Red Sox, with a 39.6 rating, and Game 4 in , when the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the New York Yankees, with a 39.5 rating. The most-viewed game was Game 7 in , when the New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox; with a rating of 38.9, its viewership is estimated at 55 to 60 million.

The lowest-rated individual game was Game 3 in , which had a 4.3 rating. That game also had the smallest viewership in World Series history, 8.156 million. Prior to 2020, the only World Series game with less than 10 million viewers had been Game 3 in , which was impacted by a rain delay and had 9.836 million viewers.

The most recent World Series game to record a rating of 30 or higher was Game 7 in , as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves; the game had a viewership of 50.340 million. Game 7 in between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians had an average viewership of 40.045 million—the most-watched World Series game in 25 years dating back to 1991—and peaked at 49.9 million viewers, and Fox estimated more than 75 million people watched all or part of the game.

All four major U.S. broadcast television networks ( ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) have broadcast the World Series. Fox has been the exclusive broadcast network for the World Series since , and has a contract with MLB to carry the World Series through 2028.

Viewership/rating by year

The graph below shows the average rating (in percentage) and average number of viewers (in millions) for each World Series since 1973; older Nielsen records lack average viewer counts. For example, the 1973 World Series (the leftmost data points) had an average rating of 30.7 (percentage of all U.S. television-equipped households that watched) and an average viewership of 34.8 (million viewers). This chart shows trending over time; specific figures are available in the television ratings by year section.

Least and most viewed World Series

These tables list the World Series with the smallest and largest average viewership (figures in millions) since 1973.

Viewership records for Games 1–7

The following table shows the viewership (figures in millions) records—both largest and smallest—for games one through seven in a World Series since 1973.

Television ratings by year

Figures are expressed as ''ratings/share''. Ratings represent the percentage of U.S. households that watched the game on television. Share represents the percentage of television sets ''in use'' that were tuned to the game.

Source: 1968 through 2007 figures are per Nielsen documents; more recent years per inline citations.

See also

* Super Bowl television ratings
* NBA Finals television ratings
* Stanley Cup Finals television ratings
* MLS Cup television ratings

Notes

References

External links

Game-by-game ratings (1968–2007) spreadsheet
via Wayback Machine

Average viewership (1973–2007) spreadsheet
via Wayback Machine

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Television ratings
Major League Baseball television ratings
ABC Sports
CBS Sports
Major League Baseball on Fox
Major League Baseball on NBC