World Series 2016: Fox TV ratings skyrocket for Game 6

Michael McCarthy

World Series 2016: Fox TV ratings skyrocket for Game 6 image

The Cubs-Indians World Series continues to dominate TV, with Game 6 ratings rising an astonishing 66 percent.

The Cubs 9-3 win over the Indians on Fox Sports Wednesday pulled a 14.8 TV rating, according to Mike Greenberg on ESPN2's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" Wednesday.

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That's up a whopping 66.3 percent from the comparable 8.9 rating for Game 6 of 2014 World Series between the Giants and Royals. There was no Game 6 last season as the Royals beat the Mets in five games.

The rating was lower than the 15.3 for Sunday's Game 5 thriller, notes Sports TV Ratings. But considering Game 6 was mostly a blowout by the Cubs, it indicates Fox might post even bigger numbers for tonight's winner-take-all Game 7 as the Cubs try to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win their first World Series in 108 years.

On Wednesday's show, Greenberg predicted Fox's Game 7 telecast will draw 40 million viewers and a 20.0 TV rating.

That would not top the 50.3 million for Game 7 of Twins-Braves in 1991. But it would top the 39.1 million for Yankees and Diamondbacks after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

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In comparison, this year's dream NBA Finals Game 7 matchup of LeBron James' Cavaliers vs. Steph Curry's Warriors drew 31 million TV viewers and an 18.9 TV rating. 

 

This year's World Series on Fox has been attracting the most TV viewers since the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in 2004 to take their first championship in 1986, writes Richard Sandomir of the New York Times. Sunday's Game 5 thriller even trounced NBC's "Sunday Night Football," the first time since 2011 that a World Series telecast beat the NFL's top prime-time game.

Writes Sandomir

This year’s Series, which the Indians lead by three games to two, has an overall average of 19.3 million viewers, up 31 percent from 2015. The viewership increase is being fueled in part by the long championship droughts of the teams. Audience size usually leaps significantly if a Game 6 or a Game 7 is played. In 2014, Game 7 between the San Francisco Giants and the Royals attracted an average of 23.5 million viewers, up nearly 10 million from Game 6. And after an average of 14.3 million watched Game 5 of the 2011 Series between the Texas Rangers and the Cardinals, 21.1 million tuned in to Game 6 and 25.4 million to Game 7.

Fox appears to be set up for the most viewed World Series game in the past 20 years.

Michael McCarthy

Michael McCarthy Photo

Michael McCarthy is an award-winning journalist who covers Sports Meda, Business and Marketing for Sporting News. McCarthy’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC.com, Newsday, USA TODAY and Adweek.