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World Series Television Ratings

TV Ratings For Every World Series in Major League History

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present comprehensive analysis of World Series television ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research, broadcast network data, and shares for every Major League World Series where data is available (since 1968).

"I don't have any reaction right now (when asked about the 2000 World Series ratings). I'm going to study them over the weekend, and I'll have a comment next week." - Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig on ABC News (Howard Fendrich, 10/28/200, 'Subway Series Strikes Out', Source)
World Series Television Ratings

Television Analysis & Ratings Breakdown

1968 NBC

22.8

57 -- --
1969 NBC

22.4

58 -- --

1970

NBC

19.4

53

-- --

1971

NBC

24.2

59

-- --

1972

NBC

27.6

58

-- --

1973

NBC

30.7

57

34,750,000 11.

1974

NBC

25.6

46

29,080,000 18.

1975

NBC

28.7

52

35,960,000 8.

1976

NBC

27.5

48

34,720,000 12.

1977

ABC

29.8

53

37,150,000 6.

1978

NBC

32.8

56

44,278,950 1.

1979

ABC

28.5

50

37,960,000 5.
1980 NBC

32.8

56 42,300,000 2.
1981 ABC

30.0

49 41,370,000 3.
1982 NBC

27.9

49 38,070,000 4.
1983 ABC

23.3

41 29,540,000 17.
1984 NBC

22.9

40 28,010,000 20.
1985 ABC

25.3

39 34,510,000 13.
1986 NBC

28.6

46 36,370,000 7.
1987 ABC

24.0

41 35,340,000 10.
1988 NBC

23.9

39 34,490,000 14.
1989 ABC

16.4

29 24,550,000 25.

1990

CBS

20.8

36

30,240,000 15.

1991

CBS

24.0

39

35,680,000 9.

1992

CBS

20.2

34

30,010,000 16.

1993

CBS

17.3

30

24,700,000 24.

1994

Strike Season

n/a

n/a

n/a n/a

1995

ABC / NBC

19.5

33

28,970,000 19.

1996

FOX

17.4

29

25,220,000 22.

1997

NBC

16.7

29

24,790,000 23.

1998

FOX

14.1

24

20,340,000 29.

1999

NBC

16.0

26

23,731,000 27.
2000 FOX

12.4

21 18,081,000 33.
2001 FOX

15.7

26 24,528,000 26.
2002 FOX

11.9

20 19,261,000 32.
2003 FOX

12.8

22

20,143,000 30.
2004 FOX

15.8

26

25,390,000 21.
2005 FOX

11.1

19 17,162,000 35.
2006 FOX

10.1

17 15,795,000 37.
2007 FOX

10.6

18

17,212,000 34.
2008 FOX

8.4

14 13,198,000 42.
2009 FOX

11.7

19 19,334,000 31.
2010 FOX 8.4 14 14,217,000 40.
2011 FOX 10.0 16 16,521,000 36.
2012 FOX 7.6 12 12,636,000 43.
2013 FOX 8.9 15 14,984,000 38.
2014 FOX 8.2 14 13,930,000 41.
2015 FOX 8.6 16 14,533,000 39.
2016 FOX 12.9 22 22,847,000 28.
2017 FOX

--

-- -- --
World Series TV Ratings


The year after Fox Sports signed a long term contract they were greeted with the ratings during the 2000 World Series. Fox Sports President Ed Goren said, "There's no question the viewership never built. Normally, through a Series, it builds from game one to a game two, from a game two to a game three. We would have liked to have seen higher numbers, but they are respectable in today's world."



Click Computer to Download Nielsen Ratings Official Television Ratings Worksheet

The Associated Press defines a"rating" as the percentage of TVs in the United States watching a broadcast. Each national point represents 1,114,000 homes in 2006 (each year the number changes: in 2003 it was 1,084,000; in 2002 it was 1,067,000; in 2001 it was 1,055,000; in 1999 it was 1,008,000). A "share" is the percentage watching a program among those households with televisions on at the time.

Did you know that during the 2000 Subway Series, 61% of the televisions in New York watched Game 5? Did you know that the next thirty largest television markets, during that same exact viewing period, registered double digit percentage losses compared to the market in New York City?

       

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