Rays-Phils Likely To Be Lowest Rated World Series Ever

Monday, October 27, 2008


I was personally glad that MLB and FOX decided to play Game Three late Saturday night/early Sunday Morning. There's nothing better than going out for awhile and then coming back and watching the rest of a game late night. Well apparently not everyone stays up as late as I do, because FOX's ratings for Game Three were abysmal. So bad in fact, that it's the lowest rated World Series game ever with a 6.1. It was obviously a tough decision to air the game, but when pressed Bud Selig had this to say in support of the decision, "It was a terribly difficult situation. ... You know what, it was a great game and those that saw it enjoyed it."

You never want to completely postpone a Playoff game, but when your start time is 8:30pm, and the first pitch is moved to past 10pm, you might want to think about it. As far as Game Four last night, the numbers aren't nearly as bad. The overnight numbers say that it received a 10.7, which is down 25% from last year, but that game was a Series clincher for the Red Sox. If you're looking for more comparable numbers, the PSU-OSU game on ABC pulled a 7.2 and the Giants-Steelers game on FOX got a 15.6. You'd expect a World Series game to fall somewhere in between those and that's exactly where it wound up.

However, through the four games FOX is averaging an 8.5, which is a full one and a half points lower than the all-time low of 10.0 in 2006. All in all, the decision of airing Game Three pretty much assures this World Series of being the lowest set of Games, on average, ever. The potential of the Phillies clinching certainly helps, but to best that 10.0 from 2006, tonight's game would have to pull over a 16.0.

With Monday Night Football, Dancing With The Stars and a new episode of Heroes....that ain't happening. Unless Tampa Bay comes back and pushes it to seven, this will be your lowest rated World Series in history. Book it.

(Numbers via Sports Business Daily)

9 Comments:

Penn-State-Ohio State only pulled a 7.2? I guess we need a playoff now because people aren't watching college football as incessantly as the BCS would have us believe.

Brad James said...
Oct 27, 2008, 1:38:00 PM  

You can't blame the time for game 3's ratings. Everyone in America was so excited that OSU lost, they had to go out and celebrate.

GMoney said...
Oct 27, 2008, 1:44:00 PM  

I'm a Phillies fan. I don't give a FUCK about the Ratings. I could care less if anyone out side of Philly or Tampa are watching this series.

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 2:13:00 PM  

Fox has no one to blame but themselves for this because people in Philadelphia are most definitley watching (and the same I guess can be said for Tampa Bay). Phillies fever has swept the area. This (and Tampa, obviously) may be the only two places where people care but they sure as hell care a lot.

Justin F. said...
Oct 27, 2008, 2:18:00 PM  

On a tangent with the ratings, the music used to introduce the Rays in Philadelphia in Game 3 has been identified: http://hoopshoops.blogspot.com/2008/10/fishy-fishy-fishy-song.html

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 3:23:00 PM  

The ONLY reason they played Game 3Saturday night & Sunday morning was that losing the travel day would have blown up Fox's Tuesday night lineup - House etc. Boob Selig is a hand-puppet for Fox.

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 4:30:00 PM  

Don't like Rays/Phillies or Cards/Tigers Series games? Here's a couple suggestions...
A)Have the Yankees and Sawx play every year, while the other teams play for 3rd place, a la the BCS; or
B) Get over it.

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 4:33:00 PM  

1.5 ratings pts. = David Eckstein

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 5:16:00 PM  

Bud Selig makes Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth look like geniuses.

Anonymous said...
Oct 27, 2008, 6:16:00 PM  

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