Fox Is Really Doing Fine…It's World Series Time

Face it, you may hate the Yankees, but you watch them. Another World Series game which made a ratings gain from the year before and it’s a very nice gain. A big 44% jump from last year’s Game 2 between the Phillies and Tampa Bay.

Check it out.

WORLD SERIES GAME 2 DOMINATES PRIME TIME

Audience is +48% Better Than Game 2 ’08; Rating +44%

Biggest Year-to-Year Gains for Any World Series Game in 19 Years!

The 2009 WORLD SERIES is dominating prime time and posting significant gains over last year. Game 2 between the Phillies and Yankees averaged 11.7/19 household rating/share and 18.9 million viewers last night on FOX according to “fast national” ratings issued by Nielsen Media Research. The 11.7 rating represents a huge +44% gain over last year’s 8.1/13 for Game 2 of Phillies-Rays, while the 18.9 million viewers is a +48% increase over Game 2 ’08. Both percentage increases are the biggest year-to-year gains for any World Series game in 19 years (Game 4 of the 1990 Reds-A’s World Series — +46% rating, +52% audience — over Game 4 ‘89).

Last night’s contest is the highest-rated and most-watched Game 2 since 2004 (15.9/24, 25.5 mill.).

The Primetime portion of the game also averaged an 11.7/19 (19.0 mill.) from 8:00-11:00 PM ET, making last night the highest-rated and most-watched Thursday night on any network since the BCS Championship Game in January. The game earned a 5.7 in prime time among Adults 18-49, FOX’s best Thursday night in over seven months. Game 2 easily controlled a night of tough competition. The prime-time 5.7 (the entire game drew a 5.8 adults 18-49) beat second-place ABC by +50% for the night (3.8).

PHILADELPHIA again topped all markets with a 42.5/57, a +38% gain over last year’s 30.7/44 for Game 2 of the Phillies-Rays WS. NEW YORK tallied a 29.8/44, the second-best Yankee Game Two of the last ten years, beating 2003, 2001, and 1999 (the 2000 Subway Series was of course stronger, 42.1/56). A solid outing from former Red Sox superstar Pedro Martinez juiced ratings in Boston (15.7/26) and Providence (15.6/25), and those markets were up +15% and +24% respectively over their Game 1 ratings.

2009 World Series Summary

The first two games of the 2009 World Series earned 11.8/19 household rating/share, and has averaged 19.2 million viewers, a +37% gain over last year in rating (vs. 8.6/14) and a +40% increase in viewership (vs. 13.8 mill.). By both measures this is the best start to a World Series since 2004, when the Red Sox were looking to snap an 86-year World Championship drought. Among Adults 18-49, the Series is up +39% (6.1 vs. 4.4) and is also pacing at a five-year high. If we compare the World Series to top-rated season-to-date prime-time shows, the Fall Classic would rank No. 2 in households (behind NCIS) and No. 4 in A18-49.

The Yankees definitely bring viewers to the table. And nice to see Providence make a nice jump. Red Sox Nation was definitely interested in seeing Pedro Martinez again.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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