Just received this press release from my friends at Turner Sports. This is regarding the viewership for Friday night’s Game 1 of the American League Championship Series which saw the New York Yankees come back from a 5-0 deficit and defeat the Texas Rangers, 6-5. TBS says over 8 million viewers watched Game 1 surpassing last year’s Game 1 of the NLCS which Turner carried. We have the numbers and ratings.
TBS’ Exclusive Coverage of Yankees @ Rangers Delivers Most Watched Major League Baseball League Championship Series Game #1 in Cable Television HistoryTBS Attracts over 8.1 Million Viewers for Yankees come from behind victory vs. RangersTBS stepped up to the plate for its exclusive coverage of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and delivered with over 8.1 million viewers for Game #1 between the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. Last night’s game was the most-watched (based on total viewers) LCS Game #1 ever on cable, supplanting last years NLCS Game #1 on TBS.Last night’s Game #1 scored a 5.0 U.S. household rating, up +32% over TBS’s coverage of the 2009 NLCS average (Philadelphia Phillies @ LA Dodgers – 3.8 US Household Rating) and up +9% over the network’s seven-game ALCS coverage in 2008 of the Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays (4.6 US household rating). In addition, households were up +33% (5,750,000 vs. 4,334,000) and total viewers increased +34% (8,111,000 vs. 6,064,000) over the comparable coverage from last year.Game #1 of the ALCS on TBS also saw double digit growth in all key demos vs. the network’s coverage of the 2009 NLCS, including:
- A18-34: +40% (1,671,000 vs. 1,198,000)
- A18-49: +37% (3,518,000 vs. 2,573,000)
- A25-54: +45% (3,786,000 vs. 2,613,000)
- M18-34: +47% (1,155,000 vs. 786,000)
- M18-49: +47% (2,471,000 vs. 1,684,000)
- M25-54: +57% (2,655,000 vs. 1,697,000)
TBS’s coverage of the New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays/Texas Rangers delivered a 13.9 rating in the New York market and a 21.9 rating in the Dallas Fort-Worth market.The MLB Postseason on TBS continues today (Oct. 16) beginning at 3:30 p.m. (ET) with TBS MLB on Deck, followed by Game #2 of Yankees/Rangers at 4 p.m. (ET). Inside MLB will conclude TBS’s coverage, following the completion of the game.Source: Based on Nielsen Media Research Live + Same Day data stream. Fast National data (10-16-2010) compared to 2009 NLCS 5 game average on TBS (10-15-09 to 10-21-09) and 2008 ALCS 7 game average on TBS (10-10-08 to 10-19-08). Local metered market ratings based on Arianna data (10-16-10).
With Game 2 this afternoon, we’ll see if the numbers go up.
