Fox is on pace for a record-low World Series audience heading into tonight's Game 6. The current average of a 7.2 rating and 12.1 million viewers is below the Giants’ sweep of the Tigers in ’12, which currently sits as the least-viewed World Series with a 7.6 rating and 12.7 million viewers. Last year’s six-game Red Sox-Cardinals series finished with an 8.9 rating and 14.9 million viewers. Fox finished with a 7.3 rating and 12.6 million viewers for the Giants’ shutout of the Royals in World Series Game 5 on Sunday night, marking the lowest Game 5 audience on record. The game on Sunday was the first of the Series not to deliver a primetime win, as Fox had competition from NBC's “SNF” and several scripted shows on other nets. Game 5 also was down sharply from an 8.9 rating and 14.4 million viewers for Red Sox-Cardinals Game 5 last year, which aired on a Monday. There was no Game 5 in ’12. Cardinals-Rangers Game 5 in ’11 drew an 8.8 rating and 14.3 million viewers -- also on a Monday night. Fox also did not have the benefit of an NFL national window lead-in for its Sunday night World Series game for the first time since ’05. Last year’s Game 4 on a Sunday night got a big boost with Redskins-Broncos leading into World Series coverage. Meanwhile, Game 4 on Saturday night earned a 6.3 final rating and 10.7 million viewers, down from a 9.4 rating and 16.0 million viewers for Game 4 last year on a Sunday. The game did deliver Fox a primetime win on Saturday -- its fourth win of the World Series (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes Fox “finished third” in primetime on Sunday behind NBC and CBS. Fox' Game 2 audience of 12.9 million viewers remains the most-watched Series game for ’14 to date, but that audience “would have been the second-smallest figure” in last year’s Red Sox-Cardinals series (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28).
FOR REAL FANS ONLY: In San Jose, Mark Purdy writes “watching these World Series games over the past week has been a blast” and “if you have missed out … well, you have missed out.” Purdy: “Over the past few decades, the NFL has overwhelmingly become America’s favorite sport. Baseball has become more of a regional obsession. … So it’s just fine if much of America is opting to ignore the World Series. You can keep enjoying the show without the guilt” (
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 10/28).
SLOW PITCH: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Ourand & Fisher cite sources as saying that Fox Sports’ local streaming talks with MLB “have hit a snag, putting a crimp in a years-long negotiation that had picked up in recent weeks.” Talks “cooled as Fox Sports simultaneously was negotiating long-term local TV rights extensions” with the Cardinals and D-Backs. The D-Backs’ deal with FS Arizona “ends after next season,” and the Cardinals’ deal with FS Midwest runs through ‘17. Fox Sports and the teams “wanted to open those agreements early to work out long-term extensions.” A Fox Sports source said that “it doesn’t make sense to cut long-term rights deals in the current media landscape unless they include streaming rights.” As a result, a source said that Fox Sports has put its renewal negotiations with the Cardinals and D-Backs “on ‘a slow track’ until a leaguewide local streaming deal can be worked out with MLB.” Fox is “not able to cut any streaming deals with individual teams until it reaches an agreement with MLB” (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/27 issue).
