Fox drew a 10.2 overnight rating for Game 1 of the World Series last night, which saw the Dodgers beat the Astros 3-1. That figure was predictably lower than Cubs-Indians last year, which drew a 12.6 and was the best for a World Series opener since Phillies-Yankees in '09. Astros-Dodgers was down 3% from a 10.5 overnight for Royals-Mets in '15, but that game went 14 innings. Looking at the four years before that for Game 1, Astros-Dodgers scored better than Giants-Royals in '14 (8.0), Red Sox-Cardinals in '13 (9.4), Giants-Tigers in '12 (8.8) and Cardinals-Rangers in '11 (9.6). The game last night drew a 28.6 rating in Houston, which is the best figure for any MLB game in that market since the series-clinching White Sox-Astros World Series Game 4 in '05 (42.2 rating). L.A. last night drew a 24.2 local rating, which is the market's best MLB figure since Angels-Giants World Series Game 7 in '02 (42.0 rating) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
|
WORLD SERIES GAME 1 OVERNIGHT RATINGS TREND ON FOX
|
|
YEAR
|
MATCHUP
|
NIGHT
|
RATING
|
|
'17
|
Astros-Dodgers
|
Tues.
|
10.2
|
|
'16
|
Cubs-Indians
|
Tues.
|
12.6
|
|
'15
|
Royals-Mets
|
Tues.
|
10.5
|
|
'14
|
Giants-Royals
|
Tues.
|
8.0
|
|
'13
|
Red Sox-Cardinals
|
Wed.
|
9.4
|
|
'12
|
Giants-Tigers
|
Wed.
|
8.8
|
|
'11
|
Cardinals-Rangers
|
Wed.
|
9.6
|
|
'10
|
Giants-Rangers
|
Wed.
|
10.4
|
|
'09
|
Yankees-Phillies
|
Wed.
|
13.8
|
|
'08
|
Phillies-Rays
|
Wed.
|
10.3
|
OVER IN A FLASH:
Game 1 was played in 2 hours, 28 minutes, more than an hour shorter than the average game time of 3:31 this postseason and 37 minutes shorter than the league-record average of 3:05 for the regular season. It also marked the shortest World Series game in a quarter century, with Game 4 of the '92 World Series between the Blue Jays and Braves clocking in at 2:21 (
Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). In Cleveland, Paul Hoynes writes if MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "wants to keep his pace of play agenda moving forward, the Dodgers and Astros appear to be a great match." However, the Indians, whose five games in their loss to the Yankees in the ALDS all took at least 3:17, might have given MLB sponsors "more time to sell cars and insurance" (
CLEVELAND.com, 10/25).
AROUND THE HORN: THE RINGER's Katie Baker writes the "MLB on Fox" studio show this postseason has become "one of the most vibrant blocks of sports programming on television." An ideal sports studio show "requires strong personalities, seamless interaction, and analysis that adds value beyond just narration of highlights as they flash by." Baker: "Get too wonky and you risk alienating casual viewers; stay too basic and the diehards will tune out." Last postseason on Fox, host Kevin Burkhardt and analysts Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and Pete Rose "walked this line brilliantly." Now "MLB on Fox," which replaced Rose with Keith Hernandez this year, shares a "similar anything-goes authenticity as other programs like 'Inside the NBA' on TNT and 'College GameDay' on ESPN." Fox "could probably make good money by airing the show’s pregame production meetings unfiltered to premium subscribers for large sums." Meanwhile, Burkhardt "juggles an enormous amount of responsibility: He has to pay attention to the teleprompter, manage the precise timing of throws to commercial breaks, save anyone who starts to flounder, and make sure all four analysts get their turns to speak." If there is a "knock against" the crew, it is that they sometimes "have a little too much fun" (THERINGER.com, 10/25).
