Fox earned a 7.2 final rating and 12.1 million viewers for the Royals’ 3-2 win over the Giants in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night. Both of those figures are down 3% from Red Sox-Cardinals Game 3 last year, which aired on a Saturday night. However, Royals-Giants Game 3 is up 18% and 16%, respectively, from a 6.1 rating and 10.5 million viewers for Giants-Tigers Game 3 in ’12 (also on a Saturday). Friday’s game gave Fox another primetime win. Through three games, Fox’ World Series viewership is down 7% from last year, but up 6% from the Giants’ last appearance in ’12 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said of the World Series ratings, “Let's wait until it's over. Look, the Fox people are delighted. They're winning the night by huge margins. Of course, I'd like greater television ratings. On the other hand, I had 10 clubs this year that were the No. 1 program in their market all summer long. Record sums being given to local teams for broadcast rights, and we got huge money for our national television package. So I'm satisfied. Nothing is perfect, but wait until the World Series is over and I think you'll be surprised” (MLB.com, 10/25).
