Game 2 drew a 23.5. rating in DC -- the best rating for any MLB telecast in the nation’s capital since ’01GETTY IMAGES
Fox is averaging 12.1 million viewers for the World Series heading into Game 3 on Friday night, down 12% from the same point of Red Sox-Dodgers last year. Game 2 on Wednesday night averaged 11.9 million, down from 13.5 million for Game 2 last year. The 11.9 million viewers is the lowest figure for any World Series game since Giants-Royals Game 4 on a Saturday night in ’14 (10.7 million). Game 2 did still win the night among all networks on Wednesday. Houston led all markets on Wednesday with a 31.7 local rating, while DC drew a 23.5. That is the best rating for any MLB telecast in the nation’s capital since Game 7 of the D-backs-Yankees World Series in ’01 (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar notes Fox' Joe Buck again is on a "whirlwind schedule" throughout October as he "bounces from city to city and sport to sport." Last year, he "broadcast 15 games in 18 days, working in six cities across all four time zones." This year he has "called 10 games in 15 days so far," including World Series Game 2 on Wednesday in Houston, Redskins-Vikings on Thursday in Minneapolis and World Series Game 3 on Friday night in DC. If the World Series goes seven games, he will have been "on the air 16 times in 22 days and will have broadcast from seven cities" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/25).
SOMETHING MISSING? In Chicago, Jim O'Donnell wrote "try as they might," Fox' World Series studio team of Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Kevin Burkhardt "simply can't match the 2016 classic that featured Pete Rose instead of Ortiz" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 10/25).
