Fox’s coverage of Game 1 of the World Series — which featured a historic comeback for the Phillies against the Houston Astros, the largest of its kind by a National League team since 1956 — hit a home run in both the key demo of 18-49 year olds, as well as viewership.
On Friday night, the network posted a ratings score more than five times the figure the week prior, jumping from “WWE’s Friday Night Smackdown” number of 0.52 to 2.75. The game also averaged 11.5 million viewers, up around two million from Game 1 last year, which saw a record-low viewership for the World Series. Ratings held steady from the year prior, which saw the World Series opener’s early demo figures at 2.3.
Here’s how the rest of the broadcast networks stacked up in ratings:
After Fox’s win, CBS was second in both ratings and total average viewership. The network drew 0.43 in the demo and 5.2 million viewers on average, on par with the week prior. At 8 p.m., an airing of “S.W.A.T.” netted 4.6 million viewers on average, as well as 0.41 in ratings. An hour later, “Fire Country” turned up the temperature with 0.47 in ratings and a total average viewership of 5.3 million. Closing out the night at 10 p.m. was an episode of “Blue Bloods,” which received 0.41 in the demo and averaged 5.7 million viewers. Both “S.W.A.T.” and “Fire Country” saw audience increases of 4% and 2%, respectively. Meanwhile, “Blue Bloods” was the top-viewed non-sports program of the night.
ABC was third in ratings with an average 0.41 in the demo and in total viewers with an average of 3.8 million. A special Diane Sawyer interview with Matthew Perry, who is poised to release his much-trumpeted memoir on Tuesday, drew 0.47 in the demo and 4.4 million viewers on average. ABC’s long-running primetime news program, “20/20,” received 0.38 in ratings and 3.5 million total viewers on average, marking a slight bump in both the demo and watchers, signifying that audiences may have remained plugged in following the Sawyer-Perry interview.
NBC was fourth in ratings, with 0.23, and in total average viewers, with 1.5 million. The game show “Capital One College Bowl” competed for 0.22 in ratings and 1.5 million total average viewers. An hour later, at 9 p.m. the same episode drew 0.21 in the demo and averaged 1.3 million viewers. At 10 p.m., an episode of “Dateline” drew 0.26 in the demo and 1.6 million total average viewers.
Fifth in both ratings and viewers was The CW, with 0.05 in the demo and 491,000 watchers. At 8 p.m. was a new episode of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” which conjured 0.06 in ratings and 542,000 total average viewers. At 9 p.m., an airing of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” sketched a 0.05 in the demo and 471,000 viewers on average. Closing out the night at 9:30 p.m. was an encore of the episode, which got 0.05 in ratings and 409,000 total average viewers.
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision was first with a 0.4 in the demo and 1.4 million total viewers across primetime. A new installment of telenovela “Vencer la Ausencia,” which aired from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., received a 0.4 demo rating and 1.3 million total viewers. “Los Ricos También Lloran” got a 0.4 in the demo and 1.5 million total viewers at 9. The night closed out with “La Madrastra,” which aired from 10 to 11 p.m. to 0.4 in the demo and 1.3 million total viewers on average.
Telemundo came in second with an average of 0.2 in the demo and 854,000 total viewers. “Exatlón Estados Unidos” which ran from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., captured a 0.2 demo rating and 887,000 total viewers. It was followed by an episode of “La Reina del Sur” which earned a 0.3 demo rating and 992,000 total viewers from 9 to 10. “El Fuego del Destino” closed out the night with a 0.2 demo rating and 711,000 total viewers from 10 to 11 p.m.
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