Wednesday’s tight World Series Game 7, which saw the visiting San Francisco Giants win their third championship in five years, also delivered a victory for Fox Sports and the Fox network.
In the 56 metered markets, which are very preliminary numbers, Game 7 got a 15.2 rating/24 share. If projections hold the game will become Fox’s highest-rated primetime telecast of the broadcast season, and the network’s best — excluding Super Bowl Sunday — since January 2013’s NFC Playoffs. The number also bests the combined averages of ABC, CBS and NBC on the night.
On pace to become the network’s best non-NFL rating since Game 7 of the 2011 World Series, the finale to this year’s Fall Classic delivered a high note for a series that started so soft.
From the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. primetime slot, Fox averaged a 14.5/23, which projects to be the network’s best performance for a Wednesday night since at least May 2012.
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The local markets had huge nights. San Francisco saw a 38.8/64 — the best MLB rating since Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. In Kansas City, the monstrous 58.3/77 is the best rating on record for an MLB game ever. To be fair, however, Kansas City was not a metered market when the Royals last appeared in the World Series, which was 1985.
Less-approximate numbers for Game 7, data for the full series, and its historical context will be available later on Thursday.