(Updated with final numbers at 5:47 p.m. ET: The five-game 2015 World Series scored a 8.7 rating/16 share and 14.7 million total viewers.)
Previously:
Fox Sports had a strong World Series — they just would have preferred it last a few more games.
Still, the five-game Kansas City Royals versus New York Mets Fall Classic finished up 11 percent overall — to a 10.1 rating/17 share in Nielsen’s metered markets — on average, year over year. In 2014, the Royals fell to the San Francisco Giants in seven games — all of which are counted toward that average. Last year’s World Series had a particularly soft start, but benefited from the full-length drama.
Just comparing five games to five games, the 2015 World Series was up 26 percent versus the prior season. That’s a touch unfair, however, because this Game 5 had far more viewing urgency than the last one. Last night’s game was up 43 percent versus the same contest in 2014.
The New York City market — the biggest in the country — was a big benefit over the still-strong San Francisco one from the prior championship series. Two World Series games went into extra innings this year.
Fox Sports is pretty thrilled with how it fared on Sunday overall. In addition to handing out Major League Baseball’s biggest trophy, the company also aired some very successful NFL games earlier in the day.
Read about last night’s primetime results here.