"World Series Not A Ratings Hit" NEW YORK (AP) -- The Fox network might be missing the Boston Red Sox this October as much as New England baseball fans. The Chicago White Sox's championship drought is longer than the one ended by Boston last year, but its quest has far less appeal to the casual TV viewer. The opening game of the White Sox-Astros World Series didn't even crack Nielsen Media Research's top 10 last week, and Game 2 was eclipsed by ABC's Sunday lineup. The two games were seen by 15 million and 17.2 million respectively, compared to 23.2 million and 25.5 million for the opening games of the Boston-St. Louis series last year, Nielsen said. Fox also prospered last year with the Red Sox-Yankees American League Championship Series, making the difference between the two years even more stunning. Fox's prime-time average viewership for the same week last year was 22 million -- double its closest rival -- while this year Fox barely made second place with 10.6 million viewers. It not only makes for glum advertisers but far less exposure to commercials touting Fox's programming. CBS continued its unbeaten streak for the season, winning the week with an average of 13.1 million viewers (8.6 rating, 14 share), and also winning among viewers aged 18 to 49. Fox had 10.6 million (6.9, 11), ABC 10.5 million (6.8, 11), NBC 9.3 million (6.3, 10), the WB 3.7 million (2.4, 4), UPN 3.5 million (2.3, 4) and Pax TV 530,000 (0.4, 1) NBC's "Nightly News" handily won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.4 million viewers (6.6, 14). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.3 million viewers (6.0, 12) and the "CBS Evening News" 7.3 million (5.2, 11). A ratings point represents 1,102,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 110.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 17-23. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation. 1. (1)CSI:Crime Scene Investigation CBS 28.5 2. (2)Desperate Housewives ABC 25.2 3. (4)Lost ABC 21.4 4. (3)Without a Trace CBS 19.8 5. (6)Grey's Anatomy ABC 18.0 6. (5)CSI:Miami CBS 17.9 7. (9)Survivor:Guatemala CBS 17.8 8. (8)NCIS CBS 17.7 9. (X)World Series Game 2: Houston vs. Chicago Fox 17.2 10. (7)Commander in Chief ABC 16.3 11. (16)60 Minutes CBS 16.0 12. (12)Two and a Half Men CBS 15.6 13. (X)World Series Game 1: Houston vs. Chicago Fox 15.0 14. (12)Cold Case CBS 14.9 15. (14)ER NBC 14.7 16. (9)NFL Monday Night Football: St. Louis at Indianapolis ABC 14.4 17. (9)Law And Order: SVU NBC 14.4 18. (X)National League Championship Game 6: Houston vs. St. Louis Fox 14.1 19. (15)CSI: NY CBS 13.9 20. (18)Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 12.9
i'm not attacking you FrancisFan, for posting this...but who cares??? why do we make such a big deal of ratings for championship games??? i'm not an advertiser...i don't give a damn. my team is playing. i'll be watching. i don't care if people in milwaukee aren't. if people in miami aren't. they can all bite me. we heard this about the Knicks/Rockets finals....but it was a great series, where every game was decided by 7 points or less. this current World Series has been fantastic...walk-off homers...dramatic comebacks...great storylines. if people don't want to watch...well...then i still don't care.
I applaud your comment, MadMax. I don't give a **** about the rest of the country. It's all about Houston pride. Our Astros have been through hell trying to reach the World Series and we finally have. Ratings can just kiss my ass.
I used to care what the national media thought about Houston and our teams. After the 94 NBA Finals, I stopped. I just don't care anymore.
Rather than attack the thread starter, I'll direct my "Who gives a ****?!" comment toward the hacks that write and print the same ratings story like clockwork after every major sports championship series.
I care about ratings. Its all about the almighty dollar in the end that goes to the highest rated show. Nielsen ratings are quickly becoming obsolete as the TIVO rating systems encompasses a much larger audience. Nielsen only polls a select few households, so always be wary of where these numbers come from.
I agree 100%. If it is your favorite team playing, who really cares if there are people in NY or LA watching? If the network that is televising the event (whether it is the World Series, Super Bowl, or NBA Finals) is that concerned about ratings, then they probably need to build in some type of contingency plan when teams from smaller markets make it.
Not to mention that shows like Desperate HookerWives and Lost[myTimeWatchingIt] are early shows, and the WS games are ending so freakin' late the kids and younger adults aren't watching them because they have to sleep early. I hate it when they rank shows at different time slots in the same competition... I hate NIELSEN... ever since he stopped doing Naked Gun movies, I've hated him...
