World Series Loses to NFL Game in TV Ratings

Iraq's Minister of oil and President of the Conference Abdul-Kareem Luaibi Bahedh talks with Secretary General of OPEC Abdalla Salem El-Badri of Libya, from left, during a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria,Thursday, June 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) / Ronald Zak

A regular-season NFL game has earned a higher television rating than the World Series.

The "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the last two Super Bowl champions drew an 11.8 overnight rating and 18 share. Game 4 of the World Series had a 10.4/16.

The Saints beat the Steelers 20-10 on NBC. The Giants defeated the Rangers 4-0 on Fox.

NBC had skipped airing a Sunday night game during the World Series the first four years of its current NFL contract. NBC said Monday this was the first time an NFL game outrated the World Series.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with TVs tuned into a program. Shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets.

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Game 3 earned the second-lowest television rating for a World Series game.

The Texas Rangers' 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night on Fox drew a 6.7 rating and 13 share, beating only the 6.1 for Game 3 of the 2008 Phillies-Rays series. That game was delayed 91 minutes because of rain and didn't start until after 10 p.m. on the East Coast.

The rating was down 26 percent from the 9.1 for Game 3 of last season's Yankees-Phillies World Series.

This year's series averaged an 8.1 through three games, up 5 percent from the record low of the 2008 World Series.

Saturday's game began at 7 p.m. EDT, the earliest World Series start since 1987. Baseball and network officials had for years resisted earlier start times despite concerns about losing younger viewers, saying the later the game, the higher the rating - and the greater the revenue. To help offset potential revenue losses from the earlier Game 3 start, sponsor Chevrolet committed to increased advertising.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn't assess the ratings.

"Let me study things," he said before Game 4.

For the first time during this World Series, Cablevision's more than 3 million New York-area subscribers were able to watch the game after the company settled its dispute with Fox.

The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with TVs. The share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.



Fox is a unit of News Corp.

[bill2235]

To theChooch1-

FYI
In a 3 hour plus NFL game there is on average about 11 minutes of action and 75 minutes of commercials. Talk about excitement!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

[ghostofandy]

My thoughts on this: Small market team fans are so infuriated with the power balance in MLB that once the regular season is over, they stop watching. Pittsburgh hasn't made the playoffs in 20+ years, why should they watch the postseason? Similar points can be made for Royals, Padres, Milwaukee, and Baltimore. As a Small Market team fan myself, I watch the games but don't have much feeling when I watch. If MLB folded tomorrow, I doubt I'd care much.

[TheBackDoorman]

The world series has turned to trash as the poor American's who couldn't watch the playoffs unless they had cable, for the first time in a hundred years. This is Texas baseball allright. Men like George Bush and his Corporate trillionair Baron's have squeezed every penny they can out of us. From inflated Republican gasoline prices to the price of a baseball game ticket they've gouged us. It's time for change. A vote for the Republicans and men like Bush and Cheney is a vote for the Corporate Oil Baron's Haliburton, Chevron and Standard Oil. A vote for the Republican's is a vote for more war's, a cut in unemployment insurance, Va benefits, relief food stamps, energy assistance, housing and a cut in Social Security for the old as they cut the tax's of their Corporate Oil Baron Puppetiers as they give them exemptions and not only that credits.

[shazbat34]

Maybe just a little off topic there, Doorman?

[Cattzen]

People should get used to doing without, if Entertainment Companies such as FOX will continue the practice of extorting higher rates from subscribers.

[thechooch1]

This doesn't surprise me, baseball games have gotten more boring and lasting longer over the years. Football has excitement on every play. In a baseball game you don't know how many pitches it will take for some action.

[mb91764]

When you have to pay $90 to park,200 to get a out seat.$100 for pay per view.You can take the game and shove it.Quick watching theseover pay jocks 15 years ago.Me, I go watch my local college,highschool teams play.If nothing else theres always the local little league teams.Now thats whereyou see the real ball players who love just the game.Yes,there are still a few pro who act like its the game that count but they are a dieing breed.$20 million to throw a ball,and we ***** about a Wall Street Ceo bonus.Get real people,jocks are all about the money,and they never give back nothing to there fans.One last thing,Billion for a ballfield,and New York can't fix roads and layoff teacher.I guesss when the owners start going broke we just have to bail them out like the banks.Anybody else tired of these jocks?