World Series television ratings

Summary of Nielsen ratings for World Series broadcast on television

Audience measurement by Nielsen Media Research, commonly referred to as Nielsen ratings, has provided World Series television ratings since at least 1963. Key measurements are ratings, the percentage of all U. S. television equipped households that watched a game, share, the percentage of television sets in use that were tuned to a game, and total viewers (or viewership), the average number of people watching a game throughout its duration. The highest ratings for an entire World Series is tied between , featuring the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, and , featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals. Both series went six games and averaged a rating of 32.8 and a share of 56. The only other games with a rating of 39 or higher were Game 7 in , when the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Boston Red Sox, with a 39.6 rating, The most viewed game was Game 7 in , when the New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox; with a rating of 38.9,efn|Nielsen records do not list a viewership figure for this game. Though the game did not have the smallest viewership in World Series history, that mark belongs to Game 3 in at 8.126 million. That game had a 4.2 rating. The previous least viewed game was Game 2 in , which had 8.153 million viewers. which was impacted by a rain delay and had 9.836 million viewers. The most recent World Series game to record a rating of 30 or higher was Game 7 in , as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves; the game had a viewership of 50.340 million.—and peaked at 49.9 million viewers, and Fox estimated more than 75 million people watched all or part of the game. All four major U. S. broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) have broadcast the World Series. Fox has been the exclusive broadcast network for the World Series since , and has a contract with MLB to carry the World Series through 2028.

The graph below shows the average rating (in percentage) and average number of viewers (in millions) for each World Series since 1973; older Nielsen records lack average viewer counts. + Least viewed Rank Year Average Games 1 2023  9.082 M 5 2 2020  9.785 M 6 3 2021 11.744 M 6 4 2022 11.762 M 6 5 2012 12.636 M 4

+ Most viewed Rank Year Average Games 1 1978 44.279 M 6 2 1980 42.300 M 6 3 1981 41.370 M 6 4 1982 38.070 M 7 5 1979 37.960 M 7

The following table shows the viewership (figures in millions) records—both largest and smallest—for games one through seven in a World Series since 1973. Average Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7Highest 44.279 M (1978) 43.510 M (1978) 42.990 M (1980) 43.810 M (1978) 39.220 M (1978) 48.990 M (1982) 54.860 M (1980) 55–60 M (1986)Lowest 9.082 M (2023) 9.172 M (2023) 8.153 M (2023) 8.126 M (2023) 8.480 M (2023) 10.059 M (2020) 12.549 M (2022) 23.013 M (2019)