Nearly 20 million people (average persons 2+ watching all or part of the game) watched the Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in dramatic fashion highlighted by an outstanding performance by Rangers catcher Mike Napoli in Game 5 of the 2011 World Series. Napoli ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to put his team ahead 4-2 then threw out Cardinals base runner Allen Craig attempting to steal second base in the top of the ninth. Last night’s victory put the Rangers one win away from their first World Series title in franchise history.
Game 5 produced an 8.8/14 household rating/share (14.3 million viewers), flat with last year’s World Series Game 5 clinching victory according to fast national ratings released by Nielsen Media Research. Last night’s 8.8/14 national rating propelled FOX to gains in key demographics: Men 18-34 (+9%, 4.7 vs. 4.3), Men 18-49 (+2%, 5.4 vs. 5.3), and Adults 18-34 (+9%, 3.7 vs. 3.4). Additionally the network’s World Series coverage projects to handily out-rate the NFL for the second straight night in primetime.
Among younger viewers, FOX won the night in Adults 18-34 averaging a 3.4 between 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET which bested CBS (3.1), ABC (1.8), and NBC (1.1). Last night marks the fifth night in five games that the World Series on FOX has powered the network to a primetime victory on at least one of the key prime benchmarks of Households, Adults 18-49, and Adults 18-34.
Through five games, the 2011 World Series on FOX is averaging an 8.3/14 (13.7 million viewers), down -1% from last year’s 8.4/14 (14.3 million viewers) among Households. The competitive nature of last night’s game proved beneficial for ratings as Game 5 opened with a 6.4/10 (10.1 million) at 8:02 PM ET and grew throughout the telecast. The game grew to a 7.8/12 (12.7 million) at 9:00 PM ET, 9.7 (15.4 million) at 10:00 PM ET, a 10.2 (16.8 million) at 11:00 PM ET, and peaked at a 12.0 (19.7 million) for the final 10 minutes.
St. Louis led all markets with a 46.9/64 followed by Dallas which recorded a 40.0/58. Last night’s Dallas rating for Game 5 ranks as the best local rating ever for a Rangers game and eclipses every local rating of the NBA Finals from June including the Mavericks Championship-clincher. Outstanding local ratings for Austin (23.1/35) and San Antonio (17.9/26) followed with Kansas City (12.6/19), Memphis (12.5/17), Tulsa (11.9/17), Houston (11.6/17), Las Vegas (11.3/17) and Albuquerque (11.2/17) rounding out the top ten metered markets.
The action shifts to Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO on Wednesday with exclusive coverage of Game 6 on FOX beginning at 7:30 PM ET.
(source: FOX)
