Fall Classic Final Game Attracts Over 50 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The nail-biting extended contest where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
