ARLINGTON, Texas — The World Series drew a record-low audience of television viewers for the second straight night.
Tampa Bay’s 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 on Wednesday night was seen by an average of 8,950,000 viewers on Fox, receiving a 5.0 rating and 11 share, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Still, Fox won the prime-time evening with its best performance on a Wednesday night since May.
The two-game average is 9,070,000 viewers.
Los Angeles’ opening 8-3 victory on Tuesday was seen by an average of 9,195,000 viewers on Fox from 8:06 p.m. to 11:41 p.m. EDT, receiving a 5.1 rating and 11 share.
The low for any game before this year came the only other time the Rays were in the World Series, when their 5-4 loss to Philadelphia in Game 3 in 2008 was viewed by an average of 9,836,000 on Oct. 25, a Saturday night. The start was delayed by rain for 91 minutes to 10:06 p.m. and the final out was at 1:47 a.m.
The previous low for a Game 1 had been San Francisco’s 7-1 win over Kansas City on Oct. 21, 2014, viewed by an average of 12,191,000 on a Tuesday night. The low for a Game 2 had been last year, when Washington’s 12-3 rout at Houston was viewed by an average of 12,014,000 on a Wednesday night.
The Dodgers’ seven-game NL Championship Series win over the Atlanta Braves averaged 4,410,000 viewers on Fox and FS1.
Tampa Bay’s seven-game AL Championship Series win over the Houston Astros averaged 2,767,000 viewers on TBS and the Rays’ Game 7 win drew a 12.8 rating in the Tampa market, the highest for a Rays game since Game 4 of the 2013 Division Series against Boston. Game 7 drew a 13.0 rating in Houston.
TBS said its TV Everywhere platforms averaged an audience of 48,000 per minute during its postseason coverage, up 71% from last year.
The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in to a broadcast. The share is the percentage viewing a telecast among those households with TVs on at the time.
Year-to-year ratings are difficult to compare because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shifted schedules, and competition this autumn from election news.